Critics
March 26th, 2008 by Carl Thomas.Randy Bohlender of burningman and ihop fame has written a remarkable post about critics on the Luke18 project blog. The Mission has not even had its first public service and I have already been called a cult leader. If I am, I must be the dumbest one in America. I have gathered around me a bunch of people with no money but lots of discernment who would readily cast the devil out of their leader if God told them to.
So critics are like . . . . well . . . you know the rest.
btw - I did not know that there were so many persistent widows that they needed their own network but the posts are well worth the time to read.
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Isn’t it funny that people who hoot and holler and point the finger and call others “cult leaders” are, in fact, recruiting followers and seeking to tell everyone what to do?
Kinda makes you go “hmmmmmm”.
(that’s not to discount that there are, in fact, cults and cult leaders out there. It never ceases to amaze me, though, that “Christian Discernment Ministries” leave them alone so that they can attack Christians…)
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I wish they would call me a cult leader. It would be one of the nicest things I have been called. Try being a divorced woman planting a church.
Blessings on you as you undertake this venture. Remember, it was for the joy set before Him that Jesus endured the cross. Try to keep that in mind when they are attempting to crucify you.
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I did a post on cults recently talking about the signs of cultish behavior. http://churchrevolution.wordpress.com/2008/03/23/what-is-a-cult/
When people on the outside label us a cult, of course we have to take that with a grain of salt, but I do think we should make sure to examine our practice for the early signs of cultish behavior. In reading the Luke post you pointed out I have the same concern — labeling our critics can inadvertantly prevent us from correcting ourselves in an area that is hurting people and which God is concerned about.
Now, this is in no way to validate the critics or those who think we are a cult, but I think it is the kind of humility we need to make it in the long run. Hearing God from a leader is much easier than hearing Him from a critic. I have seen the pattern repeatedly where God first speaks through prayer, then through a leader, then a critic, and then through destruction of the ministry.
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It is always important to weigh criticism but if someone is leading people to live for Jesus more than just on Sunday mornings they are labeled a cult leader these days.
I don’t let that bother me.
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