What do you think of shunning?

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Berean
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So, we can just hand the whole church over to the devil and stuff, and see who's left .. right?
That passage in 1Cor 5 isn't about handing the whole Church over to satan. Who gave you that idea? And that individual ended up coming back in repentance which is the goal of Church discipline.
 
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GingerBeer

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I have to admit my take on this subject is not biblical. Personally I don’t like the idea of shunning an unbeliever even if they did believe at one time. Obviously I wouldn’t condone what they are doing and I would make it clear that I strongly disagree with their decision but I would constantly be doing everything I could to help bring them back to Christ.
How would you deal with someone who went from being a Calvinist, for example, to being a Methodist arminian?
 
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Gregory Thompson

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That passage in 1Cor 5 isn't about handing the whole Church over to satan. Who gave you that idea? And that individual ended up coming back in repentance which is the goal of Church discipline.
The church is currently full of denominations that imply or declare that many of their neighbour denomination are not Christian or Saved, since the church is actively blaspheming the Holy Spirit in one way or another, the handing over would be apt.
 
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Maria Billingsley

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That one way to put it but it does not really answer my question.
They are fringe.... unloving and unforgiving sects of Christianity. They error if they shun. Shunning is a sin. Calvinism is a sin. Works salvation is a sin. Take your pick. Shunning expresses cultic type behaviour.
 
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Berean
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The church is currently full of denominations that imply or declare that many of their neighbour denomination are not Christian or Saved, since the church is actively blaspheming the Holy Spirit in one way or another, the handing over would be apt.
Each local Church should have oversight of it's own, not other Churches. The pastor is their to feed and protect his flock, not try to shepherd other flocks.
 
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Gregory Thompson

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Each local Church should have oversight of it's own, not other Churches. The pastor is their to feed and protect his flock, not try to shepherd other flocks.
Should is as should does ... but not as it is.
 
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Peter J Barban

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Years ago when I was a young Christian, my roommate's best friend, Phil, came out of a cult-like church and he was shunned. They even cut up pictures of him and sent them back to him in the mail.

He joined our church and was very wounded by the experience. Fortunately, my roommate and others helped him recover. It was a big turning point for Phil when he was able to laugh during a small group prayer/worship session.

That kind of shunning is evil and should never be done by Christians.
 
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BNR32FAN

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How would you deal with someone who went from being a Calvinist, for example, to being a Methodist arminian?

I don’t know what Methodists believe. But for the most part I would encourage them to look into the Eastern Orthodox teachings. ;)
 
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But_First_Coffee

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What about those who intentionally game the system?

"Fool me once or twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, shame on me"
Eventually, you do have to cut ties if they keep doing what they're doing.
I'm not exempt. In the past year, my husband and I have cut ties with not 1, not 2 but 5 people all who were dragging us into negativity and away from God. BUT
I pray for them. IF they ever came back around and I could see and really FEEL real change, I would talk to them. Maybe we would not be the way we were before, but I wouldn't keep them totally blocked if they were open to hearing my advice, sharing faith with me, etc...
 
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nonaeroterraqueous

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How would you deal with someone who went from being a Calvinist, for example, to being a Methodist arminian?

If all we're talking about is changing denominations, then it hardly matters. I grew up a Calvinist kid in an Arminian Pentecostal family and church, and later switched to a cessationist Baptist church (I am not cessationist). I have never yet attended a denomination that I wholly agreed with. Moving from one denomination to another is merely exchanging one imperfect set of ideology for another, though many are as good as necessary to be called brothers and sisters in Christ.

If a brother had switched to Orthodoxy or Catholicism, then it would be a switch to a church that regarded itself as a different religion, which did not consider me a member of Christ's church. The schism in that move would be rather unavoidable. I would not shun such a person, but the relationship would be cooled. I would not chat about doctrine as a fellow believer with common ground, because any apparent common ground could be a mere confusion of terms.

The idea of shunning appeals to me greatly, though. Usually, around late November to mid-December I find myself regretting that I had not been shunned by my natal family.
 
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Berean
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I just look for a church that doesn't act like reading the bible suddenly makes them God.
I don't think you'd find such a Church, unless it was a cult. Have you seen any such Churches?
 
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Chris V++

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If a brother had switched to Orthodoxy or Catholicism, then it would be a switch to a church that regarded itself as a different religion, which did not consider me a member of Christ's church
But is that the same thing as not considering you Christian? I ve been told they distinguish between being Christian and being a member of Christ's Church, as opposed to the protestant view of an invisible church comprising all true believers.
 
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eleos1954

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Some religions that call themselves christian shun ex-members. Shunning can go as far as cutting off family, friends, and every other associate. What do you think of that as a Christian response to someone leaving the faith or moving to another?

Sometimes it is necessary in extreme cases but we are to be patient and kind and point to the faith of Jesus and pray they will repent and be brought into ... or ... back into the faith.

Luke 12 (Jesus said)

51Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. 53They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. ”

1st Corinthians 5

11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

2nd Thessalonians

14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed.
 
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Jermayn

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That may be so if only the religiously narrow and superior (in their own eyes) did the shunning but they urge it upon mothers and father, sisters and brothers, children and and spouses in some cases and with threats that failure to shun means that the ones who fail will be expelled and shunned too. That is cruel and very hard to bear for the ones shunned by their loved ones.
I have family members that are Jehovah's Witness's who did this. They just disappeared one day with their children. It really hurt their parents that they may never see their children or grandchildren again. It hurts, but we have to keep Christ the center of our own lives and carry on.
 
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nonaeroterraqueous

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But is that the same thing as not considering you Christian? I ve been told they distinguish between being Christian and being a member of Christ's Church, as opposed to the protestant view of an invisible church comprising all true believers.

They won't say that we're not Christian, but they will say that we're not members of the Church (rather than a church). I went with their wording out of fairness, though I don't see any difference between a Christian and a member of Christ's church.
 
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thecolorsblend

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WHY do people keep mis-using the term "cult?"
The word "cult" is a lot like "idolatry" and "necromancy".

People don't know what those words mean. They just think they do.
 
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