There is a story in the Bible that highlights this practice. What is shunning you ask? Shunning is to avoid the association of church member who has done some immoral action and refuses to repent. To be clear shunning is not practiced on non-Christians.

“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, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.” (1 Corinthians 5:9, 10)

Yet it is to be practiced on a member or members who for some reason or another commit a grievous immoral act and refuses to change his/her or their ways and acknowledge their wrong.

From the outside it sounds cruel and childish. I mean are you going to go around and avoid people? Shouldn’t Christians be kind and forgiving? Isn’t demonstrating the love of God and extending His grace paramount at all times? Yet read what the Bible says;

“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 5:11)

The apostle Paul is clear and straight forward it doesn’t leave much room for fanciful interpretations. Hence that leaves us to grapple with the purpose of such severe action.

Well for starters the purpose is redemption. How do I know this, well Paul says so himself.

“I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 5:5)

Paul is worried about the individuals’ eternal destiny recognizing that life on earth is not as important as being in heaven for ever. Yet we still need to understand how does this, seemingly cruel action help in that goal.

The purpose of such action is to isolate the individual in order to give time to contemplate the result of his/her actions. Without the association of collogues they formerly called friends hopefully they can see that the error of their ways are no joking matter. That their friends care enough to go to these extremes to save their souls because up to this point all else has failed.

There are other reasons, another of which was to protect the church from the possibility of seeming as if they accepted the individual’s behavior because as Paul says a “little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough” (1 Corinthians 5:6)

Yet back to the person in isolation may it always be done for the sake of redemption and as a last resort. Yet let us always keep this in mind about the isolated individual God loves them more than you and I ever would and we must trust His word and that He knows best. I rest in that because it is true God knows best. His ways are not our ways!
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Gio Marin is the pastor of the College Station and Waller Seventh-day Adventist Church in the state of Texas. He graduated in December 2007 with a master of divinity degree from Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Send him an email at GioMarinColumn@aol.com © Copyright 2009 by Gio Marin.