One of the blessings we enjoy as Christians is the fellowship we have with other believers. As the world around us becomes more ungodly, it is especially valuable to have this relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Yet we also need to remember that God has given certain rules that outline the bounds of our fellowship. It may be tempting to stay “on the safe side” and not draw lines of fellowship among our brethren. We do not want to draw lines that God has not drawn [we will discuss this more in the next article], yet there are dangers that exist when we expand fellowship beyond the bounds that God has given us.
Let us notice Paul’s rebuke of the church in Corinth for failing to deal with one who was in sin among them.
“It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst” (1 Corinthians 5:1-2).
Throughout this chapter, Paul addressed the problem of sin in the church at Corinth. Yet this was not just any sin. Paul described it as “immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 5:1). The city of Corinth was known for the immoral behavior of its citizens. In the next chapter, Paul listed several who would “not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9). This list included fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, drunkards, and more (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Paul then said, “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). Not only were these sins common in Corinth, but the Christians in Corinth previously engaged in these sins before they obeyed the gospel. Even with that, Paul still said that the sin he was addressing – “that someone has his father’s wife” (1 Corinthians 5:1) – was unheard of among the unbelieving pagan community in Corinth.
This sin needed to be addressed, but Paul also needed to confront the attitude of the rest of the brethren. They had “become arrogant” (1 Corinthians 5:2) about their “tolerance.” After all, they were willing to accept this brother and overlook his sin. Many in the world today – religious and non-religious – have this same arrogance over how “tolerant” they are toward sin. Yet Paul warned these brethren that their “boasting [was] not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?” (1 Corinthians 5:6). This would spread to the rest of the church – not necessarily that the same sin would become common among them, but this attitude toward sin would lead to other sinful practices becoming accepted there.
Paul explained that they were to hold their brethren to a higher standard than the world. “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world…for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, 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” (1 Corinthians 5:9-11). The Lord expects His people not to live like the world, but to conform their lives to His word. Christians are to encourage one another in this, not endorse sin by those who (1) ought to know better and (2) have made the commitment to forsake sin and follow Christ.
Why would this be seen as “safe”? Based on what Paul wrote, it is not necessary to conclude that the brethren in Corinth viewed this brother’s behavior as “good.” However, they still tolerated it and continued to accept him into their fellowship. This kept peace in the local church and avoided the discomfort of confronting sin. We can be tempted to do the same thing today when a brother is in sin and has no interest in repenting.
Why This Is Tempting
Why is it tempting to continue to maintain fellowship with our brethren who are in sin and error? There are a few possibilities.
We want to maintain relationships – God created us as social beings. In the beginning, after God created Adam, He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18). God then created Eve and established the institution of marriage (Genesis 2:21-25). This principle that it is “not good…to be alone” has a broader application than just marriage. We all need relationships with other people – even the most introverted among us. In the church – which is made up of those with “like precious faith” (2 Peter 1:1, NKJV) – it ought to be natural that we find these relationships. The psalmist wrote, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1). This unity is “good” and “pleasant” because of the mutual benefit we provide for one another in encouragement, support, and friendship. We do not want to strain or sever these relationships. This means we are often tempted to ignore a brother’s sin, rather than deal with with it, for fear that it could affect the relationship with that brother and with others who would prefer to ignore the sin.
We want others to look up to us – Paul charged the brethren in Corinth as being “arrogant” over their tolerance of this sin (1 Corinthians 5:2). They believed their treatment of this brother in sin demonstrated how “great” they were and that their example of “tolerance” was to be regarded and emulated. We see this in our society today with the example of homosexuality – one of the sins mentioned by Paul that some of the Christians in Corinth had turned from in order to obey the gospel (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Many have become “arrogant” over how tolerant they are of this sin and how they are willing to not just accept it, but celebrate it. However, this is not limited to homosexuality. Any sin which finds general acceptance among those in the world can be one in which Christians are tempted to accept so that others look up to us and see how “tolerant” we are. It is true that Christians are to act “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2). Yet Paul was not talking about tolerance and acceptance of sin; instead, he encouraging them to “preserve the unity of the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3), not unity with those in sin. We ought to be patient with those who are turning from sin and working to overcome it, but that is very different from accepting one who refuses to repent of sin and then pat ourselves on the back because we are willing to ignore that sin.
It is difficult to confront sin – When a brother is in sin, it is not pleasant to have to confront him about it. We do not know how he will respond. He could get upset and our relationship with him becomes strained or severed. It may happen that others come to his defense and condemn us for “intolerance.” It is even possible that he would try to persuade us that the sin in which he is involved is “not so bad” and tempt us to do the same. This is why Paul wrote, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted” (Galatians 6:1). Confronting one in sin is not for just any Christian; it is for those who are spiritually mature. And even then, they need to be on guard. It could be that we are seen as the ones causing trouble when we confront another’s sin, just as Ahab labeled Elijah as the “troubler of Israel” (1 Kings 18:17) when Ahab was the one who was leading the people to sin. Generally speaking, it is easier to ignore sin than to confront it.
Why This Is Dangerous
However, even though it is easier to ignore sin, it is not good to do so. While it may seem like it keeps the peace at first, it will lead to further trouble later. There are a few reasons why it is dangerous to ignore sin and accept into fellowship those who continue in sin and refuse to repent.
Sin will spread – Paul used the illustration of “leaven” working through a “whole lump of dough” (1 Corinthians 5:6) to describe how the influence of sin can spread through a congregation. As was already mentioned, it does not necessarily mean that the same sin will spread – after all, the particular sin in Corinth was unheard of among those outside of the church. Yet the attitude toward this sin would lead to more sin in the group as others reason that their sin is “not as bad” as the other brother’s sin, so it is no big deal. Paul warned these brethren later in this letter, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals’” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Continuing in fellowship with those who refuse to repent of sin will corrupt the morals of others in the church and lead to even more sin in the group.
The one in sin will be encouraged to remain in sin – At the end of James’ epistle, he wrote about the responsibility of Christians to help their brethren turn from sin: “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20). Occasionally, one who is in sin will decide on his own to repent; but often, without someone trying to persuade him to repent, he will continue his course and commit “a multitude of sins.”
We will lose our fellowship with God – After admonishing his readers to “watch [themselves]…that [they] may receive a full reward,” John warned that those who “[do] not abide in the teaching of Christ” lose their fellowship with God; and if we “receive” them, we participate in their error (2 John 8-11). The word for participate in that passage is the Greek word for fellowship. So John explained that those in sin and error are out of fellowship with God. If we are in fellowship with those who are out of fellowship with God, can we expect to maintain our fellowship with God?
What to Do Instead
From these passages, it is clear that it is dangerous to expand fellowship beyond the limits given by God in His word. So what should we do instead?
Rather than allowing sin to spread, we need to expose it – Paul told the brethren in Ephesus, “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them” (Ephesians 5:11). The Greek word for participate in that verse is derived from the same word for fellowship that we noticed in 2 John 11. Sin needs to be exposed so that others are warned about it. Regarding elders “who continue in sin,” Paul told Timothy to “rebuke [them] in the presence of all, so that the rest will be fearful of sinning” (1 Timothy 5:20). Exposing and rebuking sin, rather than ignoring it and sweeping it under the rug, will help prevent others from sinning.
Rather than encouraging one to remain in sin, we need to admonish him to repent – We sometimes talk about “church discipline” in which we withdraw from one who refuses to repent. One of the reasons this is done is to encourage his repentance. Paul wrote, “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother” (2 Thessalonians 3:14-15). To continue our regular social contact with one who refused to repent would give him the impression that sin was no big deal and would encourage him to continue in it. Instead, if our contact with him focused on trying to turn him back to the Lord (cf. James 5:19-20), we have a better chance of affecting the necessary change in him.
Rather than losing our fellowship with God, we need to hold fast to what His word teaches – Paul began his instructions to the church in Thessalonica about withdrawing from one who refused to repent by telling them to “keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us” (2 Thessalonians 3:6). We already noticed John’s warning about how our fellowship with those who have lost their fellowship with God can cause the same thing to happen to us. Instead, we are to follow the instructions from the Lord which were revealed through the apostles. Paul wrote, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us” (2 Thessalonians 2:15). Others may depart from the Lord and pursue a path of sin, yet we must remain faithful and follow what His word teaches us to do.
Conclusion
It is tempting to ignore the Biblical rules of fellowship, yet God has revealed these rules for us to follow. We must not try to be more accepting than God. Instead, let us follow the Lord and work with those who are doing the same.
