Articles
AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?
In 1928, a very interesting case came before the courts in Massachusetts. It concerned a man
who had been walking on a boat dock when suddenly he tripped over a rope and fell into the
cold, deep water of an ocean bay. He came up sputtering and yelling for help and then sank
again, obviously in trouble. His friends were too far away to get to him, but only a few yards
away, on another dock, was a young man sprawled on a deck chair, sunbathing. The desperate
man shouted, “Help, I can’t swim!” The young man, an excellent swimmer, only turned his head
to watch as the man floundered in the water, sank, came up sputtering in total panic, and then
disappeared forever.
The family of the drowned man was so upset by that display of callous indifference that they
sued the sunbather. They lost. The court reluctantly ruled that the man on the dock had no legal
responsibility whatever to try and save the other man’s life. In effect, the law agrees with Cain’s
presupposition: I am not my brother’s keeper, and I have every legal right to mind my own
business and to refuse to become involved.
When we find ourselves at ease and in serene comfort and realize someone is drowning in
sin, ask yourself the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” All any of us have to do is observe.
Do we know our next door neighbor? You know the one. They are the one with a nice family
who never darken the door of a church building. They take their children to the amusement
parks, to the lake, or just sleep in on the Lord’s Day. They are in dangerous waters without the
means of recovery.
We sing, “Throw out the lifeline…” with four part harmony and hopefully from our hearts.
All the Lord expects of each of us is that first effort to save a lost and dying soul. Which attitude
do we have — that of Cain or that of the Lord? The Lord’s attitude is, “The Son of Man came to
seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Don’t let a single soul die in the murky waters of sin
without making an effort to save them.
who had been walking on a boat dock when suddenly he tripped over a rope and fell into the
cold, deep water of an ocean bay. He came up sputtering and yelling for help and then sank
again, obviously in trouble. His friends were too far away to get to him, but only a few yards
away, on another dock, was a young man sprawled on a deck chair, sunbathing. The desperate
man shouted, “Help, I can’t swim!” The young man, an excellent swimmer, only turned his head
to watch as the man floundered in the water, sank, came up sputtering in total panic, and then
disappeared forever.
The family of the drowned man was so upset by that display of callous indifference that they
sued the sunbather. They lost. The court reluctantly ruled that the man on the dock had no legal
responsibility whatever to try and save the other man’s life. In effect, the law agrees with Cain’s
presupposition: I am not my brother’s keeper, and I have every legal right to mind my own
business and to refuse to become involved.
When we find ourselves at ease and in serene comfort and realize someone is drowning in
sin, ask yourself the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” All any of us have to do is observe.
Do we know our next door neighbor? You know the one. They are the one with a nice family
who never darken the door of a church building. They take their children to the amusement
parks, to the lake, or just sleep in on the Lord’s Day. They are in dangerous waters without the
means of recovery.
We sing, “Throw out the lifeline…” with four part harmony and hopefully from our hearts.
All the Lord expects of each of us is that first effort to save a lost and dying soul. Which attitude
do we have — that of Cain or that of the Lord? The Lord’s attitude is, “The Son of Man came to
seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Don’t let a single soul die in the murky waters of sin
without making an effort to save them.
~Bulletin Fodder
Valley Station church of Christ
Louisville, KY
Valley Station church of Christ
Louisville, KY
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