Jehovah's Witnesses and Shunning Reconciled with New Testament Jehovah's Witnesses shun people who fall foul of scriptural law,


  Jehovah’s Witness kids grow up knowing that if they ever mess up, their parents will leave them — and that’s scary (quote from person interviewed in link above)


and looking at what I believe are scriptural reasons for shunning, they seem to be from the following


Proverbs 4:15


  Shun it, do not take it;Turn away from it, and pass it by. (NWT)

Job 2:3


  And Jehovah said to Satan: “Have you taken note of my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth. He is an upright man of integrity, fearing God and shunning what is bad. He is still holding firmly to his integrity, even though you try to incite me against him to destroy him for no reason.” (NWT)(Job said "It is unthinkable for me to declare you men righteous! Until I die, I will not renounce my integrity!" - Job 27:5 - NWT)



but how can Jehovah's Witnesses reconcile shunning in the manner prescribed by the organisation with Matthew 7:1


  “Stop judging that you may not be judged; (NWT)
  Do not judge, or you too will be judge (NIV)


Romans 12:17-19


  17 Return evil for evil to no one. Take into consideration what is fine from the viewpoint of all men.18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, be peaceable with all men.19 Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but yield place to the wrath; for it is written: “‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay,’ says Jehovah.” (NWT)


and


  You must love your neighbor as yourself. - Matthew 22:39-40, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14 &amp; James 2:8


Plus, should you not be trying to stear them back to the correct way?
Before reconciling the shunning arrangement with these Scriptures, I'll first explain the situation.
Being shunned by Jehovah's Witnesses is a consequence of a person being either disfellowshipped or disassociated. A disfellowshipped person is someone who was previously a baptized member of Jehovah's Witnesses but then was found to be unrepentant in committing a serious sin. A disassociated person is someone who was previously baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses but who later expressed that they no longer wished to be known as one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Shunning is a last resort for those who have not heeded the counsel of the elders in their congregation. A great effort has already been made to steer the person back, but it has failed. Now it is the responsibility of the elders to maintain purity and unity within the congregation. When a person is jeopardizing that purity and poses a danger to the faith of others in the congregation, the congregation must cease all association with that person. In time, the person may discover the error of their decision, and at that time the elders would be happy to help this person return to the fold.
The Biblical basis for the practice of shunning is found in these scriptures:

1 Corinthians 5:1-6, 11-13
1 Actually sexual immorality is reported among you, and such immorality as is not even found among the nations—of a man living with his father’s wife. 2 And are you proud of it? Should you not rather mourn, so that the man who committed this deed should be taken away from your midst? 3 Although absent in body, I am present in spirit, and I have already judged the man who has done this, as if I were actually with you. 4 When you are gathered together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and knowing that I am with you in spirit along with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you must hand such a man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven ferments the whole batch of dough?
...
11 But now I am writing you to stop keeping company with anyone called a brother who is sexually immoral or a greedy person or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner, not even eating with such a man. 12 For what do I have to do with judging those outside? Do you not judge those inside, 13 while God judges those outside? “Remove the wicked person from among yourselves.”

From this first scripture, we can see that Paul had the authority to judge a man in the congregation at Corinth. The command was to stop associating with the man who had committed sexual immorality, which is a serious sin. This drastic action was necessary in order to avoid the &quot;leaven&quot; from spreading to the rest of the congregation.

Romans 16:17-20
17 Now I urge you, brothers, to keep your eye on those who create divisions and causes for stumbling contrary to the teaching that you have learned, and avoid them. 18 For men of that sort are slaves, not of our Lord Christ, but of their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattering speech they seduce the hearts of unsuspecting ones. 19 Your obedience has come to the notice of all, and so I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise as to what is good, but innocent as to what is evil. 20 For his part, the God who gives peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. May the undeserved kindness of our Lord Jesus be with you.

In this scripture, we can see the command to avoid those who create divisions and causes for stumbling which disrupt the peace and unity of the congregation. Obedience to this command is a cause for rejoicing because it is seen by all.

2 Timothy 2:16-18
16 But reject empty speeches that violate what is holy, for they will lead to more and more ungodliness, 17 and their word will spread like gangrene. Hy·me·naeʹus and Phi·leʹtus are among them. 18 These men have deviated from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already occurred, and they are subverting the faith of some.
1 Timothy 1:20
20 Hy·me·naeʹus and Alexander are among these, and I have handed them over to Satan so that they may be taught by discipline not to blaspheme.

In these two scriptures, we can see the repeated mention of Hy·me·naeʹus, a man who participated in misleading the congregation and was thereafter disciplined by being &quot;handed over to Satan,&quot; the same discipline that was given to the sexually immoral man in Corinth.

2 John 9-11
9 Everyone who pushes ahead and does not remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God. The one who does remain in this teaching is the one who has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your homes or say a greeting to him. 11 For the one who says a greeting to him is a sharer in his wicked works.

This scripture discusses how to treat those who do not remain in &quot;the teaching of the Christ.&quot; It makes it very clear that even greeting these persons causes us to become associated with their wrongdoing.
We can see throughout all of these verses that shunning these wrongdoers has several purposes:

To prevent the congregation from following after their sinful course
To restore peace and unity to the congregation
To protect the reputation of God's people
To discipline the wrongdoer so that they might return to Jehovah

To reconcile these purposes with the commands to &quot;stop judging&quot; and to &quot;love your neighbor as yourself,&quot; it's important to note the example of Jesus himself in how he demonstrated these principles. Did he show a judgemental attitude in how he dealt with others? Did he completely hold back from counseling others? No. Jesus was able to discipline others with righteousness by using the Scriptures. (2 Timothy 3:16)