Why Do Cults Prosper ?
WHY DO CULTS PROSPER?
“I am the lord of the universe!”
These words were spoken by a young guru on a tour to the United States a while ago, as he addressed 30,000 adoring devotees in Houston, Texas. Onlookers viewed with astonishment the spectacle of these young followers prostrating themselves in worship before their “perfect master.” A lot of people, knowing of such spectacles, ask new questions concerning the astonishing rise of strange religious leaders in our time. They see otherwise rational acquaintances of theirs give themselves to a new religious fanaticism, professing ecstatic conversion to the cause of some flaming “messiah” who has helped them “discover a new and sacred truth.”
It looks like a mounting number of evangelical Christian congregations are getting more and more concerned over the disappearance from their midst of whole families who have slipped away from the faith into an unheard-of religion. “What on earth is going on in our time?” “What strange new cults are assaulting the minds of people?” A cult is a religious perversion. It is a belief and practice in the world of religion which calls for devotion to a religious view or leader centered in false doctrine. It is an organized heresy. A cult may take many forms but it is basically a religious movement which distorts or warpsorthodox faith to the point where truth becomes perverted into a lie. A cult is impossible to define except against the absolute standard of the teaching of Holy Scripture
When contrasted to biblical truth, a cult is seen to have distinguishing marks by which it can be labeled as being fatally sub- Christian. There is no question but that one of the most interesting and dangerous developments of our time is the rise of arbitrative religions. The promoters of old and new cults are active, and their works are growing as never before. Emboldened by easy successes, they believe they can capture new multitudes of followers. The result is that millions of simple souls are being beguiled into following religious notions that are nothing but false satanic cults. The old cults are experiencing a remarkable resurgence, and curious new “faiths” are spawning in profusion.
When people hear of the strange beliefs and practices of the cults that share today’s religious resurgence, they understandably ask why. “Why are so many men, women, and especially young people attracted to those unorthodox “spiritual” leaders and their strange, suspicious practices?” In answering that question, we must first of all remember that the Bible predicts that true Christianity will be under the constant attack of those who would deny and destroy the faith. One of the moving speeches in the New Testament is the Apostle Paul’s words of warning to the elders of the church at Ephesus when he bade them farewell and admonished them to take proper care of the church. We Quote: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost (Spirit) hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:28-31).
Here Paul warned the Ephesian elders (and all subsequent Christians) that they would be subject to the attack of the enemy from two quarters, within and without (outside). Grievous wolves would come in from the outside. Also, those who would seem to be members of the flock would “arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” Because of this, the elders were told that they must “take heed, (pay attention) watch, and remember.” They were never told that they should be merely popular leaders, fashioning a message which would promote consensus among various points of view. Rather, they were to be faithful custodians and teachers of the eternal, absolute truth of God.
This commission to the elders of the Early Church is surely the more valid for those who are custodians of the work of God in our particular time. There seems little question but that we are living in the day predicted by the Apostle Paul when he said, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits noticed, a great number of reasons for this spiritual defection are given to us in the Word of God. Read your Bible daily, and be not misled! God Bless you as you do!, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1). Why then are people attracted to false religious doctrines and practices as against true commitment to Jesus Christ and His Church?