First Baptist Church of Herndon

The boundaries of Brotherly Love

Linda Soller | Feb 25, 2013

This month I’ve been writing about the faces of love. So much is out there on the subject of romantic love, but not nearly enough is said or written about “brotherly love.” I’m okay with that except romantic love most often deals with two while brotherly love can impact many. I’d hate to see us lose sight of this important face of love so I decided to write about it this week.

 Did you know that William Penn selected the name Philadelphia for the city because it meant brotherly love in Greek?  In selecting that name he was connecting the inhabitants of Philadelphia to the lofty goal of really caring for and loving their neighbors.  I consider it a lofty goal because it requires that you care about and show concern for people you may hardly know. That’s not always an easy task.

If you have ever lived in a small town you will know that the residents often walk a fine line between truly caring for their fellow residents and just being nosey. Our Lunch Bunch book group read At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon for our February selection. It is the first in her seven book series and describes the interesting and quirky people who live in Mitford, NC.  The citizens have all sorts of jobs, a variety of educational experiences, and come from far and wide. Each is interesting individually but it’s what they are as a group that makes the story work.  In their daily lives they are dependent upon each other and care about their fellow residents. Brotherly love is that sense of caring about the condition of others. For the most part I think everyone manages to care about others, at least from time to time. What I wonder about is the boundary of that caring.

The Bible teaches us to love one another, to treat our neighbors as we would be treated, and to care for others. Jesus challenges us to put our caring to action. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to care even without action, how sad it would be not to care at all. But by caring without acting you are putting a boundary on brotherly love. For example maybe you’re concerned about those who need clothing, but not enough to donate clothing items as opposed to putting them in the trash can by your house. You may care about your elderly neighbor but not enough to check on him to be sure he is safe and not lonely. You may feel badly for your co-worker who lost a spouse, but not enough to offer to bring in food or visit with her and offer support. These are examples of simple actions we often avoid and the result is a boundary is set. Once we set a boundary the next one comes a little easier. I am not foolish enough to believe that any one of us can help everyone, but I do believe that we need to recognize when we are setting boundaries that prevent us from doing what we can, what we know we should do.

Brotherly love in its truest sense knows no boundaries. It knows no skin color, or nationality, or age, or location. I have to ask, have you created your boundaries to keep you in or to keep others out?

Have a great week :o) Linda