The Early Church vs. Cults

Someone jokingly commented to me recently that the early church of the New Testment almost seemed like a socialist or communist community! On the surface maybe it does a bit, but when you look at the whole picture, it is such a beautiful thing!

Acts 2:44-45 - ⁴⁴ Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, ⁴⁵ and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.

The difference here, it seems, is that these early Christians were happily giving everything they had of their own free will, not by being forced or having laws made that took everything from them. They were very content in living simply and gave out of love for God and each other.

What I really wanted to talk about right now though is cults. There are so many today as a result of false teachers that 2 Peter chapter 2 and other passages warn about. First I want to look at some of the signs of a cult. Here are just a few, and the group or leader does not have to fit in every category to actually be a cult.

1. Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.
2. No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.
3. Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.
4. There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.
5. Followers feel they can never be "good enough".
6. The leader is always right.
7. The leader tends to be determined, domineering, and charismatic.

Now, go through this list again and think about a church, maybe the one you attend or used to attend.....

Pretty scary, huh?

Now as I said before that a group or leader does not have to fit into every single category to be a cult, the same is true for the opposite. Just because a group or leader fits into one or two categories does not mean they are a cult. It can be a fine line sometimes, but there are plenty of groups or people out there who have just been misled and maybe have not realized what they are doing and teaching. Some actual cults may not realize it either though! But we do have to realize that some people are just deceived by false teachings themselves, and maybe some of what they teach is true (which is how false teachings are so common, they mix lies in with the truth).

Okay, I'm rambling. Let me give specific examples of a church I have gone to in the past. Compare with the list above.

1. The pastor had total, final say in the way things operated, who was allowed in the building, who would be the next deacon, etc. Even if there was a vote it was very clear he had control of the group to the point of very subtly (or maybe not so much) getting them to vote on who HE wanted to be the next pastor! The average person may not have noticed, but I was watching specifically for these things!
2. The pastor always seemed to have an answer, even though many times he clearly pulled out of Scripture certain passages to "support" his false beliefs while twisting them to say what he wanted them to say. If anyone disagreed with him, he would pull them aside and tell them, with all his authority, that he has to "protect the flock", which was another way of saying "do things my way or you're outta here".
3. While it is true the bible says that Christians will be hated by the world and persecuted for Christ's sake, this pastor would preach over and over again that we are in war. It is true, but he preached it in a way that kind of stirred up that inner war cry, ready to go out and conquer the world.
4. The church was going through a merger that "ended badly", and I have since wondered if maybe it didn't happen because they saw these cultish tendencies! But the pastor and his followers (the mindless sheep) seemed to paint a picture of this other group as evil people who were not true believers but following false doctrines themselves. Maybe they were, I don't know!
5. Well, of course no one can ever be "good enough" to get into heaven, but I guess the reason I included this point is because this preacher pounded Calvinism into everyone's brain over and over and over again, and Calvinism teaches that because we cannot be good enough, we are not capable of even accepting the gift of salvation (because that would be our own works!), but Christ makes that happen. He calls you and regenerates you without your consent, so to speak. So he just continued to cram that doctrine down everyone's throat (to maintain total control as well), so everyone believed (or so it seemed) that they do not have free will.
6. Of course he was always right, and there was no accountability for him, so he remained in total control! In the early church there were elders (plural) appointed at every city, and all the little house churches were part of the larger whole body of believers, so they all had accountability! Not most modern churches though where there is only one pastor! And the younger pastors tend to have more pride or are at least more susceptible to it, and I definitely saw it in this man!
7. Determined he was! Definitely determined to have things run his way rather than God's, and determined to doctrinate everyone with Calvinism! He was definitely domineering as well, always taking the lead even when someone else was supposed to be speaking or teaching. Charasmatic? Oh, yes, he definitely was! It makes him a more likable, believable guy!

I'm sure there are more characteristics I could name off, but these are the ones that stand out to me the most. It was hard to be a part of this group. While I dearly loved the people and even the pastor and his family, it was hard to continue listening to the false teachings week after week. And this was a baptist church, the one denomination I thought was "safe"!

My heart really goes out to this family (he is still the pastor) and the families who are still there. Please pray for them!

I just wanted to blog about this so you could see how many modern "churches" are actually more like cults than they are the early church! Watch for these things in your own church, and if you see them, run away fast and take as many with you as you can! Start a home church with the purpose of being like the New Testament early church. Study doctrine together; not man's doctrine, not denominational doctrine, but doctrine straight from the bible. The things the apostles wrote! Partake of the Lord's Supper together while you are having a weekly meal. Pray together. Lift each other up daily. And fellowship together, which isn't hard to do when you eat together regularly. :) Oh, how I long for this every day! Once you taste it you will not go back to man's way of "doing church". God's way is so much infinitely better!!!