The average person is often amazed at the people who join a cult and wind up giving their lives for their charismatic leader and his beliefs. But this is exactly what the Christians of the early church and some in different oppressive parts of the world have done. What makes the difference? Is Jesus a cult leader? The answer to this is a resounding “No.” What makes Him different? The answer might surprise you.
Some may judge others as cultic but are in a cult and don’t even know it. The first cult leader is Satan. He is the father of lies and cultism—these questions we will explore over the next few articles.
In our search to understand Cults, let’s start with the English definitions. Webster’s Dictionary has five ways the word can be used. The second use of the term has three subsets.
1. A religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious. Spurious means “not appearing to be what it claims to be.”
A religion that doesn’t fit the mainstream or majority of religions.
2. a.) Great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (such as a film or book.).
Musicians, actors, politicians, and other famous or infamous people would also fit here. A band and its members who are, in effect, worshiped and adored fiercely. They come before anything else.
b.) The object of such devotion
This appears to be non-living objects or non-philosophical, e.g., cars and activities such as travel. I am still pondering the exact meaning of this definition.
c.) A usually small group of people characterized by such devotion
The critical concept among the subsets (a, b, c) is “devotion.” From this first definition, a cult is not just the classic understanding of religious cults. A person devoted to other people, activities, or anything of great devotion can be considered a cult under this definition. That sounds like quite a few categories, not just churches.
Webster continues with the definitions:
3. A system of religious beliefs and rituals also: its body of adherents
The key word here is “system” It is a programmed set of rules, ideas, and activities required and obeyed by its “adherents.” The Bible refers to such cults in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. We will explore this later.
4. Formal religious veneration: Worship
The key word here is “formal” and “veneration.” The act of showing great reverence and respect in a formal pastoral setting.
5. A system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator. A promulgator is a person or organization that promotes an idea to make it popular. An example would be health cults,
Summary
From these definitions, cults are all around us. While religious cults are most widely recognized, non-religious people can also fall into a cult but try to call it something else. According to these definitions, the key elements of a cult revolve around the concepts of devotion, beliefs, and rituals. This sounds like most mainstream religions of the day, including the many subsets of Protestantism, i.e., denominations.
RELIGIOUS CULTS
That is the subject of this article. What makes up a religious cult? Are they easily identified?
Can a mainline denomination be a cult and not realize it if they have unfounded devotion to their charismatic pastor, priest, etc., above Jesus? Do they depend on him or her for answers to Biblical questions or direction?
Author
Famous cults are led by strong, charismatic, deceptive, controlling, narcissistic men and women. Here are just a few that most people would recognize.
1.) The Manson Family
The infamous 1969 family of young people controlled and mesmerized by Charles Manson was persuaded to murder at least nine people in the Hollywood area of California. The followers of Manson lived communally in a movie ranch outside of Los Angeles.
The elements of a cult are here:
Charismatic, strong devotion of the adherents, deception, control, beliefs about the corruption of Hollywood people, and narcissism even though religion, per se, had nothing o do with the motivation and lifestyle of the followers.
2.) Heaven’s Gate
Founded by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Lu Nettles, they recruited adherents through the Internet. They believed that the end of the earth was near.
The followers believed they would be beamed into the “Next Level” in their living bodies into an alien spacecraft. When Bonnie Lu Nettles died of cancer in the mid-’80s, Applewhite changed his philosophy: Death would be necessary to climb to the Next Level of existence. In March of 1997, 39 cult members were found dead in their commune, all arranged in excellent order and wearing Nike running shoes. A later autopsy showed the male members had been castrated. The group had strict rules against sex.
The elements of a cult are here. First, a strong follower recruits vulnerable people to participate in a new order of belief that leads to death on the word of a charismatic leader who talks and establishes a set of beliefs with authority.
3.) David Koresh’s Branch Davidians
Koresh claimed to be the Messiah. What he said was the law. He believed he had a special revelation from God, and God was directing him to have sex with many different women. He annulled all earthly marriages by his word alone.
He believed and taught that the world’s end was imminent and that there would be a great battle between good and evil before that time came. For the Branch Davidians, the end of the world came on February 28, 1993, when the ATF using its power of a search warrant and looking for a stockpile of weapons, gave up on negotiation and used the force of military-type weapons on its target…a home filled with women and children. Seventy-seven people, men, women, and children, died in flames or gunfire.
It could be said that there were two cults involved here. One was religious in nature, and the other was the police agencies. Strong leaders lead both with their own set of beliefs. But unfortunately, its leaders’ use of control, stubbornness, and lack of common sense led to death.
The Peoples Temple
Jim Jones, a former Methodist Minister, founded it. The church and its members had the noble goal of freeing people from racial segregation and poverty. Most of its members were black, inspired by the message of Jones.
Jones promised a utopia in Jonestown, but the rules were strict, and mock suicide drills were common. Eventually, after continued rumors of financial fraud and physical abuse in the congregation, 909 people took their lives at Jones’ command with a “Kool-Aid” mix laced with cyanide. Approximately 300 of the dead were children.
We could go on and on and discuss the many other easily recognized cults in our society,
*NXIVM, led by Keith Raniere;
*The Children of God started as Teens for Christ in Huntington Beach, California, in the late 1960s by a man named David Berg
*The Rajneeshees Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was an Indian guru with thousands of disciples who lived in a commune near Antelope, Oregon. Rajneesh lived a good life. He owned 93 Rolls Royces. He believed sex was fun, materialism was good, and Jesus was a madman.
Acceptable and Superious Cults
Webster’s forensic definition gives us a framework for understanding cults, but the cults themselves provide detailed characteristics.
The cults listed above have these 6 simple things in common.
1.) A strong charismatic leader with definite or evolving beliefs. They are narcissistic and materialistic while teaching ideals to others.
2.) Strong, charismatic leaders often benefit through sex, wives, riches, or power. The followers devote all they have, including money to their leader to the exclusion of family.
3.) The followers adhere to these beliefs, usually without a Biblical basis. They are missing something in society and have little self-worth. They exhibit naivety and lack common sense or the ability to think on their own. They find their mission and purpose for life in the group.
4.) The adherents are controlled by tough rules. If a person doesn’t pay by the rules, they are “excommunicated.”
5.) They would die for their beliefs.
6.) There are no options for choice or doubt.
There is a fine line between cultism and not, as there is between truth and error.
Next time, we will look at modern religions that have the characteristics of a cult and those that don’t. We will also explore the Bible’s warnings against following anyone other than Jesus. We will discover why Jesus is the anti-cult leader and what makes Him so.