Recently I read Kester Brewin’s book, Other, for the first time – it’s a great book, but it’s deep and philosophical and going to take me a few reads to really get my head around.

I can’t stop thinking about something he wrote…

“While these are obviously commendable, the danger of them is that they create a dynamic among the rest of the congregation that ‘care for the other has been taken care of’ – and thus people end up abdicating their responsibilities to care for one another.”

Which got me thinking about something Shane Claiborne wrote a while back…

“There are many people who are morally “pure” but devoid of any life, joy or celebration. For some, this “purity” means that we do not touch anything that is “secular”, and for others, it means that we don’t eat anything that is not “organic”. But if it is not born of relationships, if it is not liberating for the oppressed and the oppressors, if it is not marked by raw, passionate love, then it is the same old self-righteousness that does little more than flaunt our own purity by making the rest of the world see how dirty they are.”

If my actions aren’t coming from a place of deep care for the relationships around me, they mean nothing. As followers of Jesus we’re called to live life in community with other people – but it has to be real. We are the “pastoral team”. We are our brothers keeper.