Churches Gone Wild!

What is it about the Christian faith that makes it so easy to create a cult from it? Why is it that so many health and prosperity teachers arise from Christianity and not from the other religions out there? Do we hear of Muslim name it and claim it clerics? Do we see compounds of faithful zealots ready to drink poisoned Kool-Aid in the name of Brahma or Vishnu? While I am sure there are people who take advantage of other religions to exploit them, I am still interested in why this happens so frequently within the realm of Christianity.

At this point, I am certain that some Christians would claim that this is because the devil, God's ancient enemy, is doing his best to discredit the true church of Jesus Christ by bringing about all of these atrocities. These kinds of people would use all of this to try and establish Christianity as the one true religion. After all, which other religion has this going on? Obviously it is an attack against the truth! I know that arguments like this are used because I had used them myself.

Recently a news report was released about a church in Virginia called Calvary Temple which is exhibiting cult-like tendencies. According to the investigation, the pastor of that church, Star Scott, "urged some church members to divorce spouses and shun children who resisted the pastor's teachings." Scott also described those that left the church as "depraved," and Calvary's practice is to cut them off."

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While different churches with cult-like behavior may differ in their core teachings (doctrine), they all tend to exhibit one thing in common: they ostracize those that would dare to leave them and, in the process of doing so, try to paint those that have left in as bad a light as they can. They may call them apostates, reprobates, deluded, anti-Christs and a whole bunch of other names that are intended to destroy the reputation of those that have left while at the same time bringing fear to any that remain.

Whether one believes the Bible to be true or not, it is obvious to most people that churches that behave like this are clearly violating clear biblical teachings. While the Bible certainly does give instruction about separating from apostates, it never tells its followers to speak badly of them. Its New Testament leaders are never instructed to lord it over the faithful and their actions are to be selfless. It is amazing to me how many churches claim to follow the teachings of Christ and yet follow anything but what is written in red.