Authority and Judgment

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?  1Pe 4:17 

  

Having had the opportunity to witness to several cults that have been in my area, I took the time to research the different belief systems that they employ.  Now, this is not the venue to get into everything that I have found, and I only want to mention one aspect.

One of the hallmarks of cults is the concept of total obedience.  Once this concept is accepted, then the rest of their propaganda is easy.  You can pass off the corniest of stories to a gullible populace by just starting them off on the path of total obedience.

Obedience implies authority, and cults establish their authority by a wide array of arguments that are used to convince their underlings of why these underlings should suspend their power of reason for that of their authority figure.

In Christian cults, the arguments are presented as coming from God Himself, through His Word, but the caveat is that His Word is too complicated for the average person, ergo the common person must have someone interpret God's Word for them.  This then leads to the intangibles.

The intangibles are the so-called special, God ordained oogah boogah that a person claims to have that gives him an understanding that others don't have.  The average person doesn't even have to read scripture anymore, in fact he is encouraged not to, because he might get the wrong interpretation of it that would lead him to…. What?  The great whatever consequence: the unspoken threat to instill fear.

This "authority" has trickle down affects that feed the flesh.  It is only recently that the amount of child molestation among the cults has been revealed, all sanctioned and covered up by their governing bodies. 

Here's the kicker:  we can see this in cults, but we tend to have a blind eye to it in our own Christian experience.  We tend to gloss over our own human natures, and that of our superiors, as if we are somehow not akin to those that are in cults.

So, let me be frank,

Ravi Zacharius who seemed like a fine Christian apologist is found to have had several women that he molested continually over a long period of time.

 

Jimmy Swaggart soliciting prostitutes.

 

Amish men molesting children.

 

Bill Gothard molesting young women.

I see these things revealed more and more from cults, but it is becoming a problem in mainline Christianity.  The Lord is opening our eyes to these things. 

It is interesting to note the almost universal arguments that are employed once these people are confronted by the people that they molested:  We have to cover this up because of a greater good; it's not my fault, it's yours for tempting me; you are commanded to forgive and if you don't, God will judge you.  Then there is the Biggy; if you say anything I would be in a position to lose everything.  (That was the argument employed by an Amish farmer to a young girl in his care that had been repeatedly molested by his son.)

So let me say this:  Maybe it's about time that these people lost everything.  It is high time that people are held accountable for their actions, especially in the Church.  It's amazing how quickly a person becomes repentant and sorrowful about their sin when caught, but it's only because they want to be exempt from the consequences.  So, let me say this, you molest some child and want to cry crocodile tears to God and the church to forgive you, no problem.  You are forgiven.  Enjoy your 6 to 10 year prison ministry.

Authority doesn't mean that a person is God.  Authority doesn't give a person the right to side-step the things of God.  Authority doesn't give a person the right to seek their own ends and to consume their own lusts.  Authority doesn't automatically make a person sinless and somehow above their fellow man.  Authority doesn't sanction the manipulation of other people.

Authority is an easy trap for the downfall of a sinful heart, and none of us is exempt from sin.  Beware of this. 

~Al