Newer versions indicate clearly that Paul was telling them to refuse to be enablers to the freeloaders taking advantage of their benevolence. It is hard to read withdrawal of fellowship for any reason into that passage. Let us learn to be honest and just even with the reprehensible characters who may be among us. The church is not an entity in which we seek membership but it is a spiritual state of justification. Salvation is not found in joining an organization or becoming a part of one.
Salvation is a state of justification rather than membership in a group.
We are the saved , and the saved do not have members. In speaking of the interdependent working relationship of disciples, they are depicted figuratively as a body, and this figure applies to the universal congregation rather than a local one. We speak of placing membership . That is a no-brainer term we invented to substitute for joining the church . Having made our congregations into organized systems, we do join them, for a person can be a member of an organization.