Cults seem to be the scourge of the nineties. Though they were existent
in the seventies and eighties, an
estimated 5000 cults in the United States hunger for our youth, worship,
and money. One in twenty
people are somehow involved in cult activity.
Visions of David Koresh's Compound burning down or of suicidal hundreds
in Jonestown may come to
mind when the word "cult" is mentioned. Or, one may connect cults with
witchcraft, covens, and blood
sacrifices.
There is, however, one type of cult that is often overlooked. This one
is hidden down the block, under a
steeple, and behind a pulpit--The Cult Church.
What most people don't understand is that false prophets may have been
true prophets, full-blown cults
may have been cult churches, and cult churches may have been normal
churches at one time. David
Koresh and his Branch Dividians started out as Seventh Day Adventists.
David (Moses) Berg of the
Children of God started out with the Missionary Alliance Church. And
Jim Jones with his "People's
Temple" used to be a Bible-thumper.
Scary, isn't it? This puts new meaning to what Jesus said, "For many
shall come in my name, saying, I
am Christ, and shall deceive many." (Matt. 24:5) A person can proclaim
Jesus as Christ and still deceive
his followers. Many Christians are being and will be deceived. And
the victims of this "spiritual abuse"
have more life-long bad effects than that of physical or sexual abuse.
How does this happen? Let us first look at the Christian leader, gone astray.
*Special Son Mentality. All the leaders of the cults, from Joseph Smith
of the Mormons to Sun Myung
Moon of the Moonies, feel that they were chosen by God to do some special
task or to know some
hidden meaning of Scripture, or to become some cherished savior of
mankind.
In the beginning they are innocent. They open the Bible one day and
it "speaks out" to them in a way that
hasn't been heard before (but cannot be confirmed by other Scriptures).
Or, on the subjective side, "God"
speaks to them, telling them something remarkable.
Now, every preacher has Scripture revealed to them in order to prepare
sermons and many people hear
from God in one way or another. But that is where the false prophets
start straying. They do not stay
accountable to Scripture nor to other preachers in their discoveries.
Eventually, these leaders believe not only that they have a corner on
truth, but believe they have special
privileges that are above everyone else. They can have more than one
wife, various sexual encounters,
complete control over finances, or can live in luxury while their followers
struggle and sacrifice.
* A Spirit of Control. In every situation, though in varying degrees,
these leaders will have a spirit of
control over individuals or the total group. Barbara Ancheta, a young
woman with three children who was
involved in a Cult Church for about six months, tells of the intimidation
that was felt in their small group.
"We studied two and a half hours per session, four times a week, with
our Bibles and Concordances
open," she reports. "Brother Alby would close his eyes and receive
a Scripture reference that we would
look up and it would always relate to the new doctrine we were studying."
(It was never in context of
Scripture, though.)
"If you had a doubt, he would read your mind and tell you what you were
thinking, and then begin to
rebuke and reproach you in front of the others." This would keep people
from questioning what was
being taught.
"If you needed to travel, you needed to ask him if it was God's will.
One time when I needed to go to a
family get-together, he reminded me that I hadn't asked him first and
that I could possibly get into a car
wreck or something. He did give me permission to go," she says, "But
only after I backed down in my
spirit to submit to his counsel."
This spirit of control also prohibits anyone from discussing doubts
on doctrine or the set of rules their
particular church inflicts upon them. David Johnson, in his book, The
Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse,
says, "The most powerful of all unspoken rules in the abusive system
is what we have already termed the
"can't talk" rule...If you speak about the problem out loud, you are
the problem. In some way you must
be silenced or eliminated. Those who do speak out are most often told,
`We didn't have all these
problems until you started shooting your mouth off. Everything was
fine before you started stirring things
up.'"
*Sins and Hurts in Life. The majority of these power-hungry leaders
are trying to make up for sins in
their own lives or for the past traumas and hurts they have experienced.
When his wife was pregnant with
their third child, David Berg was thrown out of the Missionary Alliance
church that he had physically
built, over a racial issue.
Richard Dortch, the former president of the scandalized PTL network,
has written a book call Fatal
Conceit to explain the causes behind Jim Bakker's and his own downfall.
He says, "Often these people
have unresolved issues in their own lives, but they refuse to deal
with them. It's often these unresolved
sins or problems, however, that drive them to be in positions of power
over others...When a person living
in sin or with deep hurts and insecurities arrives at a place of power,
his objectivity is clouded. Instead of
dealing rationally with issues that confront him, he is always on the
attack. With every encounter, he is
actually dealing vicariously with his own problem."
Now, let us look at the victims. Most people believe it cannot happen
to them. Yet Barbara, whom we
quoted earlier, was raised in a strong Christian home with a deep relationship
with the Lord and a working
knowledge of the Word. In fact, deeply spiritual people and those who
want to make a difference are the
ones most vulnerable to join a cult or a cult-like church.
*The Walking Wounded. Many times the same weaknesses present in the
leaders are present in the
followers: sins and hurts. Many have grown up without a father or with
a perverted view of authority with
their father being too busy, too hard, or too passive. Many have been
hurt by the Church or by church
organizations. Then they look for a "new father" or "new family" in
the false church.
*Scripturally Lacking. Though usually coupled with other reasons, a
person can get deceived when he
doesn't know the Bible in its context. Sunday morning service alone
usually will not provide this. Only by
study of the Word, books about the Word, and listening to various preachers
can one get the balance he
needs to be aware of false doctrines.
*Involved in a Cause. Built within every individual is a need to be
needed and a need to be loved. Cults
and cult churches always bring in their disciples through strategic
"love bombing". Combined with having
"a cause", which is of great appeal especially to baby boomers, they
not only win them, but keep them for
many years, if not forever.
Whenever a person has a doubt about doctrine, they compromise their
doubts by believing the souls their
church has won, or the prophecies it has understood, or the some other
such "cause" proves the validity
of everything that happens.
Or, if the church has a real family atmosphere, the person cannot bring
himself to leave since he has not
maybe seen such "love" anywhere else.
Neither can we ignore the "mob mentality". It is difficult to stand
up against someone (or what they say)
when all your friends believe every word he says. After all, you would
be "gossiping" or "disobedient to
leadership" if you disobey the "can't-talk" rule. And if it works for
the Jones's , who are so spiritual, it
must be you that has the problem. You're just not spiritual enough
to understand it all!
How can a person prevent themselves from being deceived?
From the beginning there has been a Cult Church. In the Book of Revelation,
Jesus commends a church
for hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans. (2:6) Judaisers, Gnostics,
and "those of the circumcision" desired
to bring early Christians into bondage to their beliefs.
Paul warned, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath
made us free and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage." (Gal 5:1)
The only way that someone can do that is to first of all, know what
they believe and why they believe it.
Each person needs to not just swallow what the preacher dishes out,
but needs to go home and study and
research, and check ideas and doctrines against historical doctrines
of the Church as well as present-day
preachers.
Also, a person needs to be aware of their weaknesses. If they grew up
without a father or had a lot of
abuse, they will be inwardly seeking that father relationship that
can only be fulfilled in Father God.
And, as described above, if they meet a group or church with a charismatic
leader, an exclusive attitude,
and "new revelations" that the rest of the Body of Christ doesn't know,
they should put their brakes on
and perhaps check out another church in the area!
You can reach us by e-mail at: sword@post1.com