[Eva]

I think that it is very unChristian to expel a sinner. Hate sin, love the sinner.

[WestPacSailor]

I think that it is very unChristian to expel a sinner

I agree. However, your question asked CAN a church prevent an "undesirable" from attending. The answer is yes. If you ask SHOULD they, well then, that's another large economy-sized can of worms altogether.

[alancarp]

It is actually very Biblical to expel CHURCH MEMBERS who openly sin and refuse to turn away from whatever that sin happens to be. The church is a place that welcomes sinners -- after all, we ALL are! But once a person has (speaking for my church, the PCA) taken a membership oath, that includes the right for the church to exercise disclipine over them in the kind of manner this thread has been discussing.

Why does Christ want this to happen? Several reasons: (1) For the purity of His church; (2) to avoid charges of hypocrasy; (3) as a warning to believers; (4) as a means to (hopefully) correct the sin and restore the member to the church. There are other reasons, too, but that's the gyst of it.

A church that follow Biblical teaching WILL do this: it's not done often, and it is very difficult, but must be performed for all of the reasons discussed.

My church had to go through the pain of actually removing a pastor for displinary reasons. If we hadn't, the church likely would no longer exist. But we're still here and doing God's work.

So please, do not look on this as a harmful, hateful thing: it is much more along the lines of correcting the misbehavior of a child. You DON'T want to expel the child: you want to restore him/her to the family. The same thing goes here.