False Cults Free Online Course 1, Lesson 2
False Cults Free Online Course 1, Lesson 2
Why Should We Worry About Cults
In spite of all talk and discussion about False Cults many Christians are still not convinced that we need to be seriously concerned about them. Worse, many of them tend to ignore the widely seen sheep-stealing and loss of evangelical Christians to False Cults. Part of the reason is ignorance.
Many people are ignorant of the scale at which False Cults are doing their work successfully. On the other hand others feel that just ignoring it all will automatically solve the problem. Both of these outcomes of ignorance can be fatal for us.
As we write these lines there are many of our beloved friends who are blissfully ignorant that right now their children are playing with the fire of False Doctrines. These doctrines come to them from books, periodicals, their friends, hostel roommates, and also from determined Cultists who feel that these children are a promising target for their "fishing". We have been warning these parents for quite some time, but they have been ignoring the problem and patronizingly smiling at our ignorance about their family. They feel that even if the whole world turns to False Cults, their own children would never desert their parents. Usually the eyes of these parents open too late for them to do anything.
Believe us, we meet such cases very frequently. The end result is only life-long agony in most cases. Once a person in already into the grip of the Cultist, it almost impossible to get him back. Thus in this case PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE. To prepare our minds for such a strategy, we must begin with the reasons that should make us worry about the spread of the Cults. Once this aspect is taken care of, most of us would automatically start taking the necessary steps. So here are some of the reasons why we should worry about the spreading influence of False Cults:
1-Difficulty Of Recovery: As said before, many parents live with the illusion that their children would NEVER fall into the tricks of Cultists. What’s more, many of them are confident (nay, overconfident) that even if any Cultistic influence takes prisoner their children, that they would be able to deprogram their children in a matter of hours (if not minutes).
What these parents fail to realize that there are hundreds of millions simpletons like them in the world. These couples lost their children, only to realize that even YEARS of pleading with them would not motivate these children to denounce their Cult. The mistake of the parents was to overlook the mind-control methods used by the False Cults.
If becoming the member of a False Cult involves only a superficial "liking" or "preference" for their ideas, then it would be easy for parents to recover their children back. However, this is not what happens. The mental influence of Cults upon their prey is not that of a superficial "liking". Rather, it is a vice-like grip, so vicious that there is almost no known human method to redeem them from this slavery. Only divine intervention can cause a few of them to escape, but then we cannot count upon divine intervention for every catastrophe brought upon by human carelessness and neglect.
True, God does intervene in some cases, but these are rare. The Bible is very clear that man is responsible for his choices. God has revealed sufficient information and guidelines in His word. God does not come to us to say "no" each time that we make a wrong choice of commission or omission. Nor does he intervene on each such occasion. Thus the majority of parents and family members who neglected to protect their family members in the first place end up regretting it all their lives.
Almost all Cults convert people through Mind-Control techniques. Thus once a person’s mind is firmly in their control, it is futile to hope that these people can be rescued. The best (and practically the only) method is to be careful that our people do not fall into the clutches of the Cults. Prevention is better than cure. In this case prevention is the only thing that woks in the majority of cases.
2-Detachment With Family: One’s family occupies a place of highest importance in every person’s life. That is the way God has created people. However, once a person falls into a Cult, this mentality changes. Whether it is the cult of Secularized and Alienated Young People, the Children Of God, or Smithism, there in constant encouragement to detach themselves from the family.
In fact most of the Cults work day and night to alienate their prey from their family and friends. The main reason is to continue the Cultistic foothold upon their victims, which can be loosened when family ties become strong. Cults have devised various methods and strategies to achieve this end, the chief of which is to portray a person’s non-cultistic family as fallen, degenerate, away from God’s grace, and even as the followers of devil himself. Thus any contact with one’s family is seen as spiritually dangerous, sufficient even to put one’s salvation into danger.
God has created man for living in mutual fellowship. For a stable life everyone needs the immediate family as well as the extended family. Cults do great violence to this concept, depriving not only their victim, but also his family members from the essential mutual and God-ordained relationship.
Since False Cults are such a threat to family relationships, Bible-believing Christians need to worry about the increasing influence of Cults where our people study, work, and socialize.
3-Sheep Stealing: Every Christian needs fellowship with a congregation of Bible-believing believers. As part of this fellowship, it is his duty to think of the welfare of other members of this spiritual body. He also needs to worry about the dangers facing them.
Cults have no hesitation is stealing sheep from Bible-believing churches. Many Cults have found that the older, lethargic, and lenient Bible-believing churches are the best hunting-grounds for new recruits. This is because though many of these churches still get new-converts, they do not have the will to nurture these babes in Christ. Since these new-converts crave for attention and
care on one hand, and since they are doctrinally ignorant on the other hand, they would quickly move to another group if it seems to offer what they long for. By the time some of them become aware of the doctrinal perversions of the new group, it is too late to leave. Further, since these believers were never taught the Scriptures, many of them would never know Biblical truth, and thus would happily continue as active members of the Cult.
As the evangelical churches become increasing lethargic, sheep stealing from them by the Cults has been increasing. Once stolen, there is practically no hope for recovering them. This is another reason why believers should worry about his fellow-believers being stolen away from the congregation.
4-Easy Access To Our Young People: Till a generation or two ago, people mingled mostly only with their own kind. There was some kinds of segregations in the society. While this had many disadvantages, at the same time this offered an advantage in that people of alien groups were not able to interact easily with a given group. Christian young people were safer then than today from alien influences.
However, the education system and the changing social habits have melted down many of these barriers. The Mass Media has also helped in breaking down many barriers, increasing the social interaction between a diversity of people. With the increasing social contact has come the danger of easy access to everyone. A crusader for any kind of deviant idea now has easy access even to people from the most religious and conservative backgrounds.
Since the earlier insulation is mostly gone now, these peddlers of error now find it easy to plant their erroneous ideas in the minds of an ever larger number of people. This in turn means that none is safe from deviant philosophy even within the confines of his house. Friends from even the most bizarre group are now free to visit the houses of their most conservative companions. If that were not enough, the ever-present Mass-Media plays a fair share in importing these ideas into impressionable minds through the privacy of the Christian homes.
Though the increasing social contacts help in more reach for the gospel, the reverse is also truth. It provides more reach to all kinds of error also. This should make every concerned believer worried about the ever-present influence of Cults and degenerate movements.
5-Decreasing Discernment: Till a few decades ago, parents, teachers, and Bible Teachers encouraged people to think clearly, distinguishing clearly between ideas at variance with each other. Towards the close of the twentieth century this attitude was replaced by what can be called "continuum thinking".
According to this new way of thinking, there are very few rights
and wrongs, and perhaps none at all. Many people no longer have clearly defined standards for evaluating thoughts, actions, and events. This has in turn decreased to an alarming degree the discernment that should characterize any civilized society. This decreased discernment has now affected Christian also as an incurable malady.
The decreasing discernment in the church means that a large number of people are no longer able to distinguish between truth and error. Rather than think in clear-cut categories, they have developed the habit of sentimental thinking. If it appeals to the heart, it must be right is the new attitude. In such a situation the False Cults find it easy to create situations that are very appealing to people. They offer love, friendship, fellowship, and even an emotionally attractive "theology". Many are the people who fall into the trap. No concerned Christian can overlook the opportunities available to Cultists because of the lack of discernment among Christians.
6-Loss Of Combat Mentality: Once the Romish hierarchy subdued the majority of Christians, it was not easy for anyone to break free from the iron rod with which the Popery ruled Christendom. Martin Luther and his kin needed much courage to proclaim the New Testament truths, and millions had to lay down their lives for defending the newfound truths.
The millions who were tortured and who died agonizingly at the hands of Romish priests, monks, nuns, and agents accepted all this because they had a combat mentality. They knew that God’s truth is worth fighting for. Any cost was too little for defending and proclaiming truth. This is why they did not recant their affirmation even when some of the Protestants were murdered by roasting them alive on slow flames (tortures lasting from four to eight hours). But this mentality is gone now.
Eternal vigilance is the price to be paid for maintaining freedom. Freedom comes only by proclaiming the truth. However, with the disappearance of the Combat Mentality, fewer and fewer people are willing to take a stand for truth. This in turn has made it easy for the enemies of Truth to propagate their error, because they know that they need not expect any resistance from Bible-believing people.
Only the presence of a significant number of spiritual warriors can ensure that the enemy does not take any captives from among us. However, since this Combat Mentality is gone, the Cults are able to enjoy a rich harvest from among the evangelical Christians. Constant watching and warning is needed if the damage is to be minimized.
7-Rise Of Inclusivism/Universalism: With the lack of discernment, the increasing access that others have to our homes, and decreasing Combat Mentality has given rise to doctrines of Inclusivism and Universalism.
Biblically speaking, salvation is available only though belief in Lord Jesus. There is no other way to salvation. The Inclusivists claim that people of other religions also worship Lord Jesus through the worship of their pagan gods. Thus, according to them, salvation is available to people of every religion because their gods are actually another form of Lord Jesus.
The Universalists claim that Jesus Christ is not the only way of divine salvation. According to them, salvation is available to everyone (whether noble or wicked) through every religion. Thus the Christian faith is seen as no different from other world religions.
Inclusivism and Universalism have been infecting evangelical Christians now for almost three to four decades. Radical Bible Seminaries, radical theological journals, and the books written by theological radicals are the main cause for this drift. The seeds were planted by theological mercenaries from Germany, but now their followers are found in almost all evangelical groups.
In this atmosphere where all religions are seen as leading to God, walls of separation crumble down. Thus instead of defending their Biblical faith, people find it easy to drift to those Cults that appeal to the human ego and lust. Since Inclusivism and Universalism are on the rise within the evangelical church, the influence of False Cults would also keep rising.
8-The Seductive Power Of New Techniques: False Cults have become very mature. Rather than a head-on attack, most of them use very persuasive and subtle means to seduce people away from their God- given faith. The seductive power of these techniques is beyond the imagination of most people.
The twentieth century has been a period when mental-seduction became a highly developed science and art. Millions upon millions in money was spent on "depth analysis" and similar sciences for studying the way in which the human mind can be deeply influence in subtle manners. The insights gained by these techniques were initially used only by peddlers of consumer products, but now the Cults have also started exploiting this information.
Mind Manipulation and Seduction Techniques were originally known only to a select band of people, but now this information is easily available to a wide variety of people. The False Cults use this information effectively to lure people. Since most people are not aware of the tremendous power of these techniques, they falls quickly for the bait instead of suspecting and fleeing from it.
Summary: With the increasing coldness and lethargy in the evangelical churches, many believers have started neglecting the purity of faith. They have also become cold to the possibility that deviant groups are ever eager to steal sheep from the uncaring evangelical churches. Unbelievable are the losses every day. It is high time for us to wake up to the breach and mend it before it is too late.
False Cults Free Online Course 1, Lesson 2
Why Should We Worry About Cults
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