The practice in the Lord’s church of withdrawing fellowship has not actually been practiced all that widely in the brotherhood, and for sure the practice has varied even within the congregations that do. When members of the church, who have never experienced this church disciplinary action, relocate to a congregation that practices it, they may suspiciously view the exercise as heartless and old-fashioned. So, what does the Bible say?
The purpose of this series of articles is to examine briefly the teaching of Scripture on this matter and to allow the New Testament to explain things, such as the action, the purpose, the subjects and the standard of withdrawing fellowship. Whether you have seen this action taken regularly, have seen it only once in your life or have never seen it practiced at all, please prayerfully search the Scriptures on this soul-important subject.
Where did the practice of withdrawing of fellowship originate? We must firmly understand that this did not originate in the mind or heart of any man. Withdrawing fellowship is a command of God. Take note of the imperatives (commands of God, which cannot be viewed as optional): “purge out” (with a sense of urgency, 1 Cor. 5:7), “put off” (with a sense of urgency, 1 Cor. 5:13); “note” (suggesting continuous action required, 2 Thess. 3:14). These are all Greek imperatives—verb tenses that God specifically chose to express the fact that He truly was commanding His children in this regard (the word “command” itself is found four times in 2 Thessalonians 3).
If God commanded His church to practice this form of church discipline, how can some church leaders and congregations decide that “it’s not necessary today” or “it’s not fair to those involved” or “it’s just not for us”? What if we took the same approach to God’s command about immersion for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), congregational singing in worship without musical accompaniment (Eph. 5:19), women refraining from exercising authority over the men in the assembly (1 Cor. 14:34-35; 1 Tim. 2:11-12), visiting the widows and orphans in their days of trouble (Jas. 1:27), being hospitable to one another without grumbling (1 Pet. 4:9), going into all the world to preach the gospel (Mark 16:15), etc.? What if we just decided about any of these that “it’s not necessary today” or “it’s not fair to those involved” or “it’s just not for us”?
Withdrawing fellowship may not be easy; it may not be popular. But it is a command of God.
(more next week)