WHAT TO DO WHEN CULTISTS COME CALLING A church member was taking a walk one evening. As he approached a large bridge over a river, he saw a man climbing up on the railing as if he was going to jump. The church member ran to see if he could prevent the man from jumping. He got to the man just as he was getting ready to throw himself into the river. Thinking quickly, the church member tried to start a conversation with the man: “What are you doing up there?” The man on the railing said, “Im about to end it all. I can’t go on living.” The church member said, “But you shouldn’t kill yourself. Your life has meaning. Do you believe in God?” The jumper answered, “Yes, I do.” “Good” said the church member. “Are you a Christian?” The jumper said “Yes.” The church member said, “So am I! What denomination are you?” The jumper said, “I’m a Baptist.” “So am I! Are you Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?” The man on the railing said, “Northern Baptist.” “So am I!” said the church member. “Are you Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?” “I’m Northern Conservative Baptist,” said the man on the rail. “So am I! Are you Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist , Great Lakes Region or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, New England Association?” The man on the railing said, “I’m Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region.” “So am I!” said the church member. “Are you Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1873 or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1913?” “I’m Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1913.” said the jumper. To which the church member said, “Die heretic!” and pushed the jumper off the bridge. Tonight I am going to continue with my series of messages titled “Passing On Your Faith.” So far we have looked at how to be a witness at work, how to reach your relatives and also how to share Christ with children. The title of my message this evening is, “What To Do When Cultists Come Calling.” Imagine yourself on some typical Saturday morning at home. Maybe you’re doing some household chores or watching a game on TV. You’re interrupted by a knock on the door. You see two well-dressed individuals carrying briefcases and what look like Bibles. You have two choices, you can pretend you’re not at home or you can answer the door. What are you going to do? Let’s be brave and say you decide to answer the door. When you open the door they offer some material to help you find answer’s to life’s questions. As they begin their presentation, you quickly realize they are not Christians but cultists. What do you do? 1 Peter 3:15, “Honor Christ and let him be the Lord of your life. Always be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope.” (CEV) What Is A Cult? Cults tend to depart from an orthodox Christian understanding of the Bible in four key areas. I’ve put together an acronym using the word CULT to highlight what they are. C- CHRISTIANITY IS REJECTED Cults often say that the “true” Christian church has either failed or died. They also believe that some of Jesus’ teaching have been omitted from the Bible and that the contemporary Christian church doesn’t teach the truth. Thus they reject Christianity. U- USE A NEW TRUTH Cults attract followers by claiming they possess some new newly revealed truth or set of scriptures that has come through their founder from a direct pipeline to God. L- LOOK FOR SALVATION APART FROM CHRIST Cults use familiar Christian words, phrases or terms but have attached different meanings to them. They call Jesus their savior or say they are saved by grace, but their definition of salvation, Jesus or grace are totally different then ours. In cults, salvation is always established by some form of works. That’s why Jehovah’s Witnesses log 20 hours a month doing door-to-door evangelism and Mormons devote 2 years of full-time mission work at their own expense. They are trying to earn their salvation. You know why Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate Halloween don’t you? It’s because they don’t like strangers going up to their door and annoying them. T- TEACH ANOTHER JESUS Cults distort the claims that Jesus made of Himself in the Bible and refuse to accept Him on His terms. The Mormons believe that He is the brother of Lucifer. The Jehovah’s Witnesses believe He is Michael, the archangel. For these reasons cultists can be one of the most difficult kinds of people to reach. 5 Helpful Principles 1. I MUST LOVE THEM If the Bible teaches anything it teaches us to love each other, the world and even our enemies. The cultist is in there somewhere because that includes everyone. So you begin by loving them, if for no other reason than because they too were created in the image of God. Even more importantly we must love the cultist because Jesus died for them. Does God love the cultist? YES! Then so should we. As Christians we tend to become very doctrinal centered in our approach towards people and when someone doesn’t fit our doctrinal mold exactly the way we think they should we call them a heretic. But what we need to do is remember that we are to love the sinner but hate the sin. That means you don’t have to approve of what they say or do, when you accept them as God does. Does God love us even though our doctrine might not be right? One of the ways to exhibit love to a cultist is by being curtious towards them. One of the questions I’m often asked is, “When a cultist knocks on my door should I let them come into my house?” Some Christians would say no and use this reference in 2 John to prove it. 2 John 1:10-11, “If someone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, dont invite him into your house or encourage him in any way. 11Anyone who encourages him becomes a partner in his evil work.” (NLT) Let me say up front that this passage is not a prohibition against inviting a cultist into your home. In Biblical times the church met in individual homes. This is where they worshiped and studied God’s Word. What this passage prohibits is allowing someone who does not teach the truth about Jesus into your home based church service and giving them an opportunity to teach their lies to the other church members meeting in your home. Romans 13:7-8, “Pay all that you owe, whether it is taxes and fees or respect and honor. 8Let love be your only debt! If you love others, you have done all that the Law demands.” (CEV) Loving the cultist means giving them credit where credit is due. Instead of condemning them for what they are doing wrong, we should commend them for the things they are doing right and be curtious towards them. That means you can commend a Mormon for their emphasis on the family. That means you can commend the Jehovah’s Witnesses for being so zealous. Even a clock that is broke is right at least twice a day. James 2:1, “My brothers and sisters, practice your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ by not favoring one person over another.” (GW) 2. I MUST UNDERSTAND THEM (Everyone Read) Proverbs 13:15, “People with good understanding will be well liked...” (NCV) CIRCLE THE WORD “UNDERSTANDING” The more understanding you have, the more understanding you’ll be. Proverbs 18:2, “Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions.” Most Christians tend to approach the cults on two levels: An intellectual level and doctrinal level. The only problem with this is that most people don’t get involved in a cult for these reasons. They get involved for psychological and social reasons. 5 Reasons Why Someone Joins A Cult • They found WARM FELLOWSHIP They are looking for love and acceptance. They could care less about doctrine. • They found a SENSE OF SECURITY They are looking for support and someone to help them when they are in trouble. • They found a CENTER OF INTEGRATION They looking for acknowledgment and usefulness. In other words they need to be known and needed. Everyone wants to be needed and valued, RIGHT! • They found SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTION They are looking for answers to life’s questions. • They found an OUTLET FOR INTENSITY They are looking for a place where they can express their passion in their religious life. This is particularly true with young people. They want to live for something and give themselves for something. You can’t just arm yourself on an intellectual or doctrinal level, throw some verses at a cultist and expect to win them to Christ. Instead you have to listen to them and then deal with them on all their levels as a total person. 3. I MUST KNOW WHAT I BELIEVE Acts 17:11, “The people in Berea were much nicer than those in Thessalonica, and they gladly accepted the message. Day after day they studied the Scriptures to see if these things were true.” (CEV) Over the years I have been asked hundreds of times what cults believe. One of the reasons for this is because many Christians think that in order to reach a cultist you have to know what they believe. While it is important to try to understand the psychological and social reasons why someone has joined a cult and to some extend know what they believe, it is more important to know what you believe. Some Christians study the fine points of doctrine taught by cults and how to refute each point. This can become a little frustrating especially when you realize how many new cults come into existence every year. It is almost impossible to keep up with their teachings. This is made even worse by the fact that not even their own members agree on everything. Ephesians 4:14, “We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place.” (CEV) Simply put, you must know what the Bible says so well that when you are confronted with heresy or false teachings you will recognize it immediately. When the FBI trains its agents to recognize counterfeit money, they do so by having them study authentic bills. They handle thousands upon thousands of real bills so they can identify a counterfeit when they see it or touch it. To reach a cultist you don’t have to know what they believe as long as you know what you believe. 2 Peter 3:18, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (NIV) 4. I MUST MAKE THE BIBLE MY AUTHORITY When you are trying to reach a cultist, remember, the Bible is your authority not emotionalism. If a cultist becomes emotional with you and you become emotional with him, only one person wins- SATAN! If a cultist becomes emotional, you need to stay cool, calm, collected and simply say, “The Bible says....” 2 Timothy 2:24-26, “A servant of the Lord must not quarrel. Instead, he must be kind to everyone. He must be a good teacher. He must be willing to suffer wrong. 25He must be gentle in correcting those who oppose the Good News. Maybe God will allow them to change the way they think and act and lead them to know the truth. 26Then they might come back to their senses and God will free them from the devils snare so that they can do his will.” (GW) When God brings a cultist to your door He didn’t do it so they could talk to you, but so you could talk to them. God brings cultists to you for the same reason He brings others to you- so that you can share the Good News of the Gospel with them. Since the cultists are already coming with an interest in spiritual things, you have a great opportunity and privilege to share the Gospel with them. Cultists don’t have a message you need to hear, you have a message they need to hear. Isaiah 55:11, “My word, which comes from my mouth, is like the rain and snow. It will not come back to me without results. It will accomplish whatever I want and achieve whatever I send it to do. (GW) Here are some tips for sharing the Gospel with a cultist: First, have them read the passage themselves. Second, have them do this out load not silently to themselves. Third, let them do this from their own Bible. Fourth, when they are done ask them questions. Titus 1:9, “By holding on to the trustworthy word just as we teach it, an elder can help people by using true teaching, and he can show those who are against the true teaching that they are wrong.” (NCV) Remember, since God declares that the Bible is inspired by Him, it is up to the cultist to prove it isn’t. What you will probably discover as you use the Bible as your authority is that most of the cultists you talk to have never read the Bible to begin with. 5. I MUST AVOID MINOR ISSUES Colossians 3:11, “In this new life ones nationality or race or education or social position is unimportant; such things mean nothing. Whether a person has Christ is what matters, and he is equally available to all.” (TLB) When you are trying to witness to a cultist you need to stick to the critical issues of salvation by grace through faith, the trinity and the deity of Jesus Christ. Many times cultists will try to get you side tracked or you will be tempted to discuss minor issues such as refusing to take blood transfusions or refusing to salute the American flag. My advise to you is DON’T! What you will probably end up doing is driving them even deeper into their cult beliefs and farther away from Christ. Even if you convinced the cultist that they were wrong on these issues you still haven’t won them to the Lord and they are still lost and on their way to hell. Our goal is to reach them for Christ or at least plant the seed and bring them one step closer to Christ. 2 Timothy 2:14, “Remind your people of these great facts, and command them in the name of the Lord not to argue over unimportant things. Such arguments are confusing and useless and even harmful.” (TLB) Titus 3:9, “But dont have anything to do with stupid arguments about ancestors. And stay away from disagreements and quarrels about the Law of Moses. Such arguments are useless and senseless.” (CEV)
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 02:19:25 +0000