Worse Than the Mormons

I have started to realize that my old church was a cult.

I don’t mean a full-bore, bank-account-linking, phone-tapping, making-you-put-them-in-your-will cult. It’s not like they had naked intitiation rituals or big filing cabinets full of stuff to use to blackmail people who left. And what they taught was primarily Christianity; the non-Christian stuff hadn’t completely displaced it. But they exerted way too much control over people, and it seemed like the leaders benefited from the flock more than the flock benefited from the church. Those are my impressions, anyway. I base them on several years of interaction with the church.

Since I left, they have done things that go beyond normal church behavior. When someone leaves, it may be okay to call and thank them for their past service, and to pray for their success. But they did things that were downright creepy. Things that were possessive, controlling, and sick. Not to mention cowardly.

I think there are things you have to ask yourself about your church’s leaders, in order to determine whether they’re veering into cult territory.

1. Do they ask you to do things for the pastor or his relatives, even when those things don’t benefit the church or advance God’s kingdom?

2. When things are given to the church, do they take them for themselves?

3. Are the pastors available to talk, or are they “VIPs” who are too busy and too inaccessible to speak with? Should a church even permit the use of the term “VIP”?

4. Are employees forced to do additional unpaid work?

5. How does the lifestyle of the pastors compare to that of people a notch or two lower on the food chain?

6. Is constructive criticism welcomed, and do the leaders act on it?

7. Does the church give to the poor? I don’t mean referrals to government agencies or real charities. Do they give people cash and goods? Special promotions don’t count. If a rich businessman gives the church a thousand shirts, and the church passes them out in front of TV cameras while taking full credit, it doesn’t qualify.

8. Are people afraid to express concerns to the pastors? When they do, do their relationships with the ruling clique suddenly grow cold?

9. Does the church generate and distribute an annual report? I don’t mean the garbage corporations file with secretaries of state. I mean a detailed account of what was taken in and where it was spent, with actual dollar figures. Do you know how much the church pays your pastor, and how much it spends on perks like airfare and hotels? Don’t you have a right to know, since it comes out of your pocket?

10. Are there a few people at the top who are incessantly promoted? Do undistinguished relatives of the people at the very top receive promotion that far outstrips their talents and character?

11. Is there an inner circle almost no one can crack? Do the pastors and their families have few or no real friends at the church?

12. Are virtually all of the head pastor’s friends preachers (especially preachers who are more successful)?

13. Does the inner circle have scandals everyone knows about, yet which are never confronted or acknowledged from the pulpit?

14. Does the church seem to avoid or limit activity which could be seen as promoting other local churches? Are the vast majority of preachers the pastor promotes located too far away to threaten your church’s attendance?

15. Has a leader at your church ever injected himself into your personal relationships in order to advance his own interests above yours?

16. Are people of no influence routinely ignored and pushed aside when they come forward with needs, while wealthy people with no discernible spiritual assets are invited to be part of the pastors’ social circle?

17. Does your church give VIP treatment to people simply because they’re wealthy or well-known? Would they seat someone like Luther Campbell in the front row and invite him backstage? Do they do the same thing with worldly professional athletes, whose tithes could make a huge difference in the church’s financial status? Do they seat politicians up front?

18. Does your church tend to choose physically attractive or young people for positions that require exposure before the public?

19. Does the church preach defensive sermons, showing that they are aware the flock is grumbling, yet seeking to shift blame instead of addressing the issues?

20. Does the church preach ridiculous, unscriptural “grow where you’re planted” sermons, intended to make people feel guilty about taking their tithes to other churches?

21. Does the church preach incessantly about giving tithes and offerings, while barely mentioning giving to the needy?

22. Does your church allow employees or volunteers to see information about your tithes and offerings, and do they speak to you about them when they drop?

It seems to me that my old church takes advantage of people and tries to control their thoughts. I think this is why God doesn’t bless the place. Their debt is enormous, and simple math appears to guarantee that there is no way they can get out of the hole simply through normal tithes and offerings, even if they continue having six services a week. The building is dirty. It’s in need of repairs. The sermons have become silly and boring. The music has gotten dull. The people at the top promote themselves nationwide, but they seem to be getting zero traction, and they will probably never end up like Joel Osteen or even Keith Craft or Steve Munsey. Serious Christians are leaving or reducing their roles.

There are a lot of gullible people there, and there are also people who are not gullible, yet who swallow more nonsense than they should, simply because they are used to trying to believe what preachers say. But the congregation is not completely stupid. Like Abraham Lincoln said, you can’t fool all the people all of the time. When you consistently treat people like suckers, they eventually figure it out. And the answer isn’t to whine and whimper about submission to authority. The answer is to admit fault, repent, and pray for God’s help.

I hope they decide to leave me and my friends alone. A pastor should not reach into another church and pester people who worship there, just because they used to go to his church. That’s like abducting someone’s kids. It is warped and wrong, and I hope they understand how inappropriate it is.