| Is Jehovah's Witness Shunning a Biblical Practice? |
| Written by Bruce and Christy Darlington |
| Monday, 02 February 2009 17:03 |
 You've seen the story play out over and over. So and so was "disfellowshipped" and no one from the Kingdom Hall will speak with him or her. Or maybe you're that someone who was shunned by your Jehovah’s Witness friends and family when you walked away on your own or were disfellowshipped. It's as if the Jehovah's Witnesses are afraid they're going to faint if you walk by. What words can express the pain of shunning? How does one get over the loss of one's family? Your identity has been yanked from you and there is no where else to turn. After all, you've been told that the "apostates" are led by Satan and are full of lies and deceit. Surely you're not going to turn there for support, are you?Jehovah’s Witnesses are quick to point to the Bible as the source of their disfellowshipping and shunning practices, but as with many of the Scriptures that the Society twists to exert its control over the rank-and-file Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Scriptures used to support their shunning policies are no exception. Below we will examine a few of the most common Scriptures used in support of this practice and contrast these with other passages to provide a clear picture of how the Watchtower Society distorts the biblical practice of spiritual discipline. Finally, for those of you who are struggling with the effects of shunning in your own life, we will provide tips on how you can overcome the emotional pain of rejection you have been experiencing. Does 1 Corinthians 5:11 Support Shunning?A favorite passage used by Jehovah’s Witness elders is 1 Corinthians 5:11 that in the Jehovah’s Witness Bible reads:
One will look in vain in Scripture to see the list of sins that resemble the Watchtower’s list of sins for which one can be disfellowshipped. While Watchtower elders will disfellowship someone for fornication, theft, and idolatry, they do not disfellowship for greed, drunkenness or insulting and slanderous talk (backbiting and gossip happens all the time in the congregation). Rather, the Watchtower’s list of disfellowshipping sins includes: smoking, gambling, blood transfusions, dating non-Jehovah’s Witnesses, reading anti-JW literature, speaking to ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses, criticizing Watchtower publications. The phrase used in this passage to support the Jehovah’s Witness practice of shunning is the statement: “quit mixing in company.” It is noteworthy that this phrase does not say to “shun,” “avoid” or completely cut off all communication with the person being disciplined. Nor does it say to regard this person as an “apostate” who is no longer a “brother.” Rather, the command given against “mixing in company” and to “not even eating with such a man” is in the context of partaking in the fellowship meal that the early Christian congregations held in the homes of devoted followers. Thus, the “brother” was merely to be prevented from participating in the “breaking of bread” in Christian fellowship after the weekly meetings.
Does Titus 3:10-11, 2 Thessalonians 3:6 and 2 John 10 Support Shunning?
All three of these passages speak of the person who is promoting false doctrines within a Christian congregation. While they say to “withdraw from,” “reject,” and even to avoid him by not allowing him into one’s home or giving him a greeting, one has to keep in mind that these statements were all made in the context of a letter to the house congregations. It was to a congregation that meet in the home of Christians that the false teacher was not to be greeted or allowed in corrupt with his anti-Christian beliefs. For someone to “greet” a false teacher in the setting of a home church was viewed in the first century as promoting the false teacher and giving him a platform to spread his false ideas. So again, when the Society appeals to these Scriptures to force Jehovah’s Witness family members into shunning and disallowing disfellowshipped or disassociated family members from all non-spiritual family gatherings, they do so completely without warrant.
How Can An Expelled “Brother” Still Be Considered a “Brother” if He is to be Shunned?2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 provides clear insight into how a Christian brother is to be treated if when is expelled from the congregation for wrongdoing:
Notice that while a brother may be “marked” for his disobedience and kept from association in Christian fellowship, he was not to be considered an enemy, but rather admonished as a “brother.” How many disfellowshipped Jehovah’s Witnesses do you know whose friends and relatives in the organization still consider them “brothers” and “sisters”? On the contrary, they are regarded “as an enemy,” and shunned with fear of their alleged spiritual damnation. This is the opposite of the Apostle Paul’s view that through spiritual discipline, the expelled “brother” would find his spirit saved in the day of judgment as a result of the “destruction of his flesh” during his punishment.
For a simple comparison chart the contrast these and other differences between the Jehovah’s Witness view of shunning and the Bible’s view see:
How you can heal from the affects of shunning? Lives and families are often torn apart from the Watchtower’s shunning policies. There is simply no easy “fix” to under the damage one sustains from such rejection. However we offer a few suggestions: 1. Make new friends. Despite what the Jehovah’s Witnesses told you about “apostates” (ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses), we are not a bunch of crooks and Jehovah-haters. Rather, there is a whole network of Christian witnesses who love Jehovah God. You can plug in with many ex-Jehovah’s Witness support groups around the country through meetup.com and the www.4jehovah.org website’s Online Meetup Support Group for Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses Worldwide. Check these groups out here:
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