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14 And [de] if any man [eitis]
obey [hupakouo] not [ou] our [hemon] word [logos] by [dia] this epistle, [epistole] note [semeioo] that [touton] man, and [kai] have [sunanamignumi] no [me] company with [sunanamignumi] him, [autos] that [hina] he may be ashamed. [entrepo]KJV-Interlinear
14 And if anyone does not obey
our instruction in this letter, take special note of that man and do not
associate with him, so that he may be put to shame. NASB
This verse unfortunately
had been abused and interpreted as authorizing a form of ostracism or
excommunication, of the offender, out from the church or group, and that is the
incorrect application of the principle being taught in this verse.
Our context is busybodies
or sinners due to their incorrect application of Biblical principles.People who are otherwise annoying because
they are pushy, or defiant, or belligerent, or opinionated,
or people who have selfish or deceitful agendas in their use of the Christian
faith, and so forth.
And so this is how you
are to deal with these folks.They are
presumably believers if Christ, but just misguided by their enthusiasm and lack
of preparation, or by their greed and desire to take advantage.
To not obey, means to misapply or misuse the principles of truth.Whether they abuse Christian principles
through ignorance or intentionally, is irrelevant.
The implication here is
that they have been confronted, once or twice or several times, and thus have
no excuse for not understanding their error, but continue to defy correct
instruction, and continue going about their ways.
Instruction by this letter, is a reference to the teaching from Paul within this
epistle, as we have been studying, or by their disobedience of any Biblical
principle for that matter.
Then, they are to be
isolated, not permanently, but association is simply to be withdrawn so as to
make them embarrassed or shamed because of their behavior.
This serves two
purposes.First, the disassociation
protects you from their further false teaching.That preserves your knowledge and continued growth.And second, if the person is isolated by the majority,
then they might see the error of their ways and make the necessary changes in their
life, in order to get back into the general group.
But we all know that in
the real world, belligerence attracts others of a similar attitude, clique s arise to form their own group.This is how many of the protestant
denominations began in past centuries, for example.This
is a common action is many social clubs as some members break off to form their
own club.
So, embarrassment, or
shame is not something that you or I can cause in a person, in order to get
them to change.
God is the ultimate
power who will bring shame.And Bible
doctrine is His tool of choice here in this world.
Doctrine is truth and
truth needs no help when it comes to critiquing, or correcting the errors of
our life.
2 Tim. 3:16
16 All Scripture is
inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for
training in righteousness; NASB
So it is not for you
nor I to argue or attempt to force someone into how
they should or should not think.All we
can do is state our position, then turn away, or withdraw from the discussion, and
then leave the matter in Gods hands.
Busybodies will often
times not give up but will push and push their points, without listening to
anything else.
A reasonable person will
listen.A responsible Christian will
listen, and in listening, you can see clearly the errors of the views that are
being presented or pushed onto you.
Remember, the Christian
examines everything.And we examine not
to find fault, but to objectively know the right from the wrong contained
within the argument, whatever it may be.
If the busybody is
going to change then God will accomplish that in His own good time.Perhaps the person will remember something
you have said, and at some later date will realize their error.Perhaps the person will hear your view, from
some other person.Perhaps God will bring
a hardship into their life, and through that, they will wake up.
By whatever means, your
responsibility is to speak your piece, hold on to your correct beliefs (just
make sure that what you believe is correct), do not retaliate, and simply walk
away from the conversation.This will
save you a whole lot of frustration and grief.
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