The Growing Shadow of Cults

THE GROWING SHADOW OF CULTS

Strictly speaking a cult is any group which follows or worships a person or a religious system. In a broad sense Christianity is a cult. But I want to use the word in a colloquial sense and one that denotes a departure from historical Christian thought and practice. Many if not most cults form through the energy and persuasiveness of a single person. This person usually presents a new and fresh concept or teaching that is alluring to many people who have grown dissatisfied with the norm. He usually allures through the strength of his personality as well as his oratorical prowess.

But in today’s evangelical melee cults have been forming at an astounding rate but with cleverness and without being noticed or identified as such. Little by little men and movements have been drawing disciples unto themselves. Men and women are now heralded as great conduits for God, and most of them benefit financially from their notoriety.

The changes in teachings and practice have been so dramatic that they can no longer be considered Christian. They are cults designed to make merchandise of people and to elevate humans instead of God. Christian television has been at the core of this colossal shift. Most of Christian television is cultish. Look no further than the semi-annual fund raising telethons. If there is any greater exposé on heresy and false teaching than these fundraisers I do not know about it.

The system operates somewhat like this. The television station contacts several famous preachers who have the “anointing” for fundraising. In reality they have nothing more than the gift of gab. I do not know whether they are paid a sum or receive a cut from the proceeds. Suffice to say they do not come for free. This person gets up in front of the camera and literally speaks lies and false promises. Everything from “God told me there are 100 people” all the way to sowing a seed which will result in your loved one getting saved. There is no shame and there is no depth to which they will not stoop.

Hundreds of millions of dollars are elicited by these false teachers. I heard one of them a few days ago say that God told him that everyone who gives $58.00 a month for a year would not make a wrong decision for that entire year. Let’s face it, through the imagery of television you can say almost anything and millions will believe what you say. That is a very great deception and it exposes Christian television itself as a cult. But, you say, I know an orthodox preacher who appears on that network. And if that is so, then that preacher is supporting a cult. And he is also making money through his program or else it would not still be on.

The deception is epic and it has descended deeply into the demonic.

II Pet.2: 17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

I can no longer believe that many of these men and women are saved. They preach another Jesus and another gospel. But only God can know those things. What we do know is that millions upon millions of people are being systematically deceived. If there has ever been a place from which to withdraw it is Christian television. It has been used dramatically by the evil one to deceive people into following cults. Day after day after day demonic influenced men and women speak damnable lies and pervert the truth of Christ through this medium. The church would be light years better off without "Christian" television.

And only God knows how many pitiful fools lose their souls under the spell of these religious clowns. And let me add another ingredient to this colossal slide into apostasy. There is an intoxication created by music itself. I am edified greatly by Christian music, and even by some praise and worship music played and written by people with whom I do not agree at all. Like being edified by a piano made by a heathen, God can and does use almost anything. But there has been a systematic elevation of music which includes the making of millionaire musicians in the church. But music has become much more than an edifying influence under the authority of God’s Word. It has become an intoxicating tonic which when applied with emotion and carefully ascending key changes, it can and does create an atmosphere where almost anything will be received as truth. In fact, many if not most people choose a local fellowship weighted heavily upon the music “program”.

As one who plays the piano and has led many in worship, I realize the clandestine power of music. And I do not speak of music styles or the speed of the beats. I have been in services where the crowd was brought to a literal frenzy and in turn received false teachings with enthusiasm. And you can see carefully edited television programs where after a rousing and inspiring music service, people come forward to profess their healing or almost anything else. Do not underestimate the alluring power of music. It has been and continues to be an intoxicant to the mind.

We now are surrounded by all kinds of cults with the name “church” and “center” on their signs. Little by little they have infiltrated the ecclesiastical structure and have surreptitiously reconstructed everything from the gospel to God’s Word and even Christ Himself. Hyperbole? Melodramatic? Alarmist? I honestly believe that there are no human words that can completely encapsulate what has and is continuing to happen. Most of the visible church in America is no longer Christian, and the practice of believing and following Jesus is scarce in this hedonistic culture. Even we who see these false teachers for what they are still practice a system of faith which falls embarrassingly short of the New Testament template.

What is now practiced is a cult and not the faith once delivered to the saints. Even when the true Jesus finds its way into our doctrinal statements, we still practice something very foreign to the New Testament outline. Where are these cults? There are probably several within walking distance from your home. We have been captured and placed in chains by this culture and yet like Samson, we do not even know our power is gone. Alarmist? Yes, sound the alarm!

Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

With the end of all things hurtling toward us with the speed of light we still wander to and fro with little concern and certainly no desperation. The church has become a museum where men and women duplicate the gathering physically but with no relation to the early church. The redundancy is hypnotic. The shallowness is soothing. The allurement is addicting. The deception is intoxicating.

Imagine this: You wake up on Sunday morning just like you do every Sunday morning. You wash and get dressed. You start you car and travel the same route you always take. You park and grab your Bible as you lock your car. As you walk people greet one another. You are handed a program as you enter the sanctuary. You sit where you normally sit, and those around you shake your hand and smile. You look over the announcements. You settle in and wait for the service to begin.

But something unusual happens. Instead of the worship leader shouting, “Let’s all stand and worship Jesus!”, the pastor steps behind the pulpit. Suddenly you have an uneasiness arise in your spirit. Someone has died, or perhaps someone is going to resign. Has there been a scandal? Your pastor looks somewhat tired and a little disheveled. Everyone begins to become very quiet. Very quickly the room is silent. Your pastor begins to speak.

“ I want everyone to give me your hearts as well as your ears. I want to first ask all of you to bow your heads and in your spirit ask God to speak to you through His Spirit this morning in an unusual way. Do that right now.”

He waits several minutes.

“Last night as I prepared for this morning as I always do I was unceremoniously interrupted by God’s Spirit. I sincerely do not want to appear spooky or that I have a pipeline to God. But I must share what God spoke to me. At first I tried to minimize what I was hearing and what I was experiencing. As you all know, the Word of God must be our foundation for all things spiritual. So as you can imagine, I was taken aback. I went for a walk, but when I returned to my study the Spirit became relentless. I fell on my face and I began to cry simply because of the weight of God’s presence in my tiny study.”

“I can only share what God has allowed me since much of what the Spirit revealed unto me was a call for my own personal repentance. No, I am not caught in any immorality, but I stand before you as one who was blind to the deceptions in the church. I stand before you as one who has preached without the desperation and brokenness this situation must demand. I stand before you as one whose eyes have been opened to the depth of my own compromise. I stand before you this morning as a well rebuked and a changed man. There is no turning back after this morning.”

“When you leave this morning there will be no laughter. There is a time to laugh, but this morning is not that time. I begin with a solemn pronouncement. We have been sold a bill of goods, and we have been playing church. Please, we cannot compare ourselves with any other church, for to do so is to soothe the conscience that God desires so desperately to awaken. Open your entire being to the Spirit’s voice. I have no new revelation, but I do have a Word from God which carries in it the Word of God.”

“”Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” Those are the words of Solomon, but they are words that live for today. We have built great buildings, and we have become proficient at organizing. We meet week after week with no more apparent transformation that the Lions Club. We have become comfortable in our religion. We neglect God’s Word, not just in reading and meditation, but in sacrificial obedience. The world is dying and they need salt and light and yet we have none to give. We trust in horses and chariots and elections and money and not the name of the Lord our God.”

“I have made a promise to God from which I will not retreat. We as a body of believers must forsake the course that we are taking and begin a new and spiritually deeper course. We will pay off our debts and borrow no more. We will have prayer every day here in the church, and we will have an open prayer gathering for several hours early Sunday morning. The entire staff will participate. Sunday morning gatherings will no longer be restricted by time, and neither will they be longer just to be longer. We will sincerely attempt to let the Spirit lead us.”

“I am calling for a month long season of repentance. We will repent of all kinds of sins both of commission and omission. I do not want it to turn into a self serving spectacle, but it will be open for public confession when someone feels led. There may be things about our lives that cannot be turned around in a month, but all of us will surrender to God’s timetable. That includes things about our church. I cannot fully know where we are going, but I do know it will be much deeper than we have gone before. I desire to not only lead this church as pastor, but I desire to lead in repentance. I want to be a broken vessel for Him alone. If that eventually costs me my position here, and if most of you desire to remain where you are spiritually, and if the cost will be too high, then I am willing to step down. I cannot turn back.”

“Please, please, please, do not think about this and mull it over in your mind. Please let us enter into a season of prayer and contrition. If you are a visitor this morning we invite you to join us. As you can sense, this is not our normal way of doing things, but I believe the Spirit is weary of our normal way. Let us allow the Spirit to bring us all the way back to Pentecost and allow Him to work us forward from there. I am incapable of being what you need, only Christ can be that for you. Come, let us fall down and seek His face right now.”

You cannot help but muss your clothes as you fall down, not even knowing where to begin. You have felt God’s Spirit churning within your being and the words of your pastor were like flaming daggers slicing away all your pretensions and exposing the shallowness of your Christian walk. You entered not expecting anything, however you are now filled with an unquenchable thirst to know Him more deeply. The schedule you had for today is now history. Yes, you have been ignoring the Spirit’s prodding. But now you know you must take up your bed and walk. It is way past time.

But until something like that happens the shadow of the ever growing Christian cults will continue to block out the glory found in the face of Jesus Christ.