I got saved at a Campus Life meeting right after my high school graduation. And then it wasn’t until I went away to college that I found a real bible believing church.
After school finally ended and I had to return home for good I discovered that for me at least it was easier finding a real job than it was finding a good church.
When I finally found something that looked like the one I went to back at school that one turned out to be a cult.
Of course it’s not like they had a sign on the door,
“We’re a cult suckers welcome.”
It was more like,
“We’re the only one’s who know what’s really wrong with the world and the church so stick with us if you want to be one of God‘s favorites.”
And,
“Don’t criticize our leaders or say anything bad about us or God will get you where it counts.”
Not that people should go around dicing their pastor all the time but there is a balance. There is a right way to question leadership. However when it reaches paranoia of pathological proportions because everyone’s afraid to say anything critical it’s time to leave. You’re in cult land.
It’s especially true when a church is drifting further and further from sound biblical doctrine. They seemed to make up stuff as they went along.
But by the time I started seeing the warning signs it was already too late. I had fallen victim to the lie and the emotional chords were around me.
Cults can come in all shapes and sizes. Some like this church may only consist of one or two fellowships.
The thing about this group was how they made me feel special and needed at a time when I was desperate for that. I may have had a real job but it wasn’t a very fulfilling one. And with a very low self esteem to begin with this place gave me a major boost.
This church wasn’t evil. They were a victim of their own ignorance. They were trying to undo what’s wrong with mainstream churchianity in America today.
But the solution isn’t to cut yourself off from the main vine. Especially if you look and wait long enough you’ll find people working in the system trying to fix the same issues you’re running from.
As for me when I realized at last that I could no longer stand how closed of a group they were I moved away to get away from them.
The trouble was I was now about to be exposed to the ills they were shielding me from. Not only that but there were lots of areas in my personal life that never got dealt with while I was in the cult.
All that was about to come crashing in on me. You see, it took ten years to get me out of the cult, and another twenty years to get the cult out of me.
So how about you?
Were you ever in a cult?
Did it ever feel like the ground would swallow you up if you ever said,
“That group is a cult!”
The Lucky Loser 
Cult might be a stretch, but I’ve been in some awful churches. Well one of them could have passed for a cult. The pastor raised $90,000 in one offering to build a new church and then went drinking and gambling instead of building a church. By the time he was stopped, the church was $30,000 in debt. When he resigned, the deacons wept like babies, and cried, “He will always be my pastor.” I could not believe my ears. He should have went to jail. They let him walk out the door. Fortunately, my husband and I had not given a penny to the building fund but we did support the church financially. These days, I’ll give my money to the poor before I’ll drop it in a church offering.
Comment by Teena Myers — January 22, 2010 @ 11:29 pm
I hear ya Teena, and thank you for leaving a comment.
The bottom line is only commit to giving to something where there is real accountability. Things like every check needs two people to sign it.
That way nobody goes on a bender with everyone’s hard earned dough.
And yes, that false prophet of a pastor needs to be in jail.
Comment by larryk12309 — January 23, 2010 @ 1:39 pm
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