Cults are also notorious for adding their own rules. Places like Colossians 2:19-23 can be helpful to show that Christ is sufficient. Are your leaders pointing you to Christ and leaving you in His hands, or are they centering themselves or the group? That is a big identifier of a cult.
Charles Manson, David Koresh, Jim Jones, Bhagwan Shree Rejneesh, Marshall Applewhite, Shoko Asahara, and Jesus of Nazareth.
As a Christian, our first instinct when reading this list is to say “one of these things is not like the others.” And I would ultimately agree, but why? From one perspective, all of these are religious leaders. They all had a group of people following them, they were viewed as strange and unorthodox by the majority of people, and they claimed to be the way of truth. So, what separates Jesus from these others?
How do we say that six of these are cult leaders and one of them is the Son of God? This might be seen as an uncomfortable question, but if we ask it honestly, we can not only discover the differences between cults and Christ, but also see how Jesus is definitively unique.
What Is a Cult?
In 1964 the Supreme Court heard a difficult First Amendment case, Jacobellis v. Ohio. In this case they had to determine whether the state of Ohio could ban an obscene film. The statute was that anything except for hard-core pornography was protected under first amendment rights. But how do you define this? Justice Potter Stewart famously quipped, “I know it when I see it.”
Trying to define a cult can prove to be just as difficult. But just as with the 1964 ruling, “I know it when I see it” will prove to be inadequate. We need to outline a few characteristics and establish parameters which will help us define whether or not something is a cult.
Definitions of cult
In the 1600s if you referred to Christianity or Judaism as a cult, nobody would bat an eye. The word cult was simply a reference to a particular form or system of worship. This is why you might read something like the “cult of Saint Benedict” (now known as the Benedictines). This does not mean that people followed St. Benedict with the same fervor as those who follow Charles Manson. It simply means that there were people devoted to his form of worship.
But over time the word cult took on a bit more sinister meaning. Though intending to be humorous, Hugh Rawson’s definition of “an organized group of people, religious or not, with whom you disagree”, might be an apt description of how overused the phrase has become. Sociologists refer to a cult as a social group with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practices.
But that definition doesn’t seem to help get at what people really mean when they refer to something as a cult. This definition provided by Rousselet, Duretete, Hardouin, and Grall-Bronnec may be the most helpful:
“A cult is an organized group whose purpose is to dominate cult members through psychological manipulation and pressure strategies.”
That, I believe, gets to what most people mean when they refer to a cult in our day. A cult is seen as harmful to its members and ultimately to society as a whole. And they are typically centered around a dynamic personality. So, what are the strategies of cults? What are the warning signs?
What Are the Warning Signs of a Cult?
One would think that spotting a cult would be relatively easy. And from the outside, it often can be easy to spot cultic behavior. But from the inside, the person has been groomed and manipulated to normalize deviant behavior. Here are a few of the warning signs:
- Following a leader with unquestioning faith and allegiance
- A belief that the group exclusively holds the truth, therefore there is zero tolerance and interaction with those outside the group
- Isolation of members
- Severe penalties for leaving the group
- An emphasis on a special belief or doctrine viewed as strange by others
- An “us vs. them” mentality, often using persecution of the group as evidence of its truthfulness
- The use of fear and intimidation to keep you in the group
There are a few questions to ask that might help to determine if you or a friend is in a cult.
- What happens if I disagree with the leaders?
- How do I respond if an “outsider” criticizes one of our leaders?
- Are there different sets of “rules” for the leader, and another set for “members”?
- Who is the leader answerable to? Is there accountability?
- What would happen if you tried to leave the group?
- Do they welcome independent thought? Do they believe I can think for myself?
- Have a lost several friendships since joining this group? Am I being isolated?
- Am I able to read outside literature?
Some of the above questions can help you to assess whether or not your group has moved away from healthy religious belief into manipulative/cultish territory.
Does the Bible Have Anything to Say about Cults?
In order to consider what the Bible has to say about cults we must first come to a common understanding of cults. If you mean something like “religious devotion,” then the Bible is filled with these examples. But if you mean something more like a group that manipulates their members and causes harm, then it’s going to be more difficult.
There are numerous examples throughout the Scriptures, though, of false teachers — and they are often deemed to be harmful. We also have those who were false prophets and idolaters in the Old Testament, that would possibly fit a modern understanding of cults.
There are a few themes we can use from Scripture to help us understand the nature of cults. First, Jesus warned of the presence of false teachers in Matthew 7:15-16,
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”
Secondly, because of the existence of false prophets we are told to “test the spirits.” 1 John 4 tells us how we can “recognize the Spirit of God:”
“Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.”
If a group is not centered upon Jesus Christ, then it is making false religious claims. Groups can be centered upon Jesus in name, but if at the end of the day they are not following the way of Jesus, exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit, and entrusting each member to Christ as Lord, then this is a false group.
Cults are also notorious for adding their own rules. Places like Colossians 2:19-23 can be helpful to show that Christ is sufficient. Are your leaders pointing you to Christ and leaving you in His hands, or are they centering themselves or the group? That is a big identifier of a cult. The Bible has Jesus Christ at the center. Cults will have something else at the center.
What Makes a Cult Different from a Religious Denomination?
Earlier, Jesus Christ was mentioned alongside six known cult leaders. What is the difference between Christ and these cult leaders? For one, Jesus Christ is the way of truth. But one could argue that this is just circular reasoning and the same argument which these cult leaders make. But even still, we should test them by their own claims. These cult leaders are always found empty.
But the greatest difference between Christ and cult is that Jesus is self-giving. He gives of Himself for their benefit. Christ does not lead into harm but into hope. But what about all of the different denominations? What is the difference between two Christians having a different belief and a Christian disagreeing with a cultist?
First, consider the characteristics of a cult. If your “denomination” has these characteristics, then it’s not just a group of Christians disagreeing over doctrine, but it’s an entirely different social group.
There are some churches and professing Christian groups that can border on cultic practices. Sadly, it can be difficult to discern the difference at times. An excellent resource on this is Something’s Not Right by Wade Mullen. Spiritually abusive systems and churches will have much overlap with cults.
But at the end of the day, most denominations still have Jesus Christ at the center of their religious practice, they just differ on a few interpretations but are orthodox in their belief and practice.
Are All Cults Bad?
There are some Christian commentaries, especially in the Old Testament, where they will use a phrase like “the cult of Israel” or even the “cult of the early church.” That might through a novice reader for a loop. We tend to think of a cult as only a bad thing. But the word itself, as mentioned earlier, is not always negative. Originally it just meant religious devotion.
Today the word cult has taken on a negative meaning. Whether or not “cults” are all bad has to do with how we are defining the word “cult” and even how we define the word “bad.” If a cult is harming its followers and others then, yes, it is bad. But if we simply mean religious devotion then it’s not necessarily bad.
But there is another question connected with this. Some will call Jehovah’s Witnesses or Latter-Day Saints a cult. They certainly fit some of the descriptors of a cult. And I, personally, would argue that they are “bad” in that they do not tell the truth about Jesus. As such they are indeed ultimately harmful. But I also think it would be wise, if we use the word cult, to make a distinction between the “bad” of Charles Manson and Jim Jones with the “bad” of Joseph Smith or the Watchtower Society.
Regardless of whether we mean “bad” as in violent or harmful to society or “bad” as in unorthodox and denying Christ, we should pursue truth and not be part of a cult. But what if someone we love is involved with a dangerous cult?
What Should You Do if You (or Someone You Love) Is Involved with a Dangerous Cult?
First, if you or a loved one are in a cult, be thankful that you still have an open line of communication with them (or with the outside world if you are in the cult). Whatever you can do to keep that line of communication open is a good idea. You will not get very far by speaking negatively about the group or the leader. You must earn trust.
It might be best to ask probing questions. What you are attempting to do with this line of communication is put a “pebble in their shoe.” Have you ever had an annoying little pebble in your shoe as you’ve tried to walk around? It’s a tiny little prick, but it’s annoying and eventually it takes all of your mental energy. You have to stop, sit down, take off your shoe, find the offending pebble and discard it. What we want to do with someone in a cult is come up with some of those pebbles — penetrating, but safe, questions which will serve like that pebble. (I am indebted to Greg Koukl’s book Tactics for this illustration.)
One suggestion might be to ask them their thoughts on another cult. By doing this they might be able to see some of the similarities to their own group. If they begin to see some of the tactics of manipulation or mind control of another group, they might be more prone to see that in their own development into the cult. Here, you are being a little like Nathan when he confronted David after his sexual assault of Bathsheba.
It is also important to think through some of the reasons why this person might have joined the cult. What were they looking for that the cult provided? Are there ways in which you can begin to provide some of this support outside of their group? Keep in mind how costly it will be for them to leave this cult. If you can eliminate some of the difficulties of leaving, this might help them to make that decision if the “pebble” is doing its job as well.
If there is something harmful or illegal happening, report this to the authorities. You can ask for anonymous wellness checks.
At the end of the day, we must entrust them to the Lord. Therefore, we must pray. We must pray for wisdom and discernment in our interactions, but also that the Lord would open their eyes to reality. They are blinded to the fullness of Jesus, so pray that God would reveal Himself to them in an undeniable way. Pray that they will be able to see through the inconsistencies of the leader.
Sources
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cult
Hugh Rawson, Wicked Words, 1993
Very Well Mind - What is a cult?
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/rodkosmos
Mike Leake is husband to Nikki and father to Isaiah and Hannah. He is also the lead pastor at Calvary of Neosho, MO. Mike is the author of Torn to Heal and Jesus Is All You Need. His writing home is http://mikeleake.net and you can connect with him on Twitter @mikeleake. Mike has a new writing project at Proverbs4Today.
