For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? (1 Corinthians 5:12)
It is very popular in American culture to say that Christians aren’t suppose to judge anyone. But we find in this verse that we are to judge those “inside the church” or “anyone who bears the name of brother” (v11). In other words, we are to judge those who call themselves Christians and are part of the visible church.
In this chapter, Paul instructs the church in Corinth to judge a certain man, and put him out of fellowship. He then lays out two reasons why we are to judge people in the church, and what that judgment is to look like.
Two reasons to judge
The first reason Paul says we should judge is for the person’s own good.
you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:5)
In other words, the goal of our judging and disciplining is the repentance and restoration of the one being judged. We are to desire their salvation. If a person claiming to be a Christian is living in open, unrepentant sin, and refusing to listen to the church when confronted with it, this is an indication that their faith is not genuine. So for their good, for their ultimate salvation, we are to judge them, put them out of fellowship, disassociate ourselves from them, so they can feel the full weight of their rebellion against God and perhaps turn in repentance and be restored.
The second reason Paul says we should judge, and discipline, a person in the church, is to protect the rest of the congregation.
Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? (1 Corinthians 5:6)
Unrepentant sin, if left unchecked, in the life of the local church, will spread like an infection. Perhaps not the same sin, but a spirit of sinfulness, unrepentance, and evil, will spread throughout the congregation. So, to protect the rest of the body from infection, the diseased member must be cut off. This is drastic action, but doctors are sometimes faced with the same choice. When trying to save a patient who is suffering from a bad infection, they will at times be forced to amputate a member to save the rest of the patient’s body. That’s what is happening here, in the church.
What judgment looks like
Paul then goes on to describe what this kind of judging in the church looks like. Again he has two points.
First, we are not to associate with the person being judged. Don’t even share a meal with them. Don’t have anything to do with them. Cut them off from all fellowship.
Let’s remember that this judgment is NOT something the individual undertakes on his own, but rather, something the church as a whole puts into action. Paul began the whole affair by saying,
When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus… (1 Corinthians 5:4)
This judgment is the action of the whole church, but once the church has acted to put someone out for disciplinary reasons, then the individual members of the church are not to associate with that person.
I take Paul’s injunction against eating with them as having two aims. The church is not to allow the person under judgment to partake of the Lord’s Supper, since they have proved their faith to be false and should be treated as an unbeliever in regards to the Supper. And the individual is not to share a meal with the person, for that would be a close association with one who is in open rebellion against God while claiming to be part of God’s people.
Paul’s second point regarding the shape of our judgment is that we are judging those who claim the name of Jesus and are part of the visible church. We are not judging non-Christians, the sinners “of this world”.
…since then you would need to go out of the world. (v10)
We are to disassociate with people who claim to be Christian but don’t follow Christ. Those are the people the church is judging, our own, not non-believers. We don’t disassociate with unbelievers, otherwise we would just have to leave the world altogether, and Christ left us in the world with the mission to make disciples of the world!
One implication
One thing that goes unsaid here, but I think is implied, is that while “judging” a member and expelling them from fellowship in the life of the church, the individual members of the church should conduct themselves with humility.
This person we’re putting out, was in. They were one of us. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. None of us are without sin to cast a stone in final judgment. This judgment is for repentance and reconciliation, not damnation. And it should serve as a warning to us all, of the dangers of entertaining sin in our lives.
We are not to “judge” someone as if we are free of sin. We are just as guilty as they are. We simply want to move them to a place of acknowledging their guilt, turning from their sin, and trusting Christ in repentance.
As Paul says in another of his letters,
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)
A good reminder for us all.
In conclusion
Church discipline is something you rarely see practiced in American churches. We have deemed it intolerant, or unloving, to judge anyone. Yet the bible says that judging the person in this case, is our best avenue for leading them to repentance and salvation. And it is a safeguard on the health of the church.
Sadly, we are robbing ourselves of healthy churches, and possibly damning people to hell, by not judging them!
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