[box]RVWD is my abbreviation for Religious Vocabulary Word of the Day. (You can read my introduction to the RVWD series here.) I do not intend for these word investigations to be exhaustive, but I hope they stimulate some thinking about assumptions. Possibly they will help with honest evaluations about what is truth and what is unnecessary baggage in life. [/box]
The word excommunication comes from Latin roots that mean “to cut off from the community.” It is often thought of as an action of the Catholic organization, as headed by the office of the pope. However, Protestant organizations have their version of it, too. They tend to call it “church discipline.” Either way, in realm of religious organizations, it is used as meaning (take a deep breath): a system of authority for those in what are recognized as leadership positions to deny certain people the right and ability to have anything to do with other members of the organization.
As a distinct word or phrase, neither of these terms are found literally in the Bible. The idea of them is based on verses that speak of things like “not receiving or greeting” those who teach wrong things; “letting someone be to you as a Gentile or tax collector”; “turning away from” some; “not associating” with an immoral person; and, the daddy of them all, “turning such a person over to Satan.” The words are never directed at an official group of leaders or supreme religious ruler. It is not always clear that it is being said to only people who have believed on the name of Jesus Christ. The decisions and choice of actions seems to be left to individuals. In some cases, there is reason to believe that most of the individuals will be convinced of similar action, but there is no indication that it has to necessarily be done by group consensus.
The decision to avoid someone also seems to be limited to affecting personal relationships and is in no way meant to impinge on a person’s ability to make a living. That is, while they may not be included in dinner plans, reasons for choosing to do business with them may be separate. If they are honest in the economic world, there is no reason given to not buy your fish from them. In some cases, there has to be enough involvement in people’s lives to know them well enough to truly be aware and evaluate behavior. How else would anyone really know if the stories being heard are true? However, sometimes it can be assessed just from talking with someone briefly that they are attempting to set up their own religious kingdom with something other than fellowship based on the simple truths of Christ.
Here is a summary list of references that I found:
1. Matthew 18:15-18 – The disciples (who knows if it was just the 12, or more like the 120 that were praying together in Acts 1:15) had just asked about who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. In His answer, Jesus includes a section on dealing with real wrong that has been done. He advised using a very personal approach. If one-on-one communication won’t work, try taking some witnesses. If that also fails, tell those in your “church.” The trouble here is that there is no “church” yet and Jesus even says treat them as a Gentile. This could cause one to wonder if the “church” or assembly being referred to here is talking about how the Jewish people got together in their communities, not that which will be come to be known as the church, or gathering, of believers later. We certainly know that Gentiles are welcome in this forthcoming church. So, the wronged individual basically goes to the whole community and asks them to convince this other person to do what is right. If he doesn’t, he is no longer treated as a “brother”.
2. Romans 16:17-18, 1 Timothy 6:5, 2 John 1:10, 3 John 1:9-10 – Here Paul and John mention not heeding or in any way giving the appearance of supporting men who want to gain a following after their own ideas. It is not hard to imagine that monetary gain was somehow part of all these deceptions. It is mentioned outright in 1 Timothy. John was specifically warning that the particular man wanted to be held in a place of honor by such a following. In 3 John, it is interesting that it is the man who has claimed authority who was wrongly putting people out of fellowship with the church, as they say. Such honor-seeking men were not to be given free lodging or a place to speak to among those who were meeting as Christians. They were not to be greeted as fellow believers.
3. 2 Thessalonians 3:6-14 – The specific problem being addressed here is that some people were not working, but using the their connections with Christians to leech off of the community. Some versions say these people were something like busybodies, but the actual Greek apparently just means something like “really totally not working” or the opposite of working. Especially interesting to think about in light of cautions in the verses above.
4. 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 – This is the main place where immorality is used as a reason for not associating or eating with someone who is supposedly a Christian. It is speaking of an ongoing practice of and flaunting of behaviors that even most non-Christians would categorize as not nice. All of these behaviors would be the antithesis of love and would be a great hindrance to encouraging each other. Again, Paul is writing to the whole group of believers there in Corinth. There is no leader he appeals to get this done officially. It is here that the much misused phrase “deliver such a one to Satan” (verse 5, New American Standard Version) is used. I think people should be very careful about using phrases like that. What do you think Paul really means by this? My best guess is that that we are not to shield them from the consequences they will suffer by willfully engaging in the destructive behavior.
In essence, there is nothing particularly profound about individuals of any sort choosing whom to associate with. One main difference for Christian association should be that it is done with the goal of presenting the simple purity of the truth, with an attitude of humility, all the while encouraging relationship. It can really only be done on an individual level, but it affects the dynamics of the whole group. It should not be about arbitrary religious rules. No selfishness. No seeking position. No followers of Jesus Christ should be going around looking for reasons to be nit-picky about other people’s flaws or reasons to avoid them or finding excuses to be offended. Choosing not to associate with someone is really a very severe choice. It should not be taken lightly.
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