Symptoms of a Cult

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Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits (Matthew 7:15-16a, ESV).

One Friday in the 1970s, at our One-Way House ministry (that became Fellowship Church), the Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on the door in the morning and then the Mormons in the afternoon. I had a busy day protecting the flock.

It was easy to debate a cult in those days. We read the Bible, used Walter Martin’s book, Kingdom of the Cults, which dissected the falsehoods of the Mormons, Witnesses, and other major cults, washed our spiritual hands after a doctrinal battle with them, and continued studying our New American Standard Bibles.

Cults usually had strange teachings, like only 144,000 getting into heaven (Witnesses) and claims of another inspired book written by an angel (Mormans).  As Walter Martin wrote in his book

A cult can be defined as a group of people gathered around a specific person or person’s misinterpretation of the Bible.

Today’s cults are more subtle; often believing in the same Nicene Creed as we do, reading the same ESV, NIV, or NASB that we do, and worshipping by singing Our God is an Awesome God. In other words, it’s not doctrine that sets apart cult leaders and their followers but bad fruit in their teaching and lifestyles.

As a doctor looks for symptoms when we visit their office, when considering a church or church movement, we must look for symptoms or, as Jesus says, “fruit.”

Below are a few of the symptoms (fruit) I have noticed over the years…

New Insight

When someone comes up to me (and I’ve heard this many times) and says, “I learn more from this teacher or this church than all my years in your church. Why haven’t I been taught these things before?”

Alert!

Weird Ingathering

When people begin to hear “new” revelation, often they start selling homes, quitting jobs, and moving closer to the home base of this supposed divine light. 

Alert, alert!

Problematic Finances

The leader of a cultic movement and the movement itself often gain financially from the riches previously sold by those moving closer to the mother church. This happens through offerings needed for new buildings, pressure to feel guilty about giving money to spread the new teaching, and even the leader (or church) asking congregants to invest in businesses.

Alert, alert, alert!

Moral Perversion

How often do we hear of a church leader who is very successful, when it’s revealed that this leader has been grooming individuals for indecent purposes for years, even decades? And the other leaders or members say nothing, often looking the other way, for reasons of protecting “the movement” or, unfortunately, under the sway of the leader/movement’s false charisma.

Alert, alert, alert, alert!

Can’t Leave Syndrome

When the leader falls, those who lived under their influence can’t leave and try to rebuild something from the ashes. I’ve heard people say, “We believe in the original vision.” It’s difficult to admit being a member of a cult; the bonds of control don’t loosen easily.  

Alert, alert, alert, alert, alert!

Let’s be careful; it’s too easy to call other doctrines or denominations a cult. When I first founded the One Way House, consisting of a bunch of Jesus freaks living and assembling in a barn on a small farm, the jibe against us in the community was “cult”! It didn’t fit, and 50 years of ministry in our community and sending missionaries around the world gives fruit that we were following Jesus — in a hippie sort of way.

But if there are too many alerts with a church you are attending or a teacher of which you are listening, my advice is, “Run!”

Note: I still believe Walter Martin’s book, Kingdom of the Cults, is an excellent resource to begin a study of what makes a cult. He deals with major cults that still exist today, and his insights into cultic symptoms (fruit) are still relevant. Click here to purchase.