Thirty some years ago there seemed to be many made for TV movies about a teen or young adult who ran off and got involved in a cult. In each story, they had to somehow be rescued from that group. The difficulty in doing that is the power of the emotional bonds and irrationality caused by what had been termed “brainwashing”. The reality though is that when a person joins a group that they want to be part of and are welcomed by that group, there is a loss of objectivity about the group. We are less able to be rational towards criticisms when we have become emotionally bonded with the community being criticized. Now, what happens when someone we care deeply about joins a church that, while clearly not a cult, is not a healthy place? What if the church is vibrant and growing but there are structures or situations that make it a great candidate for going off the rails?
When we fail to teach our students about the church and how it’s intended to function, we make them vulnerable to getting caught up in a church that goes off the rails. Often when that happens a person can get so jaded and or hurt by it that they walk away from church altogether. We know that we need to proclaim the gospel and teach them about God’s incredible grace. Sometimes that causes us to not get excited about teaching ecclesiology or church polity. It’s not that we need to use these terms with students, that might be a real turn off. Can you imagine advertising a teaching series using either of these very foreign sounding words? Yet we need each generation to understand how God intended for the church to function. To be fair, there are a few different models that we see in mainline churches and a comparative look would help them see the similarities and benefits of each. How does the church hold it’s leaders accountable? What does the bible tell us about what qualifies a person for leadership in the church? What are biblically sound ways for the church to be governed? It might lead to some good conversations about Popes, Bishops, and mega church pastors. Most important though is that students can recognize when a church is organized in a way that could lead the pastor to megalomania.
There is a good post on the reformation21 blog on The Cult of the Visioneer which addresses issues from a biblical perspective that relate to one church in the news recently. Another blog by Matthew Paul Turner (whom I know nothing about) has a snarky but interesting take on the same issues and more. I share these not as a condemnation of one church but because there are more out there with similar issues and some of our students are going to them while in college or now. Will they recognize the dangers or be caught up in the excitement?
Leave a Reply