Defining A Cult - The Borderline Between Christian and Counterfeit

When we hear the word “cult”, many of us instantly imagine a Satanic ritualistic gathering where animals are being sacrificed and demons are invoked; while others may instantly think of the Branch Davidians of Waco Texas who were saturating the media a few years ago as they defended their compound; or maybe the Heaven’s Gate cult led by Marshall Applewhite, who committed mass suicide in an effort to be accepted by the “Mother Ship” as the Hale Bop comet passed by Earth.

Whatever your idea of a cult is, this word (cult) carries a very subjective definition. A few years ago I listened to a local Christian radio talk show host who was taking calls in response to the question; “Is the Roman Catholic Church a cult”. The host received many calls. Some callers said yes, they are a cult because a person couldn’t truly be saved following Roman Catholic Teaching. Other callers were adamant that the Roman Catholic Church was not a cult because they teach the deity of Christ. As a result of discussions like this one, and the utter confusion surrounding the nature of a “cult”, I think it is imperative that the term “cult” be ultimately defined from a Christian perspective.

The formal definition of a cult is: 1. A system of religious worship or ritual. 2. A religion or sect considered extremist or false. 3. Obsessive devotion to a person or principle. These of course are the dictionary definitions of the word, but are these definitions accurate? And how would these definitions be applied to specific groups? This is where the water gets murky.

First of all, let me state here that I believe the factors that distinguish a group as a cult are primarily sociological. Despite what the dictionary definition of a cult is, a cult cannot be defined as a system of religious worship or ritual alone, as that would include virtually every religion of the world. A cult also cannot be defined as simply a false religion as that definition is subjective to every other world religion or belief system, and could also be localized to include groups of the same religion. I also submit that a cult cannot be defined as an obsessive devotion to a principle, as any religion that is not viewed as extremely devoted to a principle by the outside world would make that religion no different than the world to begin with.

It seems to me, that if we as Christians all had a good understanding of what a Church is, we wouldn’t be so confused when it comes to labeling specific groups as “cultic”. And this is where I believe the problem lies. The Christian doctrine of the Local Church has been so perverted, that we have lost our ability to distinguish a Church from a Cult. So, from a Biblical Christian perspective, let’s compare what a Local Church should be to some common perversions. By the end of this article, it is the author’s intention that you, the reader will be able to distinguish the difference between a biblical Church and a cult; and hopefully appropriately label those cults.

The Organization of the Local Church

Biblically, a Local Church is a congregation of like-minded believers who have joined together for the work of preaching the gospel to the local community, and for the edification and exhortation of those believers.

The members of the biblically organized Local Church are not recruited by worldly means, but are added to the local Church by God Himself who orchestrates His will among His followers (Acts 2:47). The Bible does indicate that believers are to go out and compel others to “come in” (Luke 14:23), but here Christ was referring to His “house” being filled as a metaphor for salvation; He was not indicating that the disciples were to compel others to come into Christ’s literal “house” as Jesus didn’t have an Earthly house. The “house” Jesus was referring to is a heavenly one.

One of the earmarks of a cult is the desire and the teaching that members should compel others to join their particular organization. As you might suspect, this earmark would apply to many of our so-called Bible believing Churches. The work of evangelism is never to compel others to join the Church, but to simply preach and teach Jesus Christ and Him crucified to the local community. When a person is saved, God then has the liberty to place them in that Church as a fruitful member. The only responsibility the Local Church has after a person has been evangelized is to make themselves available to teach and train new converts should the Lord place them in that Church (1 Timothy 3:15).

The Ministry of Preaching

This is one area that will absolutely distinguish a biblically Christ honoring local Church from a cult.

The preaching in the local Church serves several purposes.

1. To compel those who are visiting to be saved. An invitation for lost people to be saved following the gospel message is typically included at almost every public service. This is in accordance with Luke 14:23.
2. To teach. Teaching on biblical doctrine and spiritual truths is the duty of the Pastor in the pulpit, and all the teaching in the Church (although not exclusively done by the Pastor) should be a result of the member doing the teaching being taught by the Pastor. This is in accordance with 2 Timothy 2:2.
3. To exhort and edify. Exhortation and edification should never be considered to have originated by the Pastor or Preacher. In a biblically operated local Church, the edification and exhortation is a result of the Holy Spirit’s work in the individual being edified.

Jesus Christ is ALWAYS to be the head of the Local Church. It should always be understood by the preacher that the Holy Spirit has been orchestrating and preparing for the preaching service well before the preaching begins. The preacher should ALWAYS be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading in what to preach, and how to say it. The end result will be that God’s people will have been edified. A very important passage in scripture elucidates this very point:

1Corinthians 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

For Christ to be the Head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23), He must have preeminence in all things, including the preaching. One of the earmarks of a cult, is that the preaching is a platform for the “man” to lead the flock. In this situation, the position of the “Pastor” migrates from being a mouthpiece for God, to a pseudo political figure to manipulate the congregation.

This is typically accomplished by a “Pastor” by first convincing the congregation that he is being exclusively led by God in all things pertinent to the Church, regardless of whether anyone else is aware of it. To some extent, fear will also be utilized to control the congregation to “stand behind” the Pastor in his decisions and teaching. Again, the congregation is compelled to never oppose the pastor regardless of personal convictions or revelation by God. The common “fear tactic” used by this type of pastor is that God will somehow punish that particular person for opposing the pastor.

The fear of opposing the pastor is further congealed when a member leaves the congregation. Typically the pastor will approach key followers, or certain members who are close to the member who left; and will impress upon them that the person who left the congregation is now out of the will of God because they have essentially rejected the pastor. If by chance, the defecting member incurs hard times, or enters a valley in life; that opportunity is seized by the pastor and/or key members of the congregation to solidify the fact that leaving the congregation will incur punishment by God.

God, through inspiration of the scriptures, has condemned this sort of behavior by a Pastor through the writings of the Apostle Peter:

1Pe 5:3 Neither as being lords over [God’s] heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

A Pastor’s job is to “feed the flock”, and to be an ensample. Anything more is to elevate himself as a “Lord” over God’s people.

Many times this type of situation can occur in a good, Bible believing church when the Pastor or other leader has what he believes to be a personal “mission” from God apart from his duties as pastor of the church. The leader’s goal eventually transforms from “feeding the flock”, to using the flock to fulfill his mission. Of course many members of the congregation will see this error and leave, but the leader will eventually concede to idea of a diminished congregation and justify the condition of the church as a work of God to “cull out” those who are un-useful to God’s work or in opposition to the mission.

In other situations, the goal of the leader is pride. When the goal of the leader is simply to control a group of people, it seems inevitable that there will only be a small following of willing participants. But, it is easier for a controlling leader to effectively manipulate a smaller group of adherents than a larger one.

The Fellowship of Believers

Another mission of the local Church is to accommodate the fellowship of believers. Biblically, the fellowship of believers should encompass many things. The two primary instances of this are to recognize the ordinances of the local Church: Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Secondarily, the fellowship of believers should include: prayer, fasting, sharing of testimonies and needs, encouragement, exhortation; all of which should be centered on Jesus Christ. The fellowship between Christians should always be focused on Jesus and the relationship each individual believer has with their Savior.

Another earmark of a cult is that the fellowship of believers has also been perverted. Now, I realize that we being fallible human beings, do not always keep our fellowship centered on Christ; this being because we are all sinners and will never be in full fellowship with Christ until we are at home with Him. But, in a local Church with cultic tendencies, certain behaviors between members of the congregation will be condoned or even encouraged in order to artificially solidify the unity of the congregation. I emphasize the word “artificially” because in the case of a biblically unified congregation, the members will be unified in Christ (Philippians 1:27).

In a congregation with cultic attributes, the fellowship between members of the congregation is superficial, and not centered on Christ. In the event that the congregation is being used to fulfill the pastor’s mission, the focus of the fellowship will be the mission of the leader. The members will talk about the mission, they will find comfort in their purpose in fulfilling that mission, and they will encourage one another in the leadership of their pastor and his excellence toward that mission.

Here again we see the attention of the congregation being diverted from Christ and His mission, to the leader and his mission (which is essentially what the congregation is being led to believe is God’s mission).

Another basis for fellowship in a cult is mutual exclusivity. Cult members share a mutual feeling of exclusiveness that they are the only ones who are aware of the truth. While it’s true that truth is not subjective, and there is one ultimate truth; it should never be assumed that any one group of fallible humans has exclusive possession of the complete truth (1 Corinthians 13:12). Some members will eventually realize that the exclusive possession of the truth is a farce, and will leave the congregation. When this happens, the remaining members of the congregation will use their mutual exclusivity as a justification to ostracize the defectors. And, of course, this behavior will be encouraged by the leader of the cult to protect the cohesion of his empire.

Conformity is often used to lure new members, and is also used to secure the loyalty of key members. An example of conformity being used in this way can be seen with the Amish. Those who dress in the proper attire, speak with the Pennsylvania Dutch accent, and adhere to the rules and traditions of the Amish are admired by prospective members because of their acceptance and reverence by leaders. A new member will do all they can do to conform to the idea of perfection held by the leader(s), in hopes that they will also be revered and honored as the epitome of the standard. This type of conformity is also used to a lesser extent in some local Church situations by promoting dress or behavior standards. Many times “high moral standards” are used as a manipulative tool to coheres members to conform, and thereby gain acceptance into the “exclusive group”.

High moral standards in appearance or behavior are not bad at all. But, to conform to these standards for the sake of being accepted, or to encourage that type of conformity IS wrong. By encouraging conformity, the cult has effectively replaced the Holy Spirit and negated their status as a Christian Church. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to systematically lead and draw a Christian to be transformed to the image of Christ. The Apostle Paul put it very well:

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Conclusion

We should always be vigilant to be sure we always have our eyes on Christ. As New Testament Christians, our loyalty should be to Christ alone, our desire should be truth and to know Jesus more and more, and our motive should always be to please God by presenting ourselves as transformed to the image of His Son. Everything we do, all that we hope for, and everything we hope to be should be centered on Christ. Anything less is a perversion of Christianity.

There are certainly varying degrees of cultic behavior. Not every group that can be classified as a cult is as “off the wall” as the Heaven’s Gate cult; but all cults share some distinctive marks. These marks were explained in the preceding article, and are summarized below:

1. A cult either began as having a man as it’s head, or has migrated to that status from being a legitimate church with Christ at it’s head.
2. The membership of a cult will have an inordinate loyalty toward their leader.
3. The membership of a cult will be unusually defensive of their organization, and its legitimacy. This is an indication that the member’s association is not with Christ, but the organization or the leader, or both.
4. A cult will consider itself to be the retainers of the ultimate truth, or what they consider to be the closest rendition of the truth.
5. Any organization, in order to continue will need to have a mission. Any religious organization, whose primary mission is divergent from the biblical mission of evangelizing the world, and exhorting and edifying Christians, is a cult.
6. A church has no reason to persevere without the object of there existence. A biblical Church is centered on Christ. A cult will have some other mission or person as the object of its existence, and the thought of removing the object of their existence will be threatening.
7. A cult leader, as being the head of that religious organization, will assert himself as the ultimate authority among the membership. In a “Christian” organization, this is usually accomplished by the Pastor asserting that they are exclusively lead and informed by God.
8. A cult will typically be unified by some sort of “mutual exclusivity”, whether it be moral standards, a special mission, or some other tradition or behavior.
9. A cult uses social acceptance as its primary evangelical method.
10. A cult uses social acceptance as a method of retaining members, by threatening a potential defector with the loss of that acceptance should they chose to leave.
11. A cult leadership is based on pride.
12. A cult’s membership is usually based on pride. The mutual exclusivity of a cult is reinforced when a member leaves. When a member leaves a cult, the remaining members pride themselves in ostracizing that defector, which reinforces the mutual exclusivity of the group.
13. If Jesus Christ is not the object of affection in the religious organization, all the above point will most likely apply.
14. If Jesus Christ is not the center of all that is done in the religious organization, the end result will unequivocally define that organization as a cult.

John W. Hardin