BROTHER’S KEEPER
‘The Bible says we should be our brother’s keeper, but we are not.’ – Pastor Rollington Morgan
‘We need to get back to basics and follow the Word and do what Jesus says and be our brother’s keeper and we will have a better Jamaica.’
PASTOR ROLLINGTON Morgan is a roving minister, but attends the John Austin Baptist Church in Pennants, Clarendon. He is of the view that one of the reasons Jamaica’s moral fibre is rapidly deteriorating is because people don’t look out for each other anymore.
“The Bible says we should be our brother’s keeper, but we are not. We are just all for ourselves and all up in ‘high society’. But we should always include the ‘small people’ and get them involved instead of rejecting them, and that is what is lacking in our society today and that is what is causing the world to constantly fall short of the glory of God. When we look out for each other, we will flourish. That is why we not growing,” he explained.
He used the story of looking out for each other to bring across his point that Saturday worshippers only observe that day as being holy and the Sunday man thinks the same. So “is it that we are not going to the same heaven? Are there two different heavens, one for Saturday worshippers and another for Sunday worshippers?” he questioned.
ATTITUDE CHANGE
“We have to change our attitude. The Sabbath keeper doesn’t care about your Sunday to keep it holy so they are going to keep their events on your day of worship and the Sunday worshippers do the same by keeping events on Saturday. Saturday worshippers defile the Sunday and Sunday worshippers defile the Saturday, but we should, at least, try to keep each other’s sacred days holy as these are usually (not the only) days dedicated to worshipping God,” reasoned Morgan.
The minister of more than 15 years told Family and Religion that long ago, in communities, a few families and neighbours would get together and worship in each other’s house instead of leaving home and paying fare to go distances to attend church.
“The Bible says we should not go further than where you can throw a stone to worship. So all the houses in that small area should get together and worship and keep communion and perform all the rituals you perform in church, and it is the same for the Sunday worshippers.”
The Bible says we should acknowledge the Sabbath, but this doesn’t mean only Saturday because Sunday is also the Lord’s Day, so we should all acknowledge and keep them holy.
“Galatians 3: 10-12 says ‘For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident for the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith but the man that doeth them shall live them’.
“The Sabbath worshippers don’t read that scripture because, if they did, they would realise and understand that they need to be more of the faith than of the law. So if you break your Sabbath, you’re cursed, but looking at it logically, just simply paying fare to go to church to worship on the Sabbath, you’re cursed because you should not go further than a stone’s throw to gather for worship. It’s only faith in God that can keep us from being cursed,” argued Morgan.
“We need to get back to basics and follow the Word and do what Jesus says and be our brother’s keeper, and we will have a better Jamaica” he concluded.