Between cult and church: Their essential features
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The term “cult” is often associated with extreme groups, but sometimes, cult-like behavior can infiltrate religious organizations, masquerading as churches. From my experience as a pastor and theological teacher for the past four decades and still counting,
I have discovered that some of churches in Africa and elsewhere seem to have imbibed some cult-like characteristics and are more or less using religious covering to deceive their followers.
Also having studied comparative religion extensively, I have come to the conclusion to add my voice the few people who have earlier warned on this and sound the alarm on how most of our churches today are turning into a cult-like religious organisation as we emphasise more on commitment to the church ethos, doctrines etc. rather than Christ Jesus.
Also, we have noticed that most churches are now ‘gated’ in such a way that we are exclusive and sufficient on our own without others graces that God has strategically located in other denominations.
My take is that it is healthy for Christian groups to spend time with those outside of their own church for biblical training and instruction. This is a healthy way to learn from other churches and (hopefully) to share our wisdom with others, too.
The terms “cult” and “church” cannot be used interchangeably because they represent distinct entities with differing characteristics and objectives. While both involve groups of people sharing common beliefs and practices, the lines between them seems to become blurred nowadays due to the excessive control been exercised by most church leaders leading to confusion and misconceptions amongst congregants.
Secular author Margaret Thaler Singer estimates that in the last two decades roughly 20 million Americans have been involved in a cult. Christian cult expert Ron Rhodes agrees with this estimate, claiming that this has been a 3,000 percent increase over the last 150 years. Rhodes writes, “It is for good reason that every book in the New Testament except Philemon has something to say about false teachers, false prophets, false gospels, or heresies.
Rochford asked these questions rhetorically, but they are both incisive and pungent considering what our churches are becoming today: Is Christianity just one big cult, or is it possible to differentiate Christianity from cultic practice? How are high commitment churches different from cults, and how do we consistently distinguish between the two?
The question I desire that readers ask themselves after reading this piece are: Is my church a cult? Can I see any traits of cult-like indices based on the characterisation stated hereafter in my church? An objective, discerning and critical thinking mind is required to put this information into proper perspective.
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