Hello my friends,

After reading so many of your replies from last week's newsletter, I noticed how a lot of our grief and betrayal centers around those who claim to follow Jesus, especially those with immense power, justifying not caring about certain groups of human beings. So, today I wanted to invite us to ponder the Biblical context of the question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" and how we are witnessing that question being asked today. I then want to end by giving us language to communicate why the answer is a resounding "yes" for followers of Jesus and how we might go about practically applying that in our local context today.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

​-Subversive WitnessScripture's Call to Leverage Privilege by Dominique DuBois Gilliard. I have recommended this wonderful book before, but I given what we have been talking about the last few weeks, I thought I would recommend it here again. In it, Gilliard asks us to grapple with privilege, indifference, and systemic sin in new ways by using biblical examples to reveal the complex nature of privilege and Christians' responsibility in stewarding it well. I found the book to be deeply insightful and motivating. I think you will too.

​-The Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of Jesus' Teachings and How They Have Been Corrupted by Obery M. Hendricks Jr. I am currently reading through this book and I have to say that it is already one of the best books I have read this year. Hendricks not only is an incredible scholar, bringing such insightful clarity to both history and the Bible, but he shares his personal story in this book as well, which really brings richness to the reading experience. I have already found this book to be very helpful for what we are navigating in our world today.

​-Rediscovering an Evangelical Heritage: A Tradition And Trajectory Of Integrating Piety And Justice by Donald W. Dayton. I first discovered this book when I was studying church history in seminary in 2013. I was blown away by the contrast between early Evangelical Christians and what Evangelical Christianity is known for in our world at that time. That contrast has only grown ever since. This book from Dayton sheds light not only on the very recent history of Evangelical Christianity and its emphasis on social justice, but also the historical roots that led us to the kind of Evangelical Christianity we see today. I think you will find it a very insightful read.

​-Maryland pastor arrested by ICE I wanted to share this particular story with you today. Not only is this deeply heartbreaking, but this is a pastor from the Church of the Nazarene, which is my former denomination where I served for the majority of my adult life and where I received all my theological training. He was arrested for overstaying his visa. No criminal record. Faithfully serving his church and his community. Yet now sits separated from his family and his congregation. All for overstaying his visa. This is not a proportionate response to these kinds of infractions. Lord, have mercy. May we see mercy and justice flow.

-30 Day Devotional: Today, our world can often feel overwhelmed by darkness, division, and despair. I created this 30-day devotional to offer a path toward hope and meaningful action. In it, you'll find daily scripture readings, thoughtful reflections, journal prompts, and practical action steps. Read more through the link below.

$20.00 Following Jesus In A World Obsessed With Empires: 30 Days of reclaiming the hope, compassion, and justice of Jesus. Today, our world can often feel overwhelmed by darkness, division, and despair. I created this 30-day devotional to... Read more Get it now!

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Yes, I Am My Brother’s Keeper.

"Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground."

-Genesis 4:8-10

In Genesis 4, after Cain murders his brother Abel, God asks him, “Where is your brother Abel?” And Cain responds with a question of his own: “Am I my brother’s keeper?." In the context of what we just read, it is an obvious deflection, a defense, and a denial all in one.

Beneath the surface of that ancient Hebrew phrase lies the tragic irony we often miss when reading this passage. The word for “keeper” in Hebrew (שׁוֹמֵר --shamar) is not just a passive word. It means to guard, to watch over, to tend to, to protect. It is the same root used to describe God keeping Israel, of shepherds keeping sheep, of watchmen keeping the night. Cain’s question was not innocent ignorance, it was willful evasion of his sacred responsibility. The sacred responsibility God gave to humanity over all over creation in the beginning.

In the ancient world, familial duty was core to one’s identity. Kinship meant covenant. To be your brother’s keeper was not optional, it was assumed. So when Cain casts off that duty, he is not only rejecting Abel, he is rejecting the moral structure of community itself. He is rejecting God.

Throughout the Scriptures, this theme constantly re-emerges.

In his wonderful book "The Politics of Jesus," Obrery M. Hendricks Jr. discusses the context of the Hebrew concepts of justice and righteousness. After writing at length about the Hebrew words Mishpat, usually translated as “justice" and Sadiqah, usually translated as "righteousness," Hendricks writes:

"What is significant here is that both justice and righteousness are based on social relationships. Not on individual, personal piety or on individual conformity with ritual and liturgy, but on social interactions. In fact, in the Hebrew scriptures there is no word for "individual"; there is only the plural term for "people," that is, community. In other words, justice is the divinely ordained way of relating to one another in human society. For this reason, for any social or political endeavor to rightly claim to be consistent with the biblical tradition, it must have at its center justice for all people regardless of class, gender, color, or national origin." (pg. 44)

This can be seen in how the prophets cry out against those who neglect the widow, the orphan, and the stranger. Jesus telling us that to love God is to love our neighbor as ourselves. The apostle Paul writing, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). And when we read in 1 John, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” (1 John 3:17). The biblical witness is unanimous: yes, we are our brother’s keeper.

The Culture of Disregard

And yet, how easy it is to echo Cain’s question in our own age. How present the spirit of “Am I my brother’s keeper?” is in our culture today, not as a question but as a quiet conviction masked in the garb of indifference, or rugged individualism, or even righteousness.

I feel like we see it so present today in the selective cries of “save the children.” Within some Christian circles, this phrase has become narrowly confined to issues like abortion or human trafficking. There's deep passion when the topic involves QAnon-fueled visions of secret cabals or shadowy enemies, but silence, or worse, apathy when children are gunned down in schools, when families can't afford insulin, when Black children face systemic injustice, or when Palestinian children are starving to death or lie buried beneath rubble with American weapons as the cause.

We see “save the children” weaponized as a battle cry against drag queens and books, but not against abusers currently holding high positions of power, not against hunger, not against climate collapse, not against the crushing poverty that stunts children’s futures here and abroad. We fund military empires but won’t fund school lunches. We send billions for bombs but deny pennies for baby formula. If protecting children doesn’t serve a political agenda, it simply isn't a priority.

And worse still, those who cry loudest about government overreach in protecting the vulnerable will often turn around and advocate using that very same government to enforce their personal morality on everyone else. They say, “The government should not interfere in Christian freedom!” all while demanding legislation over who can marry, who can teach, and who can exist.

This is not being our brother’s keeper. This is being our brother's taskmaster.

When we seek power over others in the name of God, when we use legislation to coerce, we are no longer bearing each other’s burdens, we are becoming burdens ourselves. We are not loving neighbors, we are just trying to manage them.

The gospel of Christ is not about control. It is about care.

A Better Answer

So what does it really mean to be our brother’s keeper? It means caring for the child in our pews and the child at our border. The child in Gaza and the child in Appalachia. It means we work for a world where human suffering actually matters, no one dies unseen, and no one weeps unheard.

It means we are not just moved by tragedies that align with our biases. We are moved by all suffering, because every life bears the image of God.

It means we hold ourselves to account, not only in our private morality but in our public responsibility. It means we take seriously the words of Jesus: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Being our brother’s keeper means defending the dignity of the LGBT youth bullied to despair, of the undocumented neighbor fearing deportation, of the addict written off as hopeless, of the woman being demonized as a threat to her unborn child, of the prisoner we’d rather forget, of the homeless person whose circumstances are being criminalized. It means acting not with judgment, but with mercy. Not with control, but compassion.

It means standing with the vulnerable even when it costs us politically. Even when it makes us uncomfortable. Even when it forces us to confront complex truths we’d rather just ignore.

Yes, We Are

In the end, the answer to Cain’s question is not up for debate. It has been answered by the blood of Jesus, who, unlike Cain, shed his own blood for his brothers and sisters. Who did not say, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” but showed us with every breath that he was.

Who loved every human being so much, as Paul writes, that "even while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us." Dying out of love and compassion for people who hadn't yet repented for their sins? Sadly, this action would be considered toxic empathy by some who claim to follow Jesus today.

So yes, we are our brother’s keeper. In our churches and on our streets. In our voting booths and our dinner tables. Whether they look like us or love like us or believe like us or not. Even when they are our enemies, Jesus said, “Love them.” That is the only way forward. That is what it means to follow him.

Let us not be like Cain. Let us not wash our hands of the world’s pain. Let us be keepers. Watchers. Protectors. Peacemakers.

For in doing so, we do not only reflect the heart of God, we begin to heal the wounds of a world that has forgotten what love looks like.

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How to Be Your Brother's Keeper in Your Local Context

1. Build Intentional Relationships Across Difference
   • Befriend those outside your racial, cultural, political, or religious comfort zones.
   • Listen before judging. Learn their stories.
2. Check in on Your Neighbors
   • Offer support to the single parent, the elderly shut-in, or the new refugee family down the street.
   • Be generous with your time, meals, and resources.
3. Mentor Youth in Your Community
   • Volunteer with local schools, youth centers, or after-school programs.
   • Be a consistent, loving presence in the life of a child who may not have many.
4. Support Local Black, Indigenous, and Immigrant Owned Businesses
   • Invest your money in people and communities historically excluded from economic power.
5. Create Safe Spaces for Marginalized People
   • Make your home, church, or group a refuge for the marginalized, for victims of abuse or for those healing from spiritual trauma.
6. Hold Your Church Accountable
   • Advocate for transparency and justice in cases of abuse, racism, and exclusion.
   • Push back against fear based narratives and political idolatries that distort the gospel.
7. Educate Yourself and Others
   • Read books, watch documentaries, and attend community talks on systemic injustice.
   • Learn about the growing efforts towards voter suppression and redistricting.
   • Help others in your circle grow in empathy and awareness.
8. Give Generously
   • Donate to mutual aid funds, bail funds, food banks, or trusted organizations supporting justice locally and globally.
9. Protect the Dignity of the Houseless
   • Volunteer at or support local shelters.
   • Advocate for policies that increase affordable housing and oppose anti-homeless ordinances.
10. Speak Up When Others Stay Silent

• Challenge racism, misogyny, hateful LGBTQ+ rhetoric, or xenophobia in your social circles.
• Be the voice that refuses to let hate go unchecked.

In All Things: Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Whether it's through policy or personal connection, through voting or volunteering, through protest or presence, being your brother’s keeper means making the wellbeing of others a non-negotiable part of your life. Especially the ones the world tries to ignore.

"Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others." – Philippians 2:4

Being our brother’s keeper is not about control, it’s about care. Not about power, but protection. And it is the call of every follower of Jesus.