Genesis 4:9 And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?
When I was in trouble selling cars (I sold a lot of cars so I was in trouble a lot. As the Bible verse says Proverbs 14:4 ‘Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox’). So I would go to my boss and tell her what I did wrong, and her answer was always the same, “oh no!! What are WE going to do now?” I learned to not hide or cover up problems. Her response of shared responsibility (in my opinion anyway) encouraged me to take risks and to tell her when I stepped on it. She’s a mega-dealership owner now.
We are in fact our brother’s keepers. The key word is brother. Brother implies family. Theoretically we should love our brothers. I call everyone brother (in faith, fully expecting them to get saved). I love everyone. I love everything. In fact, I love everywhere where I have ever been. God poured out His love into my heart when I got saved. People still scare me. People still hurt me (more than ever now that I love them). I avoid people who want to damage my ministry or hurt us physically. But I don’t have a bitter bone in my body. In my opinion, if you don’t love everyone possible, and try to love the impossible to love, you’re not saved. But God is more gracious than I am.
1 John 4:8 God is love
I see drunks and atheists and I call them brother by faith because I see them as getting saved someday in the future. I call my homosexual and prostitute friends brothers and sisters (often to their dismay. I don’t have the pronoun thing down, nor want to). I serve a God of straight homosexuals, sober drunks and married prostitutes. I even got yelled at by an evangelical missionary for calling a Catholic priest ‘my brother’. I am too busy trying to love people into the kingdom of God to worry about if they are a ‘son of God’ or a ‘son of Satan’. I love ’em all and let God figure it out. I see the glass half full. We all have a chance to be saved as long as we are alive. When someone suffers, I suffer. When they’re happy about good things, I rejoice with them. I purposely don’t compete with others, I let them win. That’s what comes when you genuinely love others. You are responsible for them. You are happy when they are happy. You suffer when they suffer. You try to help.
Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
My responsibility is different in regards to others than to myself. I stole the following from Larry Turner (counselor for SAW, Save a Warrior). ‘I am not personally responsible for any of the stuff that “happened to me” in the past. I am responsible, however, for how I process those events, the resentments I choose to hold onto (or let go of), for my perspective of life, how I view myself and how I view others around me. Until I take responsibility for all that stuff, I will always mentally feel lost, like a victim with no control of my own life.’ It’s called the blame game. Forget the past, suck it up, make any changes you can and carry on.
Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
So, as a born again, saved Christian, I am physically responsible for my 3 foot world. For myself, and for people I can physically touch, I am responsible for their protection and comfort. IE Offer a coat to someone who is cold. Food for someone hungry. If I am on a crowded city bus and a little old man is standing, I give him my seat. I am kind and considerate of my co-workers and to my next door neighbors, whether they appreciate it or not.
Outside of my three foot world, if someone asks me spiritual advice, I try to help them. I am very active ministering to those who want to be ministered to on social media, mostly FB. I am on a ‘last call’ list for suicidal vets, Nicaragua Police and the US Embassy. I do pray for a lot of people outside of my 3 foot world, but I can’t do much more than pray, and of course help them out of a pinch if I can, either financially or emotionally. I intercede at night for the suffering children in the dumps, Gaza and around the world. It’s our responsibility.
Lamentations 2:19 Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.
But we all, as Christians, do have one even greater responsibility. We are the watchmen on the walls of defense. We are to warn people to repent and be saved from the coming judgement. Twice this is mentioned in the Bible. Once in Isaiah and here in Ezekiel. Actually the whole Bible tells us that we are responsible for the souls of others. Don’t sleep while on watch. In the Army, during guard duty in a field of combat, you could be executed if you’re caught sleeping on watch. Christians, it’s our duty to not sleep right now.
Ezekiel 3:17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18 When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.