5/4 So How do Cults usually stray from Christian Foundations?
So far we have show some of the major differences between Cults and our Christian Foundations by examples of their leader/s and their followers. In this post, we show the usual journey the Cult follows, along with an example of a Cult group we have known.
A. MOST CULT GROUPS ARE FORMED IN THIS PATTERN:
1. They begin as a small group
This group breaks away from some established Christian body. The breakaway groups are always sincere to follow God’s will and to see a better world.
2. They claim special Revelation
Special revelations and insights are claimed to be given to the leader/s of the breakaway group, often through dreams, visions or even an angelic visit. Their view of the world, authority and life are all changed.
3. These new truths become law for their followers
The leader/s adopt these special revelations and make them into a law for the group to follow. Special insights are only available to their initiates and the ‘brainwashing’ process continues. At this point, the group is usually in isolation and judges outside authorities, systems and the world they see around them.
4. Total allegiance is demanded from the group
Obedience becomes compulsory as “they are the only ones with the truth”. A system of reporting on one another adds more isolation. Any resistance is punished by humiliation, rejection or worse. Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.
5. The group unites behind the leaders and ostracises others
The brainwashing process continues as the whole group seems to unite behind the leader/s. Traps are set for anyone trying to escape their control. Those who do manage to leave the group are firmly renounced as “going to hell’, completely ostracised, cursed or worse.
B. A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF A CULT GROUPS’ JOURNEY
We have added several personal testimonies about involvement in different cult groups into one story. We shall call her Christine, although that is not her real name. Other events and names have also be changed to protect the identity of the people involved with these stories.
If you had met Christine in her early days as a Christian, you would have joined with everyone’s admiration of her. “…..She’s got that fire in her belly!” or “……She certainty loves the Lord.” These were the usual comments made by people in her small Pentecostal church in Morris, Indiana. (Names are changed to protect the innocent.)
She soon gathered together a group of young people who felt like she did:
“The harvest is ready!… What is stopping us!” They met the street kids, the broken and the deserted, and a rich harvest of people came to know Jesus. Her small church grew with God’s blessing and ‘revival’ had come!
Just what broke the unity with their parent church was always uncertain. Perhaps it had to do with Christine’s drive for souls or with her insights and special revelations as to how to reach the lost – or the church’s inability to integrate the new converts.
Sad to say, the new converts were often shunned and avoided. They were new to Jesus …. and the traditions of the church. They looked different with their tattoos and dread knots. They dressed and smelled different too.
Anyhow, a group of about 20 left and moved into a deserted ranch owned by one of the elders. It was here that Christine set up her base and brought the broken people into “community”.
Soon a set of strict rules was developed, mainly aimed at controlling the “perversion of sex” and “keeping holy”. Christine, single herself, sought the Lord for His “Whole Truth”, demanding her leaders join her in fasting, night-long prayer vigils and street campaigns.
Since most of her converts came from dysfunctional families, judgmental views began to creep in. Special rituals were set up for the ‘initiates’. The secret to her ‘anointing’ could be reached by the entire group “… if only you did …”.
As Joseph, one of her followers told us: “She could breeze into the Ranch and go out street witnessing with us. We’d worked ourselves into a ‘hyper-buzz’ and door knocked the area – all without success. She’d come in, knock on five doors and find the ones ready to commit suicide or murder and lead them to the Lord. God’s anointing on her life was awesome!”
When the whole group began to fall apart is also hard to say. Perhaps it was when she brought in a new worship leader, “…..saved off the streets in a miraculous way”. He became her ‘exclusive prayer partner’. Divisions became evident within the group. Her leaders were driven frantic, trying to match her ‘requests’ on how to reach perfection. Other leaders became caught up in how to “… stop the broken from being smashed even more”.
Four years later, the group was exhausted. Amazingly, new converts were still found, but the care for the dysfunctional converts was breaking down. The elders in her original church begged her to stop the whole “crazy roller coaster ride“. Eventually, one of the leaders went to the police, charged Christine with assault and the truth began to unfold.
Her leadership team were all into “exclusive sexual freedoms”. Strange relationships between females in the group were flourishing. Males were locked out in isolation until they could prove themselves as ‘worthy’. Three cases of attempted suicide had been covered up.
In addition, several people needed long term counselling and psychiatric care. Her response was to deny the perversions, claiming her “special revelations from God” were valid and to declare “….that the others were unworthy of her protection”.
Sad to say, she has since moved to another ranch on the West Coast and begun another “community”, leaving behind a very disillusioned group.
How well does this story match the way most cults get started?
Join us for the next post in this series on the Challenges to Christianity when we talk about why people actually join cults and other religions,
Susanne Fengler, Blog Author
www.christianfoundations-jesus.treeoflife.info
Tags: Story of a Cult group
Filed under: Challenges to the Christian Faith
Leave a Reply