Is Your Church a Cult?

I have been reading a blog recently where individuals are recounting their church experience and how they feel the church resembles a cult. Well, not resembles, but in fact, IS a cult.

In order to make a comparison, it's helpful to have a working definition of what a cult is. Wikipedia defines a cult as "a cohesive group of people (of varying size) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. The literal and traditional meanings of the word cult is derived from the Latin cultus, meaning 'care' or 'adoration,' as 'a system of religious belief or ritual; or: the body of adherents to same.'"

Let's break it down .... Is a church a cohesive group of people? I hope so. Jesus and the Apostles had a lot to say about love and unity among his people. I think most churches would like to be cohesive.

Is the church committed to a set of beliefs and practices? Again, I hope so. Chief among those beliefs is that God is the creator of all, that Jesus is His Son, that the Bible is God's Word recorded for our reading and interpretation, and that salvation is found only through the grace of God made available by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Christian practices of worship, prayer, baptism, fellowship, evangelism, financial giving, etc. generally demonstrate our belief and love for God.

Does the surrounding culture or society consider the church to be far outside the mainstream? That's a good question. Certainly Jesus recognized that His followers were going to be far outside the mainstream in some ways. Jesus taught that many souls would cry out to Him on judgement day, but only a very few would He acknowledge as belonging to Him. The Apostle Paul says that Christ-followers are not citizens of this earth, but, that we are aliens. The New Testament repeatedly warns Christians not to get too comfy on earth, nor to judge success using the same methods as the world judges.

We Christians walk a fine line of trying to be "normal" as the world defines it, but "aliens" as we are described by Christ. Church leaders walk a fine line of encouraging their congregations to demonstrate love to Christ through good works, while not trying to by too "pushy" and ask more than the human mind says is "reasonable."

So, is your church a cult? Frankly, it better be. I know, I know ... the "C" word has taken on a negative connotation in the last 30 years. We invision death by KoolAid, fiery compounds in Waco, flowers being handed out at the airport, bloody animal sacrifices.

But Christians ARE called to be unique and different. If churches are made up of devoted Christians, it would stand to reason that the church body should also be unique and different from society.

Just look at the church in Acts chapters 2-5. The Christians were meeting every day (not just once on Sunday). They were selling their posessions and giving to those who had need. Many who had come to Jerusalem from far away likely stayed much longer than planned. Acts 2:42 says that these Christians were dedicated to learning about Jesus through the Apostles teaching, to prayer, to fellowship, and to the breaking of bread (commonly, the Lord's Supper). What a bunch of wackos.

So, if your church leaders encourage you to attend a few church events each week, have Christian friends in your home for fellowship, give just 10 percent of your wealth to God (as opposed to all of it), pray regularly, read your Bible, seek Godly counsel about important decisions, and tell others about Jesus, are they cult leaders? Are you a brainwashed, manipulated, deceived individual?

Some would certainly have you think so. What do you think?