Letter

Dear Brother Peter,

Thank you for your recent editorial, What’s in a name? (The Tidings, Sept 2014). I especially thought your comments under the section, “Who is a brother?” were helpful. I agree that Scripture tells us that those who are validly baptized into Christ become members of the One Body and are rightly known as brethren in Christ.

As you pointed out, there are limits. There are times when it becomes necessary to withdraw fellowship from false teachers, unrepentant sinners, leaders of factions, blasphemers, and the immoral. At the same time, we need to draw a distinction between brethren who fall into these categories and brethren who are misled. Paul warns us to keep away from those who cause divisions, and who “by smooth talk and flattery deceive the hearts of the naïve” (Rom 16:18 ESV). Paul’s recommended punishment of withdrawal here was focused on those causing the divisions, not on the simple minded who had been led astray by them.

To withdraw fellowship from those badly taught or misled is to abandon them to the wolves. Instead, I would suggest that Scripture teaches us to continue to share fellowship around the Lord’s Table with these baptized believers. It is through this ongoing association that we have opportunity to reprove, rebuke and exhort one another with all long suffering. To ignore and otherwise not keep company with known members of the One Body is like the eye saying to the hand, “I have no need of thee.”

One purpose of sharing the memorial meal together is to demonstrate that those baptized into Christ are members of the One Body. Paul says, “And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body” (1Cor 10:17 NLT).

With love in Christ,

Steve Davis (Boston, MA)

Response from Editor

Dear Bro. Steve,

I thank you for your letter. I would like to address your point “I would suggest that Scripture teaches us to continue to share fellowship around the Lord’s Table with these baptized believers”.

The question of which Brethren (or Sisters) we actually hold such close fellow­ship as to share the Memorial Emblems is not an easy one, conflated as it is by our communities’ use of ecclesially based fellowship. I did try to not extend my editorial into this area: as I said “The whole question of whether we should fellowship them is quite a different discussion”. I consider this topic was adequately dealt with some years ago in the article “Fellowship Practice of Central Ecclesias”, (The Tidings, Dec 2008).