As Christians, it is important to surround ourselves with godly friends and fellowship, and to sit under biblical teaching. Hebrews 10:25 encourages us, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. It is important to be part of a good church family. If you are part of one, I would imagine you love it. If you didn't, it stands to reason you wouldn't be attending there.
No church is perfect, because they are all made up of imperfect, forgiven people, who are in the process of becoming more like Jesus. Being part of a church body requires grace, love, and forgiveness at times. However, there are some things to watch out for when considering a church, even your own. These things are what can make church become more of a cult-like environment (even if the theology is sound). And sometimes, it isn't just your church, but trends within the Christian community around you, often affecting multiple churches. Which preachers and theologians are the pastors in your town following on the radio and social media? What Christian YouTubers do they watch? Here are ten things to watch out for. If you detect any of them, prayerfully consider stepping away (or not entering in the first place, if you haven't yet).
1) An "us vs. them" attitude toward other believers is fostered. As Christians, we live in a world that doesn't know or understand us (First John 3:1). It can be easy to slip into an "us versus them" attitude toward the world, rather than loving them and reaching them for the kingdom. However, when we start thinking this way about other Christians, it is even worse, and we are in a dangerous place. There will always be Christians who have different theological viewpoints on non-salvation doctrines than you do--and they're not your enemy. They are not false prophets. They are not false teachers. Jesus said the world would know we are His disciples by our love (John 13:35), not by the way we nitpick each other! I am not suggesting we give up theological truth for the sake of getting along, but I am suggesting that, when we are dealing with other born-again Christians who love the same Lord we do, we overlook these non-essentials. We can still teach what we believe the Bible to proclaim about these things in our churches, but we shouldn't "major on the minors" to the exclusion of loving these fellow believers. I have learned so much from other Christians who had some different theological slants than I did.
2) You and your fellow church members are made to feel like an extreme minority of truly righteous. This is sort of a continuation of the previous point. As I said, the world doesn't know us, so true believers are a minority. But the concern I am sharing is when a group of Christians are made to feel that they are the only Christians, and that other professing believers aren't really saved, or at least aren't doing the Christian life right. This breeds superiority within the church, and suspicion for others outside. There are more Christians than can be numbered, and they will all be in Heaven. Revelation 7:9 says, After this, I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palms in their hands. Of course, these are all Christians from all of history, but still, that should refute any attitude that one church has the only real Christians in it. A more extreme example of a church that considers themselves to be the only righteous would be Westboro Baptist Church, in Topeka, Kansas. From what I have been able to gather, they truly believe they are the only true believers on earth, and that everyone else is going to hell. Most churches aren't this extreme, but there can still be that mentality, and this can take the form of casting doubt and suspicion on other believers.
3) The preaching is more about warning of different movements within Christianity than about the actual truth of the Bible. A pastor is a shepherd, and watches out of the souls of his congregation (Hebrews 13:17). That being the case, a pastor or other spiritual leader who impacts people's lives should be aware of harmful, unbiblical teachings going around. He should warn his people. But after he is done warning them, he should go back to teaching the Bible. I remember in the late 2000's, when the emergent church was starting to be a concern. If you're not familiar with that, the emergent church (sometimes called the emerging church) is a movement of deemphasizing sound theology (or throwing it out altogether) and instead making Christianity about appealing to the world by doing good deeds and championing social causes. You can look up more about it online (Wikipedia has an article) Often, truth has no part in it. It is a concern to be aware of. Well, anyway, some friends I knew were telling me that their pastor was preaching on the dangers of the emergent church. I thought, "Good, he's aware and warning his people. That's really great." A few months later, I visited them again, and asked what their pastor was speaking on, and they replied, "Oh, he's showing how evil the emergent church is." Hmm, wasn't that what he was preaching on before? Six months later, their church was still learning of the evils of the emergent church movement. The focus was on this ungodly movement, instead of on God! I believe this pastor's time would have been better served by teaching his people the truth of the Bible, so they would be equipped to recognize error, instead of making an idol of the error! I have heard other pastors harp on the latest popular book (by Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, Sarah Young--you name it). In essence, they are giving more attention to that book than to the Bible! There have been times I have agreed with a pastor's warning assessment of such books, but other times I had no idea what was wrong with it. One pastor had obviously not read the book he was ripping to shreds, and he completely misstated it. Be aware of what you're criticizing before you criticize it. Do your homework. Be aware of what's going on, but focus on Jesus. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2). If the focus is more about false movements than the truth, this is a problem.
4) Leadership create "straw men" about supposed beliefs of other believers, or even unbelievers. I used to teach in a private Christian school. I loved it. The church that ran this school was a lot to deal with, though. We didn't attend there. We had visited several times. The pastor was speaking about abortion. He used scripture to support a pro-life viewpoint, which I agree with. However, he then started talking in this mean, mocking voice about pro-choice people, and anyone who had ever had an abortion, and said (still in this nasty, fake-whining voice), "These people get abortions because they think they're God and don't care about anyone but themselves. They're rather be a murderer than a parent!" A woman in the audience got up and ran out of the church crying! Who knows what kind of stories lay in her past? Maybe she'd gotten pregnant as a teenager and been pressured by a boyfriend to get an abortion. This pastor took her getting up and running out as a persecution complex ("Some people can't handle the truth!"). By deciding what pro-choice people or those who have had abortions think, he created a straw man--a false view that might not have anything to do with what they actually think. When people crate straw men, they create arguments against them, when really, no one is launching those arguments at them. They create an enemy they think they can defeat, and yet they haven't even engaged the other person or found out what they're really thinking. Leaders can do this with other issues as well. For example, some of my friends who believe it is possible for a believer to fall from grace and lose their salvation have created the straw man that those of us who believe we are eternally secure believe that, by extension, we can do whatever we want. I don't know anyone who believes that! I have addressed that argument in other posts, and if you are interested, this video, put out by one of my favorite Bible teachers on YouTube, explains the issue well: you can watch it here . But those who make that accusation have created a straw man, deciding what we believe and creating arguments against it, when that isn't what we believe at all! Instead of taking your pastor's word about what other people believe, why don't you engage them and ask? They would probably be delighted to tell you what they really believe, and you can have an informed discussion, rather than wasting time dismantling a belief no one holds.
5) Your leadership tells you how you are and are not allowed to interpret the Bible. This is getting into the nitty-gritty. Some leaders don't trust their people with the Bible and indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to discern God's word properly, so they add a lot of rules to how they can interpret it. One church had this on their website, under the heading of the scriptures (note, most of this is fine, but read carefully): We teach that, whereas there may be several applications of any given passage of Scripture, there is but one true interpretation. The meaning of Scripture is to be found as one diligently applies the literal grammatical-historical method of interpretation under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit (John 7:17; 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:7-15; 1 John 2:20). It is the responsibility of believers to ascertain carefully the true intent and meaning of Scripture, recognizing that proper application is binding on all generations. Yet the truth of Scripture stands in judgment of men; never do men stand in judgment of it. Okay, I agree with most of that, but the part I highlighted is the problem. This church believes that people can only apply scripture to their lives in a way that is "binding on all generations." What does that mean? Is it the idea that any application you get from the Lord from a verse can only be applied if it would also apply to others throughout history? I get the impression that they are saying, "Apply the Bible to your life, but not too personally or specifically." I wrote this church a letter, asking for clarification on this point, and never heard back. Their website didn't give any other way to reach them except writing a postal letter. If this is what they do indeed mean, my problem with it is that they ignore the fact that God is a very personal God, and has very specific applications for us that might not be for someone else. As they said, which I agree with, the meaning of scripture doesn't change, and that would determine how we apply it. There's a boundary. Any application we take should be in line with the teaching of scripture. That being the case, historical biblical interpretations on social issues would remain unchanged. But within that, with the Holy Spirit in your heart, there are numerous possibilities for what God can do. Have you ever read a passage you'd read dozens of times, but this time, it just jumped out at you in a new way, and applied to something you were going through right then? That's God's Spirit applying it to your life. A leader's job is to teach people to love God and His word, and then let people study it for themselves. We need to be carefully grounded in the Word. There might come a point when you or I apply a passage in an unbiblical way, and need a godly reminder. But God does speak to us today, specifically for our personal situations. A leader should encourage you toward biblical application. If a pastor tries to get too nitty-gritty in telling you how you are allowed to apply the Bible to your life, you should look for a new pastor, because he clearly doesn't trust you, or (worse) doesn't trust God's word or the Holy Spirit.
6) You aren't allowed to disagree with or question leadership. Spiritual leaders are as human as you are. They are not God. They are capable of making mistakes. I would hope any leaders in your life would have their own mentors and accountability partners, sharing their own struggles and growing in grace. They should be open to questions. They should encourage their people to study God's word for themselves. A church here in Arkansas has one of the most humble pastors I've met. He has told his people that they need to check him out, and if they find error in what he has said when comparing it to the Bible, they need to come to him and show him where he is wrong. That is a good leader. King David, in the Bible, was open to the correction of the prophet Nathan (Second Samuel 12). Good leaders are open to that. It is true that Hebrews 13:17 tell us, Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, but remember that Acts 5:29 says that We ought to obey God rather than man. Respect the leaders in your life, but don't follow blindly. You are accountable to God.
7) There is an over-emphasis on terminology. Some people get really hung up on words. I knew a pastor who rewrote several hymns to make them technically correct. Amazing Grace became Amazing God (since we shouldn't praise an attribute). A worship leader at an entirely different church rewrote part of the song Mighty to Save. In the second verse, the original lyrics say, ...I give my life to follow, everything I believe in, now I surrender... This worship leader felt the words "everything I believe in" were humanistic, and he changed it to "everything that your word says," except that didn't make sense! The song was saying to surrender everything you believe in. Why would you surrender what God's word says? That's what we should be taking for ourselves, not laying down or surrendering. That was a nitpicky example of taking phrases out of context and rewriting them (and in that case, I believe that was actually violating copyright, since that song is not public domain). I have known of people who only allow certain words to be used when speaking of salvation, such as "put your faith in Christ alone for salvation." This is a true explanation of salvation, but phrases like "Receive Christ," "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," and "Be born again," are also biblical phrases that describe salvation. In fact, many are against this, but "inviting Jesus into your heart" even has a biblical basis (Ephesians 3:17, ...Christ dwells in your heart through faith..." and Revelation 3:20, behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man hear my voice and will open the door, I will come in...). It is okay to have a preferred way to state it. But when a leader gets totally hung up on one way of saying something, whether it is about salvation or something else in the Bible, it is very cult-like. I have even seen less extreme cases where people snap at unsaved or unchurched people referring to Christian things as being "religious" and these Christians will say, "It isn't a religion, it's a relationship." Well, that is true in a sense (and untrue in another), but that is not really getting to the heart of the person. The pastor I mentioned who re-wrote the hymns also wouldn't let people refer to a church service as a worship service, because "you should worship all the time, not just in church," and he wouldn't allow people to refer to a new church they were starting as a church plant, because "a plant is a scientific organism that grows out of a seed in the ground." Easter had to be called "Resurrection Sunday" (which I do prefer myself, but I still use Easter as well). You had to double-check every word you said around him. If you slipped, boy would he let you know!
8) Discipleship is programming. I think all of us have been in controlling environments. My husband (who reads all of my blog posts before I publish them, and even named this post "Culty Goodness" for me) has shared about a time in his life when he was in an environment that was biblically sound, but could be very controlling. Many times, he was put down, but the one doing it would refer to it as "discipleship." Also, beware of spiritual leaders who use discipleship as a means of programming. If someone is discipling you, make sure it is in the word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says, The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. God's word is powerful enough for discipleship. If discipleship looks more like legalistic programing, brainwashing, or groupthink, this is a problem. If you are being discipled, and what the person is telling you seems fishy or wrong when compared with the Bible, step away. In fact, if discipleship has nothing to do with the Bible, walk away. On the other hand, sometimes the Bible is being used, but is being used as a weapon against you, in order to tear you down. God's word can be used to direct, convict or correct, but is always to be used with love and grace in the lives of other Christians. Romans 8:1 says, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Further along in the passage, in verses 33-34, this idea is reiterated: Who will bring charges against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, but rather, was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. If you, as a Christian, are being condemned, that is not of God. Jesus took your punishment, and pleads for you. Don't let people condemn you, even if they're twisting God's word to do it.
9) Leadership is always burning bridges. Sometimes, there is a parting of ways between people, even believers. Some people and ministries are in your life forever, while others are for a season (thought of course, reunited in Heaven one day). But beware of leaders who are constantly burning bridges with others, making enemies. This can look like shunning other churches or ministries, or it can involve kicking existing members out in rapid succession. Cutting other Christians off is serious business. Just disagreeing on minor theological issues isn't a good reason to burn bridges. If something does happen that causes a rift, it still shouldn't characterize normal ministry functioning. In fact, scripture gives us reason to try to heal broken relationships. Romans 15:5 says But may the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus. As much as possible, Christians should be unified. Sometimes, it isn't possible, but these kinds of partings shouldn't be the norm. If your leaders are constantly going through rifts and burning bridges, that should be a concern.
10) Doubt is cast on people's salvation for reasons unrelated to Jesus. The Bible gives us the authority to use one criteria to determine if we or someone else is saved. Jesus said in John 3:3, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. In John 14:6, He made it very clear that He is the only way (I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, except through Me.). That is a pretty bold claim. If someone is claiming any other way than Jesus Christ, we can use the authority of God's word to say this person is not saved. Not a Christian. Not on their way to an eternity with God. This should burden us to pray for them and share the gospel with them. However, any reason besides that is not a good enough reason to say they are not saved. If someone claims to be a Christian, but isn't being a good testimony, doesn't know the Bible well, or takes a different minor theological issue, this is no reason to say this person isn't a Christian. I recently had someone tell me I'm not saved simply because I disagree with a well-known Bible teacher (who, by the way, does almost every red flag I put on this list). I responded to this person by telling him that Jesus, not this teacher, is the Way, Truth and Life. Faith in Jesus is what saves, not good deeds, living a perfect testimony, or agreeing with your pastor theologically. Someone I knew was in a church for a while that accused all the other churches in our town of not being true Christians. This goes with what I had said in point two, about a church or group of people claiming to be the only righteous. If someone makes false claims about Jesus or salvation, then yes, you can conclude they are not saved. But no other reason is good enough. Often, such claims can discourage the weak and struggling.
These are some major red flags. A church might have pretty good theology (which is vitally important), and yet still fall into these traps. Be wise. I'm now going to close with a much shorter list of some good reasons to join/stay in a church or ministry:
1) The calling of God on your life to be there.
2) The teaching is biblically sound.
3) You are held accountable by believers who love and value you.
4) You are encouraged in your walk of faith.
5) You are being drawn closer to the Lord.
6) You enjoy fellowship with godly friends.
7) The leadership is humble and accountable for their own walk.
8) Conflicts are managed biblically, and the goal is for real, lasting peace to be made.
9) You have opportunities to use the gifts God has given you.
10) You and others are shown grace.
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