Disfellowshipped Former Members

The Practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses

According to Jehovah’s Witnesses, this practice is rooted solely in Paul’s instructions in In 1 Corinthians 5:11-13. The goal is said to be to maintain the spiritual purity of the church and to encourage the sinner to repentance.

Disfellowshipping means that Jehovah’s Witnesses reject the person socially and humanely. For example, if the disfellowshipped person has a job where Jehovah’s Witnesses are customers, it may also include an economic boycott¹.

Disfellowshipping deters members from deviating from the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses and prevents the congregation from being influenced by viewpoints other than those of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

What the Bible Teaches

Jesus socialized with apostate sinners, and ate with them, to help them. When Jesus was criticized for this, he explained his Christian example in Matthew 9:12,13:

Those who are healthy do not need a doctor, but the sick do. For I have not come to invite the righteous, but sinners.

Jehovah’s Witnesses completely disregard Christ’s teachings on this point. 2 John 9 plainly states that “He who does not adhere to the teaching of Christ, but goes beyond it, is not united to God.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses focus solely on Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 5:11-13:

… You are to stop associating with anyone who is called a brother and who still practices sexual immorality or is greedy, worships idols, mocks others, is a drunkard, or extorts money from others. You are not even to eat with such a person.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, in this case, are a follower of Paul and not a follower of Jesus.  Even Paul warned Christians not to do this in 1 Corinthians. Corinthians 3:4,5:

For when you say, "I stick to Paul," and another, "I to A·peʹllos," are you not like all other people? Yes, what is Paul? We are only servants who helped you become believers by doing the work the Lord gave us.

With whom did Paul teach that Christians should not eat?

What Paul is talking about is not a universal teaching about disfellowshipping, but what Paul introduces must be understood in the context that Paul is talking about.

In the 1 Corinthians 5:11-13, Paul instructs Christians to avoid social association with someone who calls himself a brother but lives in serious sin. The fact that 1 Corinthians 5:11-13 specifically limits the target audience to someone who “calls himself a brother” precludes the passage from being applied to persons who have withdrawn from the congregation or to disfellowshipped persons who do not seek to appear as part of the congregation. Paul emphasizes that this is so that no one can practice “wickedness” under the guise of being part of the Christian congregation.

The same idea follows from 2. Thessalonians 3:6 which only applies to “a brother” who is still part of the congregation, i.e. not one who has already been removed as a member. Paul emphasizes that he does not mean that Christians should stop associating with such a person in the sense that they socially isolate them. On the contrary, 2 Thessalonians 3:15 that although Christians should “cease associating with him,” they should not look upon him “as an enemy, but continue to guide him as a brother.”

The Bible says that Christians should relate to the person as they relate to all other people outside the church, i.e. “as men of the nations” (1 Corinthians 1:1). Corinthians 5:12-13). This view finds support in Matthew 18:15-17 which addresses another situation, namely the handling of conflicts between Christians, in which the person is to be regarded “as one of the nations or as a tax collector.” The Bible thus teaches that a former Christian should be treated as one of the world, neither more nor less. There is no reason to treat him harshly than others in the world, after all, he has been a brother.

The Epistle of James in James 2:1-4 warns against showing partiality by favoring some worldly people over others, emphasizing that God is not partial (Romans 2:11). Hence, those who leave Jehovah’s organization or are disfellowshipped cannot be treated worse than other worldly ones.

Is disfellowshipping loving?

Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that disfellowshipping is loving. There is no support in Biblical texts that say that disfellowshipping is neither good nor loving. The fact that Jesus himself did not practice disfellowshipping but instead urged his followers to be merciful is a strong signal of Jesus’ views on disfellowshipping.

In social psychology, it is well documented that ostracism (being excluded) immediately triggers pain and threatens four basic needs: 1) belonging 2) self-worth 3) control and 4) meaningful existence (Williams “Temporal Need-Treath Model”). The longer the duration of the exclusion, the greater the psychological burden will be. Two large meta-analyses show that isolation increases mortality. Holt-Lundstad et al. (2010) shows that people with strong relationships have a 50% better survival rate than people with weaker relationships. A later review (2015) confirms that perceived loneliness and social isolation are associated with increased mortality. When the relationship with family and network is systematically severed indefinitely, you get precisely the persistent “need-threat” that research says is harmful, and you amplify the health risks documented in the meta-analyses.

When Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that disfellowshipping is a loving arrangement, it assuages guilt in those who are to disfellowship others. The practice is thus given a packaging that appears more responsible.

Jesus’ teaching that the two most important commandments are to love God and to love one’s neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40) is relevant in assessing the practice of disfellowshipping. The illustration of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) shows that one’s “neighbor” includes those whom the Jews considered apostates. Jesus’ example and illustration challenge any practice that leads to a total rejection of people, even those who have broken God’s laws. This means that persons who are disfellowshipped or have withdrawn are also to be considered “neighbors” to whom Christians are obliged to show charity. This excludes a practice of total social rejection as it will not be possible to both show love towards such people while totally rejecting them. Treating certain individuals as nonexistent is unloving and contrary to the Bible’s constitution at Matthew 22:37-40.

If there is an apparent contradiction between Paul’s exhortation not to eat with or greet certain people, and the requirement to show charity, then one cannot practice Paul’s words contrary to Matthew 22:37-40 because the entire Bible rests on Christ’s law of love.

It is unbiblical for children or parents to disfellowship each other

on 1 Corinthians. 1 Timothy 5:8 emphasizes the importance of providing for one’s own family members, and this principle applies regardless of a person’s spiritual standpoint. If family ties are broken due to disfellowshipping, the obligation to provide for one’s own family members does not cease. Jehovah’s Witnesses limit this to minor children living at home, but there is no Scriptural evidence to suggest that the duty to provide for one’s family ends at a time other than death.

An example of this is found in John 9:22-34, where the blind man is expelled from the synagogue. Although his parents were afraid of losing their affiliation with the synagogue, we see no indication that they broke off contact with him. This shows that even in strict religious practice, family relationships were maintained.

Another biblical principle that challenges the practice of breaking contact with disfellowshipped family members is the commandment to honor one’s father and mother. Ephesians 6:2-3 quotes this commandment, adding, “This is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you, and you may live long on the earth.” This principle is not only about respect but also about caring and supporting parents, which is an integral part of God’s purpose for the family. Children who cut off contact with parents because they are disfellowshipped violate this basic Scriptural command to honor their parents. Jesus criticized the Pharisees for the same thing. In Matthew 15:5-7:

But you learn that if someone says to his father or mother, 'What I own that could be used to help you is something I have promised to give to God,' then he  does not have to honor his father at all. In this way, you have set God's Word aside because of your tradition. You hypocrites, Isaiah aptly prophesied about you when he said: 'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.'"

The practice of Jehovah’s Witnesses undermines the Bible’s principles of honoring parents. If children cut off contact with disfellowshipped parents because of the church’s practices and religious traditions, then they set aside God’s Word.

The Significance of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Later Revision of Their Practices

The Governing Body has recently opened the way for members to use their individual conscience to decide whether to briefly greet and welcome a disfellowshipped person to the meeting. The Bible does not provide such detailed guidelines for the degree of social interaction, such as how many words are okay. The Bible warns against going beyond what is written (1 Corinthians 1:1). Corinthians 4:6), and Jesus’ words in Matthew 15:9 warn against teaching the commandments of men as if they were God’s commandments. Still, Jehovah’s Witnesses have chosen to go beyond what the Bible says by defining that a short greeting is okay, but not long conversations.

1. Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses v. Wall (2018), Supreme Court Canada ↩︎

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