Why Disfellowshipping Is a Loving Provision

JULIAN remembers how he felt when he listened to the announcement that his son was no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses.  "My whole world seem to come to an end," he says.  "He was my oldest child, and we were very close; we did lots of things together." Julian explains that his son had always behaved well, but then he changed and began doing bad things.  Julian's wife cried again and again, and he did not know how to comfort her.  Julian says, "We kept asking ourselves if we had somehow failed as parents." 

What reasons does the Bible give for disfellowshipping someone?  And since it causes so much pain, why can we say that  disfellowshipping is an act of love? 

WHY A PERSON MAY BE DISFELLOWSHIPPED

If  one of Jehovah's Witnesses who is baptized commits a serious sin and does not repent, he will be disfellowshipped. 

Jehovah does not expect us to be perfect, but he does expect his servants to obey his laws and to remain holy. For example, Jehovah commands his servants  to avoid serious sins such as sexual immorality, idolatry, stealing, extortion, murder and spiritism. -1 Corinthians  6:9, 10; Revelation 21:8.  

What Jehovah expects of us is reasonable and is a protection for us. For example, we all want to live among peaceful, decent, and honest people, and that is what we experience among our spiritual brothers and sisters.  Why are they this way? Because  they dedicated themselves to Jehovah and promised to live by what he says in the Bible.

But what if a baptized Christian commits a serious sin because of  human weakness?  This  happened to some of Jehovah's Witnesses in the past, but Jehovah did  not reject them completely.  For example, even though King David committed adultery and murder, the prophet Nathan told David that Jehovah had forgiven his sin. -2 Samuel 122;13.  (Note: Jehovah forgave him, because King David was deeply sorry and repented, which means he asked God to please forgive him for his sins. King David was very sincere and since God can read people's hearts and minds and could see that King David was very remorseful and felt really bad for what he did, Jehovah forgave him.  When you commit a sin, you need to be remorseful and sincere and tell God  that you are very sorry for what you did, and God will see if you are sincere and if you are, he will forgive you.

Why did Jehovah forgive David? Because Jehovah could see that David was truly repentant.  (Psalm 32:1-5) Today, too, someone who sinned will be forgiven if he is truly repentant and stops doing what is bad.  (Acts 3:19; 26:20) If the elders on a judicial committee do not discern that the person is truly repentant, then he must be disfellowshipped.

If someone in your family or a close friend has been disfellowshipped, you may find it hard to accept that decision and may feel that it is too harsh.  However, Jehovah's Word clearly shows us that  disfellowshipping is an  act of love.

Next time: Why Disfellowshipping Is a Loving Provision - THE BENEFITS OF DISFELLOWSHIPPING

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