The theme of my previous blog was
about loving our neighbor by overcoming our instinctive
self-righteousness. But some Christians
may use passages such as 1 Corinthians 5: 11-13 to expel and disassociate from their
fellow Christians. If this teaching is univocal in its application, expelling
or disassociating from our fellow Christian sinners may be the right decision
always. But is this teaching univocal in application?
In other words, is the Bible
instructing a Christian (a sinner by nature) not to associate with a fellow
Christian who sins? Is the Bible also instructing the church to expel this [willfully]
sinning Christian from the church?
Please read the verses in three
different translations in the table below:
1 Corinthians 5: 11-13 (Emphases
mine)
New
American Standard Bible (NASB)
|
New
International Version (NIV)
|
J.B.
Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
|
…I wrote to you not to associate with
any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater,
or a reviler,
or a drunkard,
or a swindler—not
even to eat with such a one…Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.
|
…I am writing to you that you must
not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually
immoral or greedy, an idolater
or slanderer,
a drunkard
or swindler.
Do not even eat with such people…Expel the wicked person from among you.
|
…I tell you not to associate with
any professing Christian who is known to be an impure man
or a swindler,
an idolater,
a man
with a foul
tongue, a drunkard or a thief…Don’t
even eat with such a man…It is your plain duty to ‘put away from yourselves that
wicked person.’
|
The sins necessitating
disassociation and expulsion from church fellowship are, Incest (v1),
immorality, greed, idolatry, slander, drunkenness and swindling. These sins could
be described as follows:
1. Immorality: Prostitution and sinful sexual intercourse of any kind.
2. Greed: Greed of gain, especially at the cost of others. Greedy are the
power hungry people within the church of Jesus Christ. They could be those not
contesting for positions in the church but also sponsoring unworthy candidates
through unworthy means.
Then there is a personal greed for
greater personal glory – material and spiritual, within and outside the church.
Amassing wealth, being corrupt and aiding corruption are included in the sin of
greed.
3. Idolatry: Person(s) worshipping (revering / following) false gods. Since
the context of this passage refers to Christians, it is obvious that Christians
will not be worshipping false gods, such as the deities of Hinduism, Islam etc.
But there could be other gods the
Christian worships. A Christian’s work, career, talent, materials are some
false gods.
4. Slander: To slander is to defame or abuse others with or without
using foul language. Slander includes ‘false accusations.’
5. Drunkenness: Getting intoxicated through substance abuse – alcohol,
drugs etc.
6. Swindling: To rob / take ownership of anything that is not
rightfully one’s own.
7. Incest: Sexual relationships with any member of family where
marriage is forbidden.
Sinner’s Character
The context of 1 Corinthians 5
implies that the sinner was unrepentant and willfully continuing in his horrendous
sin, maybe even disregarding valid biblical counsel. Since the sinner within
this context is a Christian, one could question this Christian’s truthfulness or
maturity as the Lord’s disciple. No one claiming to be a true or a mature disciple
of the Lord Jesus Christ would willingly and hedonistically continue sinning.
Biblical Consistency
Is this teaching to disassociate
or expel in 1 Corinthians 5: 11-13 biblically consistent?
The teaching ‘do not associate
and expel’ seems to be a commentary of Deuteronomy 13: 5, 17:7, 19:19,
22:21-24, 24:7 and Judges 20: 13. This New Testament teaching is consistent
with the Old Testament.
The Bible advocates ‘disassociation’
for other sins as well.
Scripture
|
Sin
|
Consequence
|
Romans 16: 17; Titus 3: 10
|
Divisiveness
|
Disassociation
|
2 Thessalonians 3: 6-10
|
Laziness and refusal to work
|
Disassociation
|
2 John 10-11
|
Teaching heresies
|
Disassociation
|
Did Christ teach similarly? Yes,
Christ’s condemnation of the Pharisees, Scribes and the teachers of the law are
very similar. Christ’s condemnation of the religious leaders of HIS time appears
to be an eternal condemnation (Matthew 23: 33). The disassociation and
expulsion taught in 1 Corinthians 5 is temporal aimed at saving the sinner (1 Corinthians 5: 5).
So yes, the teaching is
consistent with the biblical teaching on the whole.
Practical Pitfalls
Is this teaching easy to execute
or are there any practical pitfalls that demands greater diligence before
executing?
Identifying sins of drunkenness, swindling,
slander, idolatry and greed are more complicated than identifying the sins of incest
and sexual immorality. Take drunkenness
as a case in point. A Christian may get intoxicated in one drink and another may
drink like a fish and still remain normal and stable. There are some who drink
once a week and get intoxicated, while there are others who cannot live without
their one or two drinks every day. If a Christian cannot be at peace without
his daily drink, he is an addict. How then should the church disassociate /
expel fellow Christians, and based on what policies?
If a Church or a Christian
disassociates or expels a practicing sinner on account of one of these sins, it
ought to disassociate or expel sinners practicing all the sins mentioned in 1
Corinthians 5. If all churches are firm in disassociating or expelling fellow
Christians on account of these sins, then these churches could eliminate a
great number of her members. Moreover, every Christian would have less or no Christian
friends. Correct me if I am wrong! Expelling one member and not others is an
inconsistent practice amounting to partiality, which in itself is a sin.
Disassociation or expulsion is
not a case of perfection judging the imperfection. It is the case of one
imperfection judging another. Those who enforce expulsion or disassociation are
not superior to the one being disciplined.
Given this scenario, the church should
exhibit greater grace and love before embarking on disassociation or expulsion.
Preeminence of Love
and Grace
The Lord in HIS incarnation was abundantly
gracious to sinners. HE taught against sin but at the same time, HE forcefully
emphasized grace through forgiveness. The Lord’s words to the woman caught in
adultery was to ‘go and sin no more,’
the statement in the Lord’s prayer was to ‘forgive
us as we forgive our debtors,’ and HIS teaching that we should forgive
always (Matthew 18: 22) should remain in us always.
Apostle Paul echoes his God in
Galatians 6: 1-2, “Even if a man should
be detected in some sin, my brothers, the spiritual ones among you should
quietly set him back on the right path, not with any feeling of superiority…” (Phillips).
Disassociation and expulsion
should be the last step of restoring the believer to HIS maker. Love and grace
should precede and possibly supersede disassociation and expulsion.
Case for
Disassociation and Expulsion
Disassociation and expulsion could
be affirmed from the perspective of church discipline. One corrupt man can ruin
the whole group, so in the interest of group’s spiritual wellness it is better
to expel that one corrupt person. The Bible affirms this action.
The benefits of this action are:
(1) To restore the sinning
believer (Galatians 6: 1).
(2) To keep the sin from
spreading inside the church.
(3) To protect church’s purity.
It would be grossly unjust if a
person who has not sinned is either expelled or disassociated. Thus disassociation
and expulsion should be implemented if accusations are proven, the sinner clearly
convicted of his sin, and if he is unrepentant and willfully continuing in sin.
I believe hell to be a reality. God’s
grace is active only until HIS righteous judgment. Christ’s judgment does not
offer grace to the unbeliever. When an unbeliever willfully rejects Christ, God
allows the unbeliever to remain without HIM throughout eternity. Thus,
expulsion of an unrepentant sinner from the church or from a Christian’s domain
is valid because grace ends when the sinner rejects Christ’s teaching to not
sin willingly.1
If the sinful Christian in
contention is a church elder, he/she should be treated as per the teaching
found in 1 Timothy 5: 19 – 21.
Having said this, I do not consider
this teaching to be the only viable option for the church when it encounters
sins in her members. Disassociation or expulsion should be the last option for
the church or a Christian. Valid biblical counsel should essentially precede
expulsion or disassociation. It is the church / Christian’s sole responsibility
to ensure that expulsion or disassociation be soaked in love than rejection or condemnation.
Being Radical
If a professing Christian is sexually
immoral (incest, premarital sex, homosexuality etc.), and if he is unrepentant
and willfully continuing in his sin, then, as a last option, he could be
expelled from the church, but graciously and lovingly.
However, a radical Church / Christian
would continue to love this person. But doesn’t the Bible teach us not to eat
with this unrepentant Christian (1 Corinthians 5: 11)? Yes the Bible does teach
that, but the Bible also teaches that we should restore a fellow sinner, so we could
follow Galatians 6:1.
I would rather err on the side of
grace than on the side of law. I would do this in hope and prayer that my
brother/sister would stop sinning and be restored by the grace of God.
While loving this person, we
could teach the Bible and the real meaning of being a disciple of the Lord –
that discipleship includes hating and not practicing sins. Thus this person can
grow into truth and maturity as the Lord’s disciple.
Radical Christians would continue
to love their fellow sinners for they have little or no means to identify their
fellow Christians who are greedy, idolatrous, slanderous, drunken, and swindling.
Personally I don’t think it’s
wise to expel one sinner and at the same time allow ten sinners to prosper and
grow in their sins. This is not the Christian life Christ would want me to
live. So I would rather err on the side of grace than on the side of law.
Endnotes:
1 Christians who do not believe in hell and
believe in universalism will reject this teaching of expulsion and
disassociation. If these Christians accept the teaching of expulsion and
disassociation, then they are hypocritical in their practice. Why would you
reject a sinning Christian when God, according to the universalistic belief,
does not reject anyone – even the most compulsive sinner?
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