Ministry of Grace Church

But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.

Truth to Learn

There are times when Christians are supposed to judge others.

Behind the Words

The Greek word translated “command” is parangellō, which we saw back in verse four. It refers to a command given by a superior officer which is passed on from one person to the next.

The word “name” is from onoma, which specifically means “name.” However in the common usage of the first century it usually referred to the title or authority or someone.

“Withdraw” is from a form of stellō, meaning “to set fast,” that is, “to repress or avoid.” In the middle voice, as it is here, it means “to withdraw oneself from.”

Adelphos is the word translated “brother.” It specifically refers to someone from the same womb, hence, “a brother or sister.” It is used throughout the New Testament to refer to “a brother or sister in the Lord,” that is, another Christian.

“Disorderly” is translated from ataktōs, which is made up of the privative a, meaning “not” and a form of tassō, meaning “to arrange in an orderly manner.” Thus, ataktōs refers to a person who is disorderly or neglectful of their responsibilities.

Meaning Explained

A couple of verses back, the Apostle Paul expressed his faith that the readers of this letter would continue obeying the commands that he was passing along. He now gives one of those commands, specifically stating that we are to withdraw ourselves from other Christians whose lives are not demonstrating obedience to God.

There are two things that we can learn from today’s verse. The first is that we are supposed to judge the behavior of other Christians. Even though Christ said, “Judge  not, that you be not judged.” In Matthew 7:1, he was referring to not having a judgmental attitude. There are several examples in the New Testament where we are told to make judgments about others and this is one of them. Paul does not tell us here that we are to condemn these disorderly and disobedient brothers and sisters, we simply are to withdraw ourselves from them. The reason for withdrawing from them is two-fold. It sends a message to the disobedient ones that their actions are inappropriate and it keeps us from being adversely affected by their behavior. It’s hard enough to walk the Christian walk without having others affecting our actions by their bad example.

The other thing we need to learn from today’s verse is that we should not carry this teaching to extremes. There are some churches which teach that if a brother or sister is not withdrawing himself or herself from another Christian who is disorderly, then we should break fellowship with them. Carried to an extreme, this isolates such churches from nearly all other Christians. Such churches become very legalistic and completely lose their effectiveness in ministering to others and witnessing to the lost.

Application

We need to make judgments concerning other Christians, but we need to do so in love, as our Lord would do. We also need to be willing to welcome them back into the fold when they repent. Let love and mercy guide your actions, not vengeance.