Brother's Keeper by Rich Mullins

Listen to: Brother's Keeper (Live) {begin at 6:10 mark}

* If you have time, I encourage you to watch the entire
concert. If you begin with Part I, you will find that
Part II, Part III, (and so on) continue after each part
finishes.

Read Lyrics for: Brother's Keeper

Buy Brother's Keeper: New or Used

Buy Songs 2: New or Used

Buy Rich Mullins Live (Video) from 1997


I am a math teacher and I coach various sports at my school. I enjoy being a teacher. I love the youthful enthusiasm of my students. I enjoy watching students learn. I like getting to know my students and I especially enjoy taking interests in their hobbies, sports, and activities.

One of the things that bothers me about school is that everything is a competition. We have honor rolls, National Honors Society, sports awards evenings, scholarships, A teams and B teams, and cut lists in sports and even in Math Counts. We even have awards for teachers. We clap for each other at faculty meetings, give Golden Apples, and have Presidential teaching awards. It seems that we live in a society in which everyone needs to be rewarded for something. We honor and regard those who have skill and strength.

On the other hand, students also get picked on for their weaknesses. Maybe it is a bad grade, they did not make it into an Honors class with their friends, or they only made the B team. It seems like our schools (and society) really like to judge one another based on our strengths and weaknesses. I think most of us have been in both situations. No one likes to be disregarded. But what about the honors? Do they even last for ever? Do we really want to be regarded by others simply by what we can offer?

Instead, God calls us to love each other for who we are. Jesus does this. He doesn't love me more if I win a marathon or get nominated for the Golden Apple award. He loves me just the way that He made me. He loves me just as I am. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we could love one another that way?

Rich Mullins sings about being our "brother's keeper." Instead of celebrating strengths, and judging weaknesses, let's love each other for who we are. Despite of our brother's strengths and weaknesses, let's "help him learn to stand", as Rich sang.

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About Rich Mullins

If you are not familiar with Rich Mullins, he was a Christian song who wrote many songs that you may know well. He wrote "Step by Step" and "Awesome God", among others. On September 19th, 1997, Rich Mullins died in a car accident. He and his friend Mitch McVicker were traveling to a concert. McVicker, though badly hurt, survived the crash. McVicker still sings today and has a great testimony if you ever get a chance to see him play live. Even in his death, Mullins' music still lives on. Andrew Peterson and many other current musicians credit Rich as their main musical influence.