Am I a Keeper?

Recently, I have heard several mentions of the phrase 'brother's keeper' in one form or another.  It is unfortunate that we so often get it wrong when it comes to the original story, and hence, give the wrong impression when we reuse it in another context.  So, here goes:

Most people know the original story - In Genesis, Chapter 4, we have the story of Cain and Abel, the first two sons of Adam and Eve.  Cain gets angry with God and by association his brother, Abel, because Abel's sacrifice is acceptable and Cain's isn't.  There isn't much detail in the story, but Cain and Abel are walking in the field, and Cain kills Abel.   Later, in verse 9 we read: Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother ?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper ?"
The work keeper here is important.  The meaning of this word is the same as it is in modern English, that is, a keeper is someone who tends, as in 'gameskeeper, ' or anyone who has charge of or guardianship over something or someone.  It is the same word that is used earlier in Chapter 2:15, where God puts Adam in the Garden to keep it.

The problem with the way this passage is generally used is that we accept Cain's definition of his relationship with his brother, Abel, that is, we accept the word used to define it: keeper.

Cain asks the cynical question, "Am I my brother's keeper?"  to which we suspect his own answer is a resounding NO.  The danger is that we often think that the correct answer is the negation of Cain's, namely YES.  Yes, we are our brother's keeper. Yes, we should be concerned about our brothers' [and sisters'] welfare, and especially not murder them in a rage.

The issue is not with the sentiment, but rather the word.  Are we to be our fellow's keeper?  Are we to keep our neighbours as we do animals in a zoo?  Are we to be their caretakers?  Too often that was the understanding of colonial powers toward the indigenous people.  They were seen as somewhat less than human, people who needed to be taken care of by their masters.  We do a disservice to the intent of Scripture when we allow Cain to frame the question.  We must answer with Cain: No, we are not our brother's keeper.  But Cain has asked the wrong question.

Then what word should we use?  Like the famous game show, what question do we ask to which the answer is YES?  Fortunately, Jesus gives us the question in the Parable of the Good Samaritan [Luke 10:25-37].  In this passage the question is asked, 'Who is my neighbour?'  But at the end of the parable, Jesus reframes the question: 'Who acted as neighbour to the man?'  So, we can ask, 'Should I be neighbour to all?' to which we can finally answer, YES.