“Can you withdraw from the withdrawn?”

Sunday, May 14, 2017

If you read last week’s bulletin, we dealt with the text of I Corinthians 5. The church at Corinth was rebuked for not exercising church discipline. The church is to be pure and kept unspotted from the world (Eph. 5:25-27). Therefore, when a member of the church is walking in sin (unwilling to repent), that local body of saints must deal with it the Lord’s way.

Without repeating the whole article, Christians need to deal with these situations. It might seem cut and dry as to what should be done with a wayward member who acts like all is fine because Christians know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump (I Cor. 5:6). However, brethren are often tempted to neglect their duties. This is especially true when a member just walks away and leaves. If they are no longer around to leaven the whole lump, is the church still expected to exercise discipline?  Absolutely. Let’s take a closer look at this.

It may be technically true that you cannot really “withdraw” yourself from one who is no longer around, but discipline still needs to be taken. Consider Galatians 6:1. Paul wrote, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”  James pretty much said the same thing when he spoke of brethren that wander away and how faithful brethren should try to bring them back (James 5:19-20).

We need to see that fallen brethren need to be dealt with whether they act as if nothing is wrong or if they walk away and stop assembling. A member who walks away is sinning, and it would be wrong for a local church to ignore. But what is a church to do? They should do the very same thing as when someone sinfully walks among them.

If a person leaves a church, they have “withdrawn” themselves. However, the Bible speaks about “marking” or “noting those” who are walking disorderly. The Thessalonians were told, “And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother,” (II Thess. 3:14-15). This is the same idea presented in Romans 16:17-18.

Our goal is to help the fallen return. This is true whether they recognize that they have fallen or not. If a brother walks away and calls me up and acts as if nothing has changed, he would be wrong. If I act as if nothing has changed other than not seeing him at church services, I am not fulfilling my duty of marking him to inspire the godly shame necessary for repentance.

Today’s Christians need to be particularly careful about making the wayward comfortable in their sin. Social media is called “social” for a reason. Still, we should never stop loving our fallen brethren. We should continue to pray for them and, as the II Thessalonian text above mentions, we should never treat them as an enemy. The wayward should be greeted cheerfully rather than being ignored. However, we need to be careful that we do not use social media to accidentally praise those walking in rebellion against God. 

A member of the church who no longer accepts what we teach might say, “You can’t withdraw from me, I withdraw from you.” Fine. But Christians still have the duty to try and bring them back. If they refuse to repent, we must note them and not keep company with them. This is true for all who go back into the pollutions of the world (II Pet. 2:20-22). As children of God, we must remember that sin is sin!

                                                                                                Chuck

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