When someone leaves Jehovah’s Witnesses: who are they, really?

Recognizable Questions Is every ex-Jehovah’s Witness automatically an apostate? Is leaving the organization the same as leaving Jehovah? Is someone who no longer believes automatically a wrongdoer? What if someone once behaved seriously wrongly, but has changed since then? How do you know whether someone has changed when you hardly have any contact anymore? Does 2 John 9-11, according to Jehovah’s Witnesses, apply to everyone who has been disfellowshipped? How did Jesus treat doubters, sinners, and repentant people? And how much can we actually know about another person’s heart? When an announcement is made in a congregation that someone is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses , other congregation members do not automatically know the whole story behind that announcement. According to the current official information of Jehovah’s Witnesses, someone who has committed a serious sin is not immediately disfellowshipped. Elders first try to help the person change their behavior. If, according to that explanation, someone continues despite repeated efforts to act contrary to biblical moral standards and shows no repentance, they may be disfellowshipped. The announcement to the congregation then simply states that the person is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The current official explanation also says that Witnesses do not have casual association with such a person. Since 2024, it has explicitly been said that someone who has been disfellowshipped does not have to be completely ignored: a Witness may, based on conscience, decide to invite that person to a meeting or greet them briefly there. But that raises another question: What do the other congregation members actually know about the person behind that announcement? Was the person disfellowshipped for serious wrongdoing? Did they themselves decide to stop being one of Jehovah’s Witnesses? Has their belief changed? Do they still believe in Jehovah? Have they become an atheist? Do they regret conduct from their past? Or do most congregation members know nothing about it at all? Those are different situations. This article does not want to conclude in advance that every form of congregation removal is wrong. 1 Corinthians 5 really does contain instructions about serious wrongdoing within the Christian congregation. But the Bible contains more texts. And the current publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses also make certain distinctions. What is a wrongdoer according to 1 Corinthians 5? In 1 Corinthians 5:11-13 , Paul speaks about someone who calls himself a brother and is, among other things, sexually immoral, greedy, an idolater, someone who insults others, a drunkard, or an extortioner. Paul then says that such a person must be removed from among them. So there is a clear biblical argument for the idea that: Serious wrongdoing within a Christian congregation can have consequences. The current official explanation of Jehovah’s Witnesses likewise bases the disfellowshipping arrangement partly on this text. It speaks of someone who continues practicing serious sin and shows no repentance. But look closely at what Paul is describing here as well: conduct . That raises a question: Is leaving a religious organization in itself the same as the kind of wrongdoing Paul describes in this list? 1 Corinthians 5 does not name leaving a modern religious organization as a separate category in this list. That does not prove that every reason for leaving a religion is biblically valid. It only means that different issues need to be carefully distinguished from one another. What does ‘apostasy’ mean according to JW literature itself? Insight on the Scriptures explains that the Greek word apostasia has, among other meanings, the sense of departure, abandonment, and rebellion . In a Christian context, it is applied there to religious apostasy and turning away from what the publication considers the true cause and worship of God. But the same source makes an important distinction: ‘Falling’ is not necessarily the same as ‘apostasy’. According to Insight on the Scriptures , someone may fall because of weakness, whereas apostasy is described as a definite and deliberate turning away from the path regarded as righteous. That is important for this topic. When someone is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, do outsiders then automatically know what has happened inside that person? Was there rebellion? Unbelief? A different Bible interpretation? A troubled conscience? Disappointment? Grief? Or has someone simply, after research, come to a different conviction? The term ex-JW does not tell you that. You can also leave the organization on your own The current public FAQ of Jehovah’s Witnesses explicitly says that someone can leave the organization. According to JW.org, this can be done by saying orally or in writing that a person no longer wants to be known as a Jehovah’s Witness, or by actions that show that, for example by joining another religion. The same FAQ also makes a distinction between leaving and someone who has simply become less active or no longer goes to meetings. According to JW.org, inactivity does not automatically mean that someone has given up their faith. That distinction matters, because: being inactive, voluntarily leaving the organization, and being removed for unrepentant serious wrongdoing are not automatically the same situation. Is a wrongdoer automatically an apostate? Not necessarily. Take someone with a serious alcohol problem. According to Jehovah’s Witness standards, that person may behave seriously wrongly while still being fully convinced that Jehovah exists and that Jehovah’s Witnesses are the true religion. In that case, his behavior and his belief are two separate questions. Conversely, someone may say: ‘I don’t drink excessively, I don’t cheat on my partner, I don’t steal, and I try to be good to other people. But I no longer believe that the Governing Body is guided by God.’ Then at least a change in belief has taken place. That is why it helps to keep three questions separate: What does someone do? What does someone believe? Why has their belief changed? Those are not the same questions. Is every ex-JW automatically an apostate? You cannot infer that from the word ex-JW alone. One former Jehovah’s Witness has become an atheist. Another has remained a Christian. Yet another still believes in Jehovah and Jesus, but no longer believes that Jehovah’s Witnesses are God’s exclusive organization. Someone else may not know what they believe at all for the time being. And someone may have been removed from the congregation because of serious wrongdoing while still being fully convinced of Jehovah’s Witness doctrine. So the fact that someone is no longer part of the organization does not tell the whole story about what they currently believe about God, Jesus, or the Bible. Is leaving the organization the same as leaving Jehovah? Suppose someone says: ‘I still believe in Jehovah. I believe in Jesus. I still read the Bible. But I no longer believe that Jehovah’s Witnesses are God’s only true organization.’ Has that person left Jehovah? Or has their belief about a religious organization changed? A Jehovah’s Witness may, on the basis of their religious conviction, feel that these matters are closely connected. After all, the organization’s own JW literature links apostasy with turning away from what it considers true worship of God. But for the Bible reader who is investigating, a theological question still remains: How is it determined from the Bible which present-day religious organization is God’s visible organization? Only when someone accepts that first belief can they draw further conclusions from it. So in the end, that is a theological conclusion , not a neutral established fact. Is someone who no longer believes a wrongdoer? Suppose someone says: ‘I prayed for years and tried to hold on to my faith. In the end I can no longer believe that God exists.’ A believer may think their conclusion about God is wrong. The Bible also contains warnings about unbelief. But that is not automatically the same as saying: ‘Therefore this person is morally bad.’ Someone who does not believe in God can still be honest, faithful to their partner, caring toward their children, helpful to others, and sincerely try to live according to their conscience. Here too it helps to distinguish between two questions: What does someone believe? How does someone live? Job shows that we do not always know the whole story Job lost his children, his possessions, and his health. His grief became so great that in Job 3 he cursed the day of his birth. He asked profound and sometimes painful questions. That does not mean every former Jehovah’s Witness can be compared to Job. But Job does illustrate something important: An outsider does not automatically know everything that came before someone’s spiritual struggle. We may be able to see: ‘He no longer believes.’ But do we know how much he prayed? How long he tried to hold on to his faith? What events led up to it? What questions he investigated? We can reject someone’s conclusion without automatically knowing their full inner history. Thomas doubted — and Jesus addressed his doubt After Jesus’ resurrection, Thomas did not believe the other disciples. He wanted proof. In John 20 we see that Jesus does not simply write him off. Thomas is given the opportunity to examine his doubt and then comes to faith. That does not prove that every doubt is justified. But it does show: Doubt can be approached with conversation, patience, and evidence. What if someone truly behaved seriously wrong? Take another situation. Someone is removed from the congregation because of serious wrongdoing. Years later he has stopped that behavior and says: ‘What I did back then was wrong. I am truly sorry.’ But meanwhile his religious conviction has also changed. He no longer believes that Jehovah’s Witnesses are God’s organization and therefore does not want to return. Then two questions arise: Does he regret his former behavior? Does he want to become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses again? In theory, the answer can be yes to the first question and no to the second. Those are conceptually two different questions. ‘And yet some of you were such persons’ It is precisely here that 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 is interesting. Paul mentions various forms of serious wrongdoing. He then tells the Christians in Corinth that some of them used to be that way. Their past is not denied. But their past is also not presented as something that must necessarily define them forever. So put 1 Corinthians 5 and 6 side by side: 1 Corinthians 5: serious wrongdoing is taken seriously. 1 Corinthians 6: people can change. That raises an honest question: If someone has truly stopped his former wrongdoing and regrets it, how should we view him years later? The Bible text does not directly provide a procedure for every modern situation. So in this article I would not draw an absolute conclusion from it either. But how does his family know he has changed? This is where a practical dilemma arises. Suppose someone was removed ten years ago because of drunkenness. His former friends and family may remember mostly that old story. But by now he has not drunk excessively for years. Or someone was removed because of sexual immorality and later completely changed his life and became repentant. When there is little contact, those who keep their distance may have only limited insight into the development that has taken place since then. Their last extensive picture of that person may therefore come from a very different period of his life. Maybe someone went to therapy. Overcame an addiction. Acknowledged his mistakes. Built a family. Made different choices. And maybe he thinks: ‘To you, I am still the person I was back then.’ That is an important human dilemma: How do you know who someone is today when you hardly speak to him anymore? 2 John 9-11: this was where the article needed to be sharpened This is the part I would update most clearly after checking the source. The Watchtower of August 2024 now explicitly distinguishes between different situations. In the case of someone who has been removed from the congregation, an individual Witness can, according to his Bible-trained conscience, decide to invite him to a meeting and briefly greet him there. Socializing remains excluded according to the same publication. The same Watchtower then discusses 2 John 9-11 separately. The publication says that John and Paul were not talking about the same situation. According to the current JW explanation, 2 John concerns people who actively promote apostate teaching or wrong conduct . For such people, that explanation says they are not to be greeted or invited to a meeting. The current FAQ on JW.org also makes that exception explicit: in what it calls “extreme cases,” someone may actively try to undermine the congregation or actively promote wrong conduct; in that connection the organization refers to 2 John 9-11. That means it would not be accurate enough for this article to write as if Jehovah’s Witnesses apply 2 John 9-11 without distinction to every former or removed Witness . The current public sources do not do that. So not every ex-JW is in the same category The current JW sources themselves make a distinction here. There is a difference between: someone who has been removed from the congregation because of unrepentant serious wrongdoing; someone who has become less active or has stopped participating altogether; someone who leaves the organization of their own accord; someone who, according to the JW explanation, actively promotes apostate teaching or wrong conduct. The precise religious assessment of such situations naturally remains that of Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves. But in practical terms, based on their current public sources, we can say: their own publications do not treat every former Jehovah’s Witness as exactly the same case. What about forgiveness? In Matthew 18:21-22 , Peter asks how often he must forgive his brother. Jesus’ answer emphasizes that forgiveness is not supposed to stop at a small fixed number. That raises a practical question: How do you forgive someone who is repentant when you hardly speak to him anymore? Suppose a former Witness wanted to say to his brother: ‘What I did back then was wrong. I regret it. I have changed. But I no longer share your religious belief.’ Can his brother forgive him for that earlier conduct without adopting his current belief? Forgiving is not the same as agreeing with someone. That distinction is relevant from a Biblical perspective. Forgiveness and contact In Luke 17:3-4 , repentance and forgiveness are likewise linked. For that reason, a Bible student might ask: How does personal reconciliation happen when two people hardly communicate with each other? That question by itself does not prove that the disfellowshipping arrangement is un-Biblical. But it is a legitimate question when different Bible texts are examined alongside one another. The prodigal son In Luke 15:11-32 , the son truly did wrong. In the end he returns and acknowledges that he has sinned. His father sees him from a distance, feels compassion, and: runs to him. He embraces him and welcomes him. But we need to be careful here: This parable does not present a technical procedure for congregation disfellowshipping or reinstatement. So you cannot use Luke 15 as direct proof that every religious removal procedure is wrong. What the parable does show is how Jesus portrays repentance, mercy, love, and restoration . 1 Corinthians 5 and Luke 15 You cannot use Luke 15 to cancel out 1 Corinthians 5. But neither do you have to read 1 Corinthians 5 without taking into account the other Bible passages about mercy, repentance, and restoration. One text deals with serious wrongdoing within the congregation. The other depicts a father running to meet a repentant son. Both texts are in the same Bible. How did Jesus treat people? Jesus spoke with people who had a bad reputation. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He spoke with the Samaritan woman. He visited Zacchaeus. He addressed Thomas’ doubt. Peter denied Jesus three times, felt deep regret, and was later given responsibility again. That does not mean Jesus considered wrongdoing unimportant. But the Gospels do show different things side by side: Talking to someone is not the same as approving of their conduct. Loving someone does not mean you must share the same beliefs. Forgiving someone does not mean denying what happened. And recognizing that someone has changed does not mean you must adopt their current beliefs. What do you actually know after an announcement? Suppose you hear at the Kingdom Hall: ‘[Name] is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.’ The current JW sources confirm that this brief wording is used when someone is removed from the congregation for unrepentant serious wrongdoing. But that announcement does not tell those listening all the background details. Do you then know exactly what the person did? What he said? What he believes now? Whether he regrets something from the past? How he lives five years later? Whether he still prays? Whether his beliefs have changed in the meantime? You cannot infer that from that one announcement alone. So the question remains: How much do we really know about that person’s current heart and life? Apostate, wrongdoer, unbeliever, or doubter? The Bible describes different situations. A wrongdoer in 1 Corinthians 5 is discussed in connection with serious wrongdoing. Someone can become an unbeliever without automatically engaging in all the wrong conduct mentioned there. Someone can struggle with God like Job . Someone can doubt like Thomas . Someone can fail badly, feel regret, and change like Peter . And Paul could write about people with a bad past: ‘And that is what some of you were.’ Not every person and not every situation is the same. Who can ultimately see the heart? That brings us to 1 Samuel 16:7 . The biblical principle is that people look at what is visible, while Jehovah sees the heart. That does not mean Christians may never assess behavior. 1 Corinthians 5 actually shows that behavior can be judged within a congregation. But there is a difference between: ‘Based on the Bible, I believe this behavior is wrong.’ and: ‘I know exactly what is in your heart and what God’s final judgment of you will be.’ That second statement goes much further. A question for the active Jehovah’s Witness Suppose someone you have known for years is no longer a Jehovah’s Witness. Maybe he was disfellowshipped for serious wrongdoing. Maybe he left the organization himself. Maybe he lost his faith. Maybe he still believes in Jehovah but sees the organization differently. Or maybe you hardly know what happened. Then ask yourself: Do I know what this person has really been through? Do I know what he believes today? Do I know how he lives today? Do I know whether he regrets mistakes from the past? Do I know whether he has changed? Do I know why he is not coming back? And perhaps the hardest question: If I have barely had any contact with him for years, how do I actually know who he is today? You do not need to call wrongdoing right. You do not need to adopt his current beliefs. And you also do not need to conclude in advance that every congregational removal is wrong. But there may be reason to distinguish between behavior and belief, past and present, doubt and apostasy, leaving an organization and the question of what someone still believes about God . Maybe then the first question is not: ‘What label fits him?’ but: ‘What is his story?’ People can change. People can doubt. People can regret. People can come to believe differently after doing research. And even Jehovah’s Witnesses’ own literature distinguishes between someone who falls due to weakness and someone who, by its own definition, truly apostasizes. In the end, the principle from 1 Samuel 16:7 remains relevant: Jehovah sees what we cannot fully see: the heart. Sources JW.org - How do Jehovah’s Witnesses treat former fellow believers? The Watchtower - August 2024 - Help for Those Removed from the Congregation JW.org - Can someone leave the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses? Watchtower Online Library - Insight on the Scriptures - Apostasy, apostates New World Translation - 1 Corinthians 5:11-13 New World Translation - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 New World Translation - 1 Samuel 16:7 New World Translation - Job 3 New World Translation - John 20 New World Translation - Matthew 18:21-22 New World Translation - Luke 15:11-32 New World Translation - Luke 17:3-4 New World Translation - 2 John 9-11 Also read on ExJW.World Can I keep believing in Jehovah if I leave the organization? - about the difference between faith in Jehovah and trust in a religious organization. If you have doubts: who can you talk to safely? - about speaking with an elder, spouse, doctor, psychologist, or someone outside the congregation. Researching is not the same as leaving your faith - about looking into information without deciding the outcome in advance. What does an elder keep confidential? - about what you can ask beforehand before sharing personal information. A-Z Psychology - about group influence, cognitive dissonance, fear, guilt, and social identity.