Christian Cults In The Electronic Age by Praying Medic
For many of us, names like David Koresh, Jim Jones and Joseph Smith come to mind; those mysterious men of the past who led well-meaning people into religious error. In the world of modern magnetic personalities, today’s cult leaders have a new face and a new agenda. No longer a man who leads people with unorthodox teaching, today’s cult leader is more likely to preach the cross of Jesus and teach on the triune God. They also don’t pass out poison Kool-Aid, but if you follow them long enough, you may end up in an early grave from exhaustion. Take a short quiz and see if your hero is leading people down a crooked path.
1) Do you follow the teaching of someone with a public forum or ministry that you consider to be particularly insightful, inspiring or gifted?
2) Does that leader promote the idea that the church has lost its focus and that He’s been given an assignment from God to re-establish it?
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3) Does the leader claim to have a special revelation, anointing or mantle of authority given to him that qualifies him in a special way to restore God’s original purpose for the church?
4) Does this leader discourage people from learning from other leaders?
5) Do you encourage others to follow this leader?
6) Do you meet with friends who follow the same leader and read or listen to his messages?
7) Do you distribute the materials prepared by that leader to others? (mp3’s, podcasts, videos, internet links, books, etc)
8) Do you find yourself frequently quoting this leader?
9) Does the leader come under criticism from other Christian leaders on a regular basis?
10) Do you find yourself defending the leader or his teaching before others?
11) Have you lost friends over your support of the leader and his ministry?
12) Do you know people who followed the leader then left and have been criticized for leaving?
13) Does the leader promote any type of activity that he believes is necessary to remain in right relationship with God?
14) Do you wonder if your spiritual activity is good enough to please God?
15) Have people familiar with the ministry ever used words like brainwashing, indoctrination, legalism, performance, or similar words to describe the teaching or activities of the group?
If you answered yes to most of the questions above, you may be following someone who could be considered a cult leader.
The Leader
Cult leaders don’t wake up one day and decide they’re going to start a cult. The ones I’ve observed seem to be oblivious to what they’re doing. Most of them may actually have good intentions. They seem to have wounds from past encounters in the church. In dealing with the pain, rejection or disillusionment they start a campaign to set things right. These leaders are always visionary people, with a goal of either re-establishing something lost, or bringing to the church something new. From a wounded soul arises a need to be publicly justified. The driving force behind their movement is a bruised ego. These men and women are genuinely gifted and inspiring individuals with a quirkiness that others find admirable.
