How Not to Be in a Cult or Create One
Fascinating video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3ess8txBX0
Reading the comments of viewers disheartens me, since so many equate their church experience with this kind of group. I doubt many pastors expect everyone to live together or to have photos of the pastor in their houses or rooms. With the exception of some megachurch pastors and some little popes in the pulpits in small churches, most pastors are feeding rather than fleecing the flock and are making sacrifices for ministry. Christianity Today does a good job of focusing on pastors of small congregations (around 200 and less in attendance), which constitute the majority of them.
In my humble opinion, pastors' first responsibility is to teach the Word, preach the gospel, and know and care for the flock. Their second responsibility is to not let their ministry become a cult of personality, to not allow themselves to "attract followers." Even Twitter feeds into this proclivity of strong people to gain "followers"--that's what the connections are called. This blog, too. (I have no worry about doing so--I'm pretty low on the charisma scale, in written form or in the flesh!)
The trick (if it can be called that) is to love and call to Christian obedience and to encourage without taking away the other's responsibility and agency, their ability and obligation to make personal decisions.
In terms of not being in a cult, any time you are asked to do something because it's the whim of the pastor, or that you cannot find clearly taught in Scripture, then stop and think why this is happening, pray for discernment, and consider leaving. If you confront the pastor and he/she tells you to leave, you probably should.
(This happens a lot more than we want to admit. Granted, there are serious troublemakers who are asked to leave; not everyone who confronts a pastor about a matter are right. That's why discernment is necessary, and we should pray for our pastors diligently.)
Disclaimer: I don't like the title of this video, mostly because the expression of "Holy" with excrement is blasphemous. The people in this video were in a weird New Agey cult based on Hinduism, not Christianity. The interview with the cult leader in the end is the most interesting. I wonder how this guy makes a living?
The social worker's comments are very good, as well.
Reading the comments of viewers disheartens me, since so many equate their church experience with this kind of group. I doubt many pastors expect everyone to live together or to have photos of the pastor in their houses or rooms. With the exception of some megachurch pastors and some little popes in the pulpits in small churches, most pastors are feeding rather than fleecing the flock and are making sacrifices for ministry. Christianity Today does a good job of focusing on pastors of small congregations (around 200 and less in attendance), which constitute the majority of them.
In my humble opinion, pastors' first responsibility is to teach the Word, preach the gospel, and know and care for the flock. Their second responsibility is to not let their ministry become a cult of personality, to not allow themselves to "attract followers." Even Twitter feeds into this proclivity of strong people to gain "followers"--that's what the connections are called. This blog, too. (I have no worry about doing so--I'm pretty low on the charisma scale, in written form or in the flesh!)
The trick (if it can be called that) is to love and call to Christian obedience and to encourage without taking away the other's responsibility and agency, their ability and obligation to make personal decisions.
In terms of not being in a cult, any time you are asked to do something because it's the whim of the pastor, or that you cannot find clearly taught in Scripture, then stop and think why this is happening, pray for discernment, and consider leaving. If you confront the pastor and he/she tells you to leave, you probably should.
(This happens a lot more than we want to admit. Granted, there are serious troublemakers who are asked to leave; not everyone who confronts a pastor about a matter are right. That's why discernment is necessary, and we should pray for our pastors diligently.)
Disclaimer: I don't like the title of this video, mostly because the expression of "Holy" with excrement is blasphemous. The people in this video were in a weird New Agey cult based on Hinduism, not Christianity. The interview with the cult leader in the end is the most interesting. I wonder how this guy makes a living?
The social worker's comments are very good, as well.
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