Thanks for your website, it really helps me exercise my critical thinking skills with the Scriptures.<\/p>\n
One question about withdrawal. What do you do when the offending party is the minister of the congregation? When there are only he and the deacons, and they automatically side with him on everything? The church meeting is not something that is taught in most congregations, probably intentionally in some cases. A person who has the courage to confront the so-called “spiritual leader,” who is not leading spiritually, is likely in for quite a battle. The congregation will likely suffer casualties in this situation.<\/p>\n\t
From the organization, I assume you are attending a Baptist congregation. In a church that follows the New Testament pattern, a congregation would have elders overseeing the spiritual condition of the church, deacons taking care of the day-to-day activities, preachers dealing with the teaching of the gospel. A preacher doesn’t run a congregation.<\/p>\n
If the preacher’s sin is of a personal nature, then you are to follow Jesus’ instructions, “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector<\/em>” (Matthew 18:15-17).<\/p>\n If the sin is of a public nature, then bring it before the leaders of the congregation. If they won’t stand for the truth, then it is long past time for you to find a congregation that values the truth.<\/p>\n There are always two options: either the sinner is cast out or you withdraw from those supporting sin.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Thanks for your website, it really helps me exercise my critical thinking skills with the Scriptures. One question about withdrawal. What do you do when the offending party is the minister of the congregation? When there are only he and the deacons, and they automatically side with him on everything? The church meeting is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1511,254],"class_list":["post-33091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-preachers","tag-withdrawal"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":66857,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-one-congregation-withdraw-from-another-congregation\/","url_meta":{"origin":33091,"position":0},"title":"Can one congregation withdraw from another congregation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a church withdraw from Christians who are not members of the local congregation? 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mark those who cause division and hindrances -\u00a0Romans 16:17 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Philippians 3:17\u00a0- Mark those who are good examples 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Galatians 5:15\u00a0- Don't bite and devour each other. C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Can a church withdraw from another church? Hey Brother Hamilton!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26819,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-congregation-restore-a-person-who-was-disfellowshipped-by-another-congregation\/","url_meta":{"origin":33091,"position":1},"title":"Can a congregation restore a person who was disfellowshipped by another congregation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a congregation restore a person who was disfellowshipped by another congregation? Answer: Members of a congregation withdraw their fellowship of someone in their midst who is living a sinful life. See\u00a0Withdraw Yourselves for details. Membership in a congregation and the fellowship that ensues is done on a local\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28602,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-someone-be-withdrawn-from-for-not-moving-his-seat-during-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":33091,"position":2},"title":"Can someone be withdrawn from for not moving his seat during worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: This question is in a scenario form: A member of the Lord's church was asked to move his seating in the church building during worship on several different occasions. This member refused to do so after several requests. This member was consequently brought before the congregation with the charge\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66823,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-a-withdrawn-from-brother-continues-to-attend-services\/","url_meta":{"origin":33091,"position":3},"title":"What if a withdrawn from brother continues to attend services?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings Brother Hamilton, I am concerned about the withdrawal of membership from a brother in sin. I read through your notes on fellowship and understood them, but I want to be precise. When a brother is withdrawn from fellowship with other Christians, can he still come to worship but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53899,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-someone-attends-but-hasnt-become-a-member-and-then-stops-coming-should-you-withdraw-from-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":33091,"position":4},"title":"If someone attends, but hasn’t become a member, and then stops coming, should you withdraw from him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Someone begins attending a congregation but does not ask to be a member there. He starts forsaking the assembly. Can you withdraw from him? He was baptized. Answer: Before I answer the question, I want to note that some congregations add people to their membership simply because they keep\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65196,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-this-elder-step-down\/","url_meta":{"origin":33091,"position":5},"title":"Should this elder step down?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We have a very difficult situation on our hands. I was hoping to get some advice on this. My husband and I attend the church of Christ and we have two elders at our church. One of them has an adult daughter who left the church. She was married\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33091\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}