Religious Shunning Comes from False Teachings

In the previous post I outlined how religious shunning often grows out of insecurity and sin and is about creating fear in the remaining church members. In this post we'll take a look at the scriptures that are sometimes used as proof texts to create false teachings about shunning. The distorted, sinful practice of shunning most often comes from false teachings and mis-interpretation of scripture. Here is the first: 

1. "Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them." Titus 3:10 

This verse, if taken out of context, allows a church leader or teacher to name anyone a "divisive person." However, in the context of the entire chapter this is about a person who is trying to force arguments about the "law" instead focusing on "justification by grace." Let's back up and look at the context.

Verses 3-8 detail how we are "justified by his grace" and therefore should be "devoted to doing what is good." With this in mind we all should "avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless." If a person is not willing to avoid arguing about the law, then we should warn them twice, then have "nothing to do with them." This comes after an attempt to get them to stop discontinue arguments and quarrels about the law. 

This makes perfect sense to me. Salvation by grace is the essence of our faith. A huge portion of the New Testament is about the problem with people teaching something other than salvation by grace, specifically the problem of Jews still teaching the Law. But unfortunately, this verse is used by abusive leaderships when their own control over their church is threatened. They widen the meaning of "divisive" to include anyone who threatens their control and anyone who questions their authority. This false teaching leads to spiritual abuse. And it's ironic that in some churches the church leadership itself might be continually arguing about "the law" by laying down rules and when someone steps up from within the church to suggest we are "justified by grace and not by works" that person is labeled divisive. It's the opposite meaning of the passage. If you apply the passage rightly the leader should be shunned for pushing salvation by works.

In short, a church should in fact shun someone IF that person is running around arguing about the "foolish things and quarreling about the law." The church leadership should have a solid foundation laid within the church of justification by grace, making the foolish, law-pushing, divisive person obvious to all. Then the command should be followed to twice warn the person. If they will not stop going against the firm teachings on justification by grace then that person must go. It is not spiritually healthy to allow anyone within a church to teach something other than justification by grace.

Here's another:

2. "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us." 1 John 2:19

 The logic used with this passage is simply this: They left us, so they never belonged to us. And since the church (i.e. "Our church") is Christ, they never belonged to Christ. If they belonged to Christ they would not have left us, because the church is Christ.

This false teaching requires a very strong, centralized view of ones own church, which is in fact, pretty common. There is no shortage of church leaderships teaching their own church is the "best" representation of Christ on the Earth, with the correct doctrine and traditions. This prideful position yields itself quite easily to the idea that those who are "in our church" are saved and those who are not are not. Of course, many might say, we don't believe that we are only ones going to heaven, or the only right way to "do" or "be" the church. But if this were true there would zero shunning within your church, because your so-called beliefs about others not in your church would be backed up by your practice of including them as brothers and sisters in Christ, even though they are not members of your particular church. 

In addition to this faulty, unbiblical, and unGodly logic, in order to distort this passage completely, one also has to remove it from context, as usual. Reading just a couple verses down the true meaning of this section of scripture is revealed: 

22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

These are a couple scriptures used to distort the True message of spiritual inclusion, established by he unconditional love of God in Christ. What should you do if your church is participating in this sort of shunning or has done so in the past? First repent if you have participated and second fight for what is right.

It is very important to get right with God spiritually. If you have cut off those whom God has chosen then you likely are walking around with a damaged spirituality. Repent for before God and then make it right with those you have shown. Secondly, fight for what is right. Don't be afraid to go up against your churches leadership if they are practicing shining have done so in the past. True it may mean that you yourself get shunned but spiritually this is far better. It is better to be shunned for Christ than to participate and shunning others. You may lose friends or even family if you do what is right. But as you lay up treasures in heaven your reward will be eternal, and the spiritual benefit will start now!!