Self-Excommunication and Matthew 18

In this blog post I will examine two comments made by Senior Pastor Mark McLellan in his Pastor's Corner commentary found on his congregation's website. The entry in question is titled In The Beginning... (The publication date was not provided. The link was sent to me on Tuesday, October 26, 2011.) In this essay McLellan comments on the two couples and the one single person who have been disfellowshipped from his congregation in the 17 years of his leadership. He also explains his understanding of the basis for congregational disfellowship in Matthew 18:15-20.

As a former elder of the Harvest I take issue with this commentary because I was part of one of these disfellowships and I do not recall the same outcome. I would be remiss not to address it. In addition, I find his understanding of the Matthew 18 passage flawed and believe that this errant understanding goes beyond the halakah of a local community and it will have ramifications that effect other Messianic communities. I believe that a proper understanding of the passages in Scripture that instruct us how to disfellowship are vitally important.

I find these two statements in this public commentary quite alarming and deserving of closer examination and questioning; especially in light of recent events.

Self-Excommunication

In his commentary, McLellan states the following regarding the single person who was disfellowshipped from the Harvest:

“The single person had excommunicated herself and we simply acknowledged and upheld it.”

How does an individual excommunicate herself?
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, excommunication is 1) an ecclesiastical censure depriving a person of the rights of church membership and 2) exclusion from fellowship in a group or community. So self-excommunication would mean excluding oneself from fellowship in a community. This is a general description based on the latter definition. But in an ecclesiastical sense, self-excommunication would mean that the individual has deprived herself of church membership. How does that work?

How does someone perform a self-excommunication?
In the Catholic Church self-excommunication can be 'automatic' if a member of the church commits a sin, like having or even approving an abortion. By willfully committing a sinful act, a person could instantly cut themselves off from the Catholic Church. Also, people who choose to 'officially' leave the Catholic Church and renounce their faith can go through a process of de-baptising themselves. This is also a form of self-excommunication. I do not believe that either of these examples is what is being referred to in McLellan's statement.

What is self-excommunication in a Torah Community?
The woman who 'excommunicated herself' remains a believer in the Body of Messiah today. She has not renounced her faith like the example above. It has been common knowledge that she joined another Messianic Community in the Metro Denver area. So, what is self-excommunication? How did she excommunicate herself? And how was this 'simply acknowledged and upheld?' Are self-excommunications only binding to the local kehilat? Should every local kehilat have self-excommunication as part of it's halakah? All of this is a very puzzling enigma that begs for further clarification.

Matthew 18:15-20

In his commentary, McLellan explains his understanding of the basis for congregational disfellowship in Matthew 18:15-20:

“…the basis of congregational disfellowship found in Matt. 18:15-20 is not the initial sin being brought to (or attempting to be brought to) the attention of the respondent(s), it is the on going and stubborn refusal of the respondent to simply meet with the petitioner/witnesses from the congregation they are a part of, to hear the initial concerns.”

According to Mark McLellan’s understanding of Matthew 18:15-20, the sin of the individual is not the basis for congregational disfellowship, it is the refusal to meet. With this rationale, an individual can continue in their sin and avoid disfellowhip by simply meeting with the person or people who are concerned about their sinful behavior. I do not see 'simply meeting' as the goal of the passage. While a meeting is a vehicle for communication, it is not the basis for disfellowship. Matthew 18:15 says 'go to your brother', it doesn't say 'call a meeting and have him come to you.' Nowadays 'going to your brother' can be in the form of a personal visit, a phone call, or even a letter; but it must be done 'in private.' Announcing to the entire community or Cc-ing everyone on your email list that you are beginning 'Step One' of the Matthew 18 Process is not private. It has to be one-on-one, in private.

The basis for congregational disfellowship in Matthew 18:15-20 is the refusal of the sinning brother or sister to repent of their transgression after it has been brought to their attention. The point is to save them from his or her immoral behavior and if they refuse to repent, to protect the body from their leavening sin (1 Corinthians 5:1-6).

The steps of Matthew 18:15-20 are clear:

1. Go to the sinning brother in private, one-on-one, and show him his sin so he will repent (v.15).
2. If he doesn’t listen to you, then take one or two other people with you, as witnesses, and confront him again (v.16).
3. If he still refuses to listen to you and your witnesses, then tell the entire ekklesia (local community) (v.17a).
4. If he refuses to listen to the entire community then disfellowship (excommunicate) him (v.17b). This includes contacting other local congregations and alerting them to this situation encouraging them to point the sinning brother back to the ekklesia so he can make amends.

A few side notes: When initiating the steps of Matthew 18:15-20, whether you are a church leader or church member, if you intentionally manipulate the process, you might be guilty of sin. Also, Step One is not a summons to come and stand before a board of directors, but a private one-on-one confrontation to win a brother from his sin. And finally, Step One should never be announced to the entire community.

In conclusion, after reading Senior Pastor Mark McLellan's In The Beginning... commentary I am left wondering—how does an individual excommunicate herself? Is it even possible? And then I am left hoping that nobody has been disfellowshipped for not attending a meeting. Excommunication and disfellowship are reserved for immoral, unrepentant, leavening sin within a community.

Below is a well balanced and practical teaching on this issue:

Excommunication and Church Discipline (00:21:00)
By Kevin Swanson of Reformation Church in Castle Rock, Colorado 8/22/2010

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Related Articles:

In The Beginning...
By Mark McLellan

Bishop Says Nun is Automatically Excommunicated for Rubberstamping Hospital Abortion
From LifeSiteNews.com, By Peter J. Smith, May 17, 2010

Debaptise Yourself - Making It Official
National Secular Society

What Every Roman Catholic Should Know about Self-Excommunication
by Robert Schutzius, September 15, 2009




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