Cult, Club, Church
Besides beginning with the letter "C", do these words have anything in common?
Preamble
Some five years ago, the Holy Spirit impressed on my heart that there are three principal kinds of gatherings that many people call the church. These gatherings have the appearance of the church of God, but only one is the true church of God. These gatherings He referred to as the cult, the club, and the church.
When one looks at these gatherings, they all appear to have the same purpose, but in truth, their objectives are quite different, as is the character of the individuals at the helm. Let us examine the composition and operation of each of these gatherings.
The cult
In the cult, you have one individual and their cronies—usually family members— engaging in their own purpose or agenda while claiming to be involved in God's work. These leaders operate like taskmasters, making unceasing demands on their members to build empires for themselves on earth. The cult is usually authoritarian, and any descent is met with an unmistakable force to deter others—some could even involve murder.
At the helm of a cult is an individual who decides the cult's agenda and passes it on to the members worldwide. The congregation must run with that agenda; otherwise, they are sanctioned. Generally, fealty to the individual at the helm is demanded of every member and gradually becomes worship and absolute obeisance. In the cult, God is effectively substituted by the leader, who assumes the place of God!
The club
The club is more egalitarian and permits everybody to bring in their agenda. Its leadership structure can be fluid and democratic in disposition and based on appeasing the majority, often a vocal minority!
Now, some people will not stay for long in a cult. After a while, they will leave because they will say, "They are too authoritarian!" The club is more subtle. People can come along with their numerous purposes and plans. Since the club is egalitarian, the helmsman gathers each person's purpose and plan and fits them into its overall vision.
Unlike in the cult, where God is replaced, He is always accommodated in the club. Remember that they try to meet each person's needs, purpose, and agenda in a club, including God's. Now, suppose God's agenda has not been brought to the fore for some time? In that case, someone in leadership or even in the laity would develop a 'guilty conscience' and would say something like, "We have been considering our purposes for too long and have not considered God's purpose." So, the club's leadership would get everyone to apologize to God through a 'repentance and revival service'.
Afterwards, they would bring what they think is God's purpose to the front burner. The usual suspects are evangelism and missions. The club's leader would organize a week or month-long programme, depending on how long they may have ignored God. For instance, they would raise funds for missions or ask their members to invite their neighbours to the next church meeting. They would say something like, "God wants us to evangelize the world, beginning with our neighbourhood. So, for the next thirty days, we are going to evangelize our neighbours and send money to missions." Note that they do not go on missions; they send money!
Also, they set up a committee to coordinate the activities and follow-up on those who attend their meetings, letting them know the wonderful programmes they have in the club. During that period, there is usually a frenzy about "God's agenda". By the end of the period, there is a noticeable increase in attendance, and so, "God's need has been met", so they say! The club's leader would say something like, "These last thirty days have been great. We have met God's need, and more people have indeed come into our meeting. Praise God!" Notwithstanding that they did not speak to those people about God's salvation plan, only that God loves them and wants them to have a happy life. Rather, they tell them that if they commit to Him and continue to attend their meetings, all will be well!
After that, they would again bring their purposes to the fore, and it is 'business as usual'!
In the club, everyone's needs are met with little or no need to serve God. It is a system that everyone is happy with: their needs and desires are met, including "God's requirements"; it is a win-win for everyone—for the people, and God, so they think!
When the people's needs are not met, it is a sign to them that God is unhappy with them because they have not met His needs. So, when their needs are not being met and things do not seem to be working out as expected, they figure that they have not considered God. So, again, they realize that God has been left unattended. It is an especially useful system for those in the club because it helps them know when to 'return' to God ostensibly after leaving Him out of their lives for so long!
Sometimes, after ignoring God for months or even years, people realize that no matter what they do, their prayers go unanswered, and their needs and purposes unmet. They would then say, "Oh, we forgot God! Let us bring Him back. What does He want us to do now? Let us pray and fast, for we have sinned grievously." So, they will fast and pray for as many days as the leader would decide. The club could even organize programmes like "Praise Month", "Morning Cry", etc., during which people would sacrifice their work and sleep time to appease—not please—God so that He can meet their needs!
In the club, people do whatever they believe will make God meet their needs. Once those needs are met, they again put God in the backseat and bring back their purposes to the fore. The club is essentially a 'utilitarian' system meant to cater for the needs of its members.
The church
The church is completely different. There is only one purpose in the church—the purpose of God. No man can create or carve out that purpose because it is expressly stated in the Word of God. Though it may take different forms, the objective is essentially to glorify God.
In the church, those in leadership are called and chosen by God, and they take their instructions from Him. Whatever instruction the people are given can be authenticated by the Bible and the Holy Spirit. The Bible says,
Two or three who are given God's message should speak, while the others are to judge what they say. (1 Corinthians 14:29, GNB)
Indeed, in the church of God, every spoken word must be authenticated, unlike in the cult where it is considered an affront to question whatever the leader says.
My dear friends, don't believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you. Not everyone who talks about God comes from God. There are a lot of lying preachers loose in the world. (1 John 4:1, MSG)
So, in the church, the leaders say what God says they should say; they declare what God has said they should communicate. Whatever their purposes and agenda were, ceases to exist! God's word or instruction is pre-eminent. In the church, individuals do not have a purpose of their own, and this can be very tough for one who is not sold out to God.
Unlike in the cult or club led by humans, God directs the church through the Holy Spirit! The church leader's instructions can be authenticated through God's word and the Holy Spirit, Who is in every individual, from the leader to the least person. The Lord chooses the leaders to help each individual grow spiritually.
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; (Ephesians 4:11-13, NKJV)
The role of leaders in the church is to build the body of Christ and ensure that every Christian comes to an intimate knowledge of Christ, not to become lord over them.
Therefore, for the church to exist, every individual who makes up the church must destroy their purposes and agenda, not put them aside like in the club. They must nail them to the cross of Christ, to be forever destroyed, lest they bring them back after a while.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV)
The above Scripture verse will take some time to break down but suffice to say that when we are in Christ, all our purposes, desires, ambitions, etc., become old—things of the past! We have a new purpose—God's purpose. We have a new desire—God's desire. We have a new ambition, nay, vision—God's vision! There is no place for 'di-vision' (two visions) which tears the church apart!
Thus, everyone has only one purpose, one desire, and one vision in the church—all God's! Yet, those of the church are not robots; they have their free will intact but willingly surrender it to God. Individuals also exercise their free will in the cult, but it is submitted to a human being!
Conclusion
In some instances, gatherings called 'church' may not be as clear cut as a cult or club. There may be hybrids of both or even of all three kinds of gatherings. Such combinations are syncretic in their practice and can never qualify as the true church of God.
Today, there are all kinds of gatherings of people ostensibly to worship God. However, when one looks beneath the veil of their apparent purpose of worship, one finds selfish and unscriptural motivation to worship God! Herod, the King, claimed he desired to worship young Jesus, but he intended to kill Him (Matthew 2:7-16); such is the kind of unscriptural motivation for the worship of God in modern times!
Some worship God because they have been told that only He can meet their needs and that as they worship Him, those needs will be met. This kind of doctrine is problematic because it is about "them" and "their" needs, whereas the church is about God and His kingdom!
At the core of Jesus' teachings are God and His purpose (Matthew 6:33), even before our sustenance and preservation (Luke 11:2-4). The Lord asked us to pray first about the kingdom and will of God even before praying,
Give us day by day our daily bread. (Luke 11:3, NKJV)
When a gathering makes its own agenda its pursuit, it invariably excludes the kingdom and will of God. In many gatherings called 'church' today, the chaos and confusion we see is proof of self-seeking rather than wholly seeking after God (James 4:1-4)!
God has not asked us to put aside our agenda but to destroy it! Indeed, you cannot be a part of the Church of God, in the real essence of the word, until you have no private agenda! The church of God is a congregation of people who have freely given up their desires and agenda so that they can bring God's desires and plan to fruition on the earth!
The question then for everyone is, "To which gathering do you belong?" The cult, the club, the church, or a combination of some, or all?