Congregationalism and Separation

In “John MacArthur: A Conservative Evangelical Preaches on Separation,” Kent Brandenburg points out that 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 teaches separation, but also asks, “How does a church practice that passage? What does it require?” Sometimes we are guilty of teaching that the Bible teaches separation without any explanation of how to apply this.

Evangelicals ignore ecclesiastical separation because of pragmatism, expedience, church growth, and, as Brother Brandenburg asserts, because of a wrong view of the church. “If the true church is all believers, like MacArthur teaches, how can the church separate? It would disobey 1 Corinthians 12:25.”

Obedience to 2 Corinthians 6:14ff cannot contradict 1 Corinthians 12:25. Perhaps Macarthur has something wrong. Yes, he does. The context shows that Paul is talking to a congregation of believers in Corinth. Further, he instructs the church at Corinth to separate from – not to keep company with – some who are called brother! Compare 1 Corinthians 5 and 2 Corinthians 6:17.

We Baptists practice a certain amount of separation at the personal level. We also practice it at the church level. A church is a congregation – a congregation of baptized believers who are in covenant together. Separation at the church level is separation at the congregational level. This has at least two aspects – (1) separation of the congregation from members who violate their covenant together (unbelief, heresy, immorality, etc.), and (2) separation of the congregation from other congregations who do not hold and practice the scriptures as the rule of faith and practice.

Our congregations ordain elders (pastor-teachers) to teach and lead the congregation. They should teach, guide, and lead about separation (e.g., when and how). Ultimately, however, the act of separation – the exclusion of a church member or the disfellowshipping of another church – is pushed down to the authority of the whole congregation (Matthew 18:17; 1 Corinthians 5:2-5; 2 Corinthians 2:6; 2 Thessalonians 3:6).

The authority of the elders is the authority to teach, to set an example of life, faith, and godliness, to oversee the direction of the church, and to lead the congregation to scripturally use the keys to the kingdom – with a certain expectation of the church to follow them, while searching the scriptures whether the things taught, examples set, oversight and leadership given be so according to the scriptures (Acts 17:11). Without experienced elders to teach, train, edify, and equip the congregation, congregationalism deteriorates into a mass of selfishness, unhinged democracy, chaos, and confusion. Elder authority (biblical teaching and godly counsel) checks this tendency toward democratic self-indulgence; church authority in turn checks authoritarian pastoral dictatorship. May we want and allow these to harmoniously function according to God’s design.