Shall We Withdraw from "Laodicea"?

Recently in our Sunday morning Bible class we discussed the letters to the seven churches of Asia (Rev. 2-3). The final letter is to Laodicea, a congregation beset with many problems. They hold the ignominious distinction of being the only church to which nothing positive is written. They are neither zealous for nor hostile toward Jesus, they believe themselves to be wealthy and needless, and they are wholly unaware of their spiritual wretchedness, misery, poverty, blindness, and nakedness (cf. Rev. 3.17). If troubled Corinth received two letters from Paul, we could imagine Laodicea receiving six or seven!

So, suppose you are a Christian in a nearby congregation, such as Antioch or Philippi (these are some distance from Laodicea, but work with me here). Somehow, you’ve gotten news of Laodicea’s manifold troubles (whether from reading John’s Revelation or you’ve heard the rumors and they have been throughally vetted). What do you do? We know we should “withdraw” from those who are causing problems within congregations, but does that apply to whole congregations? Can the church in Antioch or Philippi “withdraw” from Laodicea??

First, we must recognize that even Laodicea wasn’t cast out by Jesus at the time of Revelation’s writing. In Rev. 3.17-18 Jesus advises them to “buy gold from Me” and be clothed in white garments, highlighting their need to return to dependence on Jesus and commit to purifying themselves. Jesus states that He loves them, and as such He reproves them and disciplines them. (Rev. 3.18-19). He is knocking at their door in v.20, indicating that there has been time extended to them, at least temporarily. This isn’t to say Jesus tolerated their error, but He clearly postponed “lampstand removal” with this opportunity to repent. If we combine this with Jesus’ words to Ephesus warning them of their lampstand being removed unless they repented and did “the deeds you did at first” (Rev. 2.5), we come to our first major point: Only Jesus declares when a congregation is no longer faithful to Him. How long Jesus will endure a group’s departure from the truth is unknown to us, but the letters to the churches show that He is aware of such departures, He condemns these and demands repentance, and He will “remove your lampstand” (ibid.) if repentance does not occur.

Secondly, all the passages in the New Testament that in some way refer to the idea of withdrawing from brethren are specific to individuals, not whole congregations. Note the individual nature of each of these passages:

“But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.” (1 Cor. 5.11-13 NASB)

“But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree—in order not to say too much—to all of you. Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.” (2 Cor. 2.5-8 NASB)

“Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.” (Gal. 6.1 NASB)

“Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us... If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” (2 Th. 3.6, 14-15 NASB)

“Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.” (1 Tim. 5.19-20 NASB)

“Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.” (Titus 3.10-11 NASB)

In each of the above cases, the group disciplines the individual. We simply do not find any references or allusions to congregations condemning or withdrawing from other congregations, even though groups like Laodicea and even Corinth gave plenty of opportunities for this to have happened.

However, it is also clear that some congregations no longer stand for the truth. The denominations are the obvious example here, but this also happens among faithful churches. At one time, Laodicea was faithful, but somewhere along the way they strayed from the “ancient paths” (Jer. 6.16; 18.15). Sadly, this pattern still occurs today, as entire congregations forsake the truth of scripture on a host of different issues ranging from marriage/divorce/remarriage to realized eschatology (the A.D. 70 doctrine) to refusing to preach/teach on sin & error, the work of the church, etc. This isn’t to say that every member of these groups agrees perfectly with every other within the group, but their silence constitutes consent!

The danger these groups pose to the faithful is present and serious. Would you worship at an unrepentant “Laodicea”, or would you allow your child to do so, knowing what you know about them? What if the Laodicean influence causes a shift within your congregation? Brethren, the institutional divide of the 50’s/60’s was not among all faithful congregations simultaneously! There was, in a sense, a “congregation zero”, a starting cancerous cell which spread its doctrinal contagion across the U.S. and even the world. To know of such problems and say “Well, that’s not my baby to rock” is putting one’s head in the sand and hoping your church family will be ok.

The question then for the faithful within these congregations, as well as Christians in neighboring congregations, is this: If “Laodicea” refuses to repent, and we have no scriptural command, example, nor inference to withdraw from the entire group, what can we do?

Eph. 5.11 NASB: “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them”

First, we must ensure that we are not ourselves unfaithful. “Charity starts at home”, and in similar fashion we must be willing to examine ourselves, lest we risk condemnation for any “beams” in our own eye (Mt. 7.5 KJV). This does not mean that perfection is the prerequisite for exposing imperfection, but any effort to deal with “Laodicea” must begin with a recognition that we might be guilty of that which we condemn in others. Congregational pride at being “faithful” or “sound” must be excised, for Laodicea demonstrates best of all that we can be woefully mistaken in our self-assessment!

1 Th. 5.14 NASB: “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

Secondly, we must admonish, encourage, help, and show patience to our brethren in these groups. To do so there must be contact, and such contact must be deliberate and intentional. Even in the previous passage Paul instructed the Ephesians to “expose” the “unfruitful deeds of darkness”. We must be willing to teach those who are in error concerning their error and expose what is in the darkness. We must be willing to not only admonish, but encourage and help, showing patience just as Jesus showed with Laodicea. His patience did not equal permission, however, as Jesus sternly declares that they were “lukewarm” and about to be vomited from His mouth (cf. Rev. 3.16 LSV). If false teaching and congregational error is distasteful enough, we will refuse to watch others continue to swallow it and will speak accordingly.

2 Tim. 3.1-5 NASB (emp. mine): “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.”

Last, there comes a point when people, and even whole congregations, will simply refuse to heed the truth. If they will not listen and repent, like those Paul describes in the above passage, there comes a point where avoiding them is the best thing we can do. We cannot in good conscience worship with brethren who refuse to stand for the truth. Furthermore, we would be foolish to believe that we are so strong in our convictions that we can associate with them and never be swayed to their way of thinking. Some preachers are simply too dangerous to our faith to give our time and attention.

Finally, just a reminder. Laodicea was given opportunity to repent by Jesus Christ. That means repentance was possible.

Let us not “write off” our fellow brethren. Talk to them. Reason with them. Discuss scripture with them. While they draw breath they can return to the truth and good standing before our Lord. It is His opinion of us that matters in the end.