God: Life is made to be lived. When I made Adam and Eve, I didn’t tell them “stay in the garden forever, and build a nice tower for everyone to live in forever”. When people tried that, I broke it up.
Cultivating your land is good. That is wise. But as a whole, my people are not meant to isolate and collect in one place; but to fill the whole earth. If I am determined to fill the whole earth with my glory, and I live in you, why wouldn’t I want you and other followers to spread out?
Due to some wounds, community feels scary. But it’s not the same community, and those wounds are years past. In a healthy community, I am the head. There is no one who acts as the head, between the people and me; I am the head. Because you know me, you are afraid of community, because you are afraid of getting between people and me. Because you have had people get between you and me, and you recognize you are more regularly hearing my voice than they seemed to. So you are afraid, in essence, that community will lead to cult. That is ridiculous—lack of community is what leads to cult.
Cult vs cultivation: if everyone recognizes their standing with me, there can be no cult. If you ever imply that you have something in your relationship with me that is unavailable to other Christians, you are on your way to cult. If instead, you insist that you could vanish but people be okay with me—with no trace of you around—you are saying that I am what matters. If words people believe are from me are compared to one man’s word, you are on your way to a cult. But if it is compared to Scripture—and everyone is compared equally to it—you have firm foundation to stand on.
…
Any church that puts a man or a woman as the intermediary, and Jesus as a way to heaven but not to me—that is a cult. “No one gets to the Father but through me”. It is common to say “Jesus is the way to heaven”, but remember that Jesus is the way to me. If a pastor, a leader, or you were to say “I will lead you to God”, and acknowledges Jesus as the way to heaven but not to me, you are starting a cult.
…
I never complained “they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from the priests”. Or “they honor me with their lips, but would they do better at honoring their leadership?” Honoring me, will lead to an appropriate level of honor for leadership. But honoring leadership, does not intrinsically honor me. People bowing to Nebuchadnezzar’s statue did not honor me. But my people’s love for leadership did.
Cult does not start when people care about what each other has to say. That’s kindness, and an expression of love. However, if people care about what you have to say, and disregard other people, that is dangerous. Most cults, the leader cares about what they have to say, but not the rights or words of those under them. Gifts of the Spirit often get shut down because people get afraid of the cult. But what is the fruit? Where the gifts of the Spirit are, the fruit of the Spirit should also be. If they’re not together, you have cause for concern. If both are present, you have a recipe for growth and a healthy culture.
Joshua: God, why are we talking about this?
God: (leans in) Because you are afraid. You have been a part of groups that emphasized cult mentalities. And you want to flee that. Which is good. You don’t want that. Don’t confuse cult with culture. And don’t confuse cult with community. You’re not sure how people can be united by a cause, without it becoming a cult.
You have been shocked when people cared about you, despite having a grander purpose. You have been shocked when people did not demand sacrifice, or did not put you in a place demanding a choice. You have been shocked that people would think “Joshua Powlison matters because he is a man”, rather than “Joshua Powlison matters because he is a tool”. The very thing you fear, is what most people avoiding churches avoid them for.
Anyone who demands growth—not in personal development but in empire building—is on their way to cult, not community. Community may grow, but the people there must be valued. A good community does grow. The early believers shared all they had with each other—not just with leadership. If everyone shares with a leader, but ignores each other, be cautious.
In a healthy community, because it is about people, if someone leaves, they may miss them, but they will be happy for a person moving into a better place in life. A healthy community recognizes they aren’t the only community. Any community that regularly downplays other communities, is on their way to cult. Beware the leader with “the best team”, “the best community”, “the best following”, because the comparison game forgets the people and emphasizes the empire. These phrases can be used as a compliment, but if someone would deride other communities, beware.
As long as you emphasize connection over numbers, you will be okay. Nobody “accidentally” makes a cult. They purposefully build an empire. Empire-building is something to beware of, and you see that was the common thread. Building a team? Of course you need to do that. Building an empire? You’re already part of my kingdom, what business do you have building an empire?
…
If the statement were ever “don’t follow them, follow me!” instead of “don’t follow them, follow God!”, that would be concern. Pointing people back to me doesn’t scare me.