Dismemberment or Detachment?

                There’s a customer I enjoy visiting, but when I saw his new Doberman peered at me from behind the electronic fence…  I had a choice to make.  I could walk-up and greet my customer as usual and become dismembered OR I could make a phone call and physically detach myself from the dangerous environment.   (I chose the later.)

                Since the time of Christ, believers have struggled with issue of dismemberment or dis-fellowship.  We have Bible passages which speak of putting space between the true disciple of Jesus and a habitual unrepentant believer.    (These passages are found in Matthew 18:15-17, I Corinthians 5:1-8, 2 Corinthians 2: 5-11, and Romans 16:17.)   Just the same, it’s both hard and important to see that the Word exhorts us to put up TEMPORARY boundaries with the unrepentant person until they become contrite and willing to change.  

                As with my canine example above, I like to think of the word detach instead of dismember.   Why not replace ex-communication with “loving detachment?”  In place of public shunning can’t we still offer a simple smile?   Couldn’t we consider brief cordial interactions instead of complete banishment?  Even when a person has been “dis-fellowshipped,” I find no scriptural instructions exhorting us to stop praying for that individual. 

                If we “lovingly detach,” integrity of the church is maintained and our loyalty and focus remains on honoring Christ.  Through detachment we can avoid dangerous situations while at the same time giving others the freedom and privilege to be themselves.  I think George Herbert got it right when he said, “Love your neighbor yet pull not down your hedge.”   How do those hedges look in your life?  Should they grow a little higher or need a trim?

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