How to See that Charismania is a Cult

How to See that Charismania is a Cullt

Some say that the fastest growing religion today is "Charismatic Christianity." This is the type of Christianity that greatly encourages praying in tongues and falling in the spirit etc. They place a huge emphasis and importance on "The Baptism of the Holy Spirit." Either they teach that someone is not truly saved without the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" and the ability to pray in tongues, or they teach that you are "not truly spirit-filled" if you do not have the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit and pray in tongues. This article will show that many aspects of "Charismatic Christianity" are very cult like and will attempt to warn you to stay away from it as much as is possible.



Steps

1. Many of the character traits of a cult listed in the article http://www.wikihow.com/Recognise-a-Cult describe perfectly how Charismatic churches and circles of people function.
The first trait that is obvious is that Charismatic churches have "A charismatic founder, leader or leadership." They are extremely outgoing and entertaining. Charismatics are very, very lively and energetic.

Another trait that fits is that they have a "simplified goal or aim structure, such as to...introduce something to everyone." This is by far their teaching on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. The facts are, what they teach is not biblical. When someone is saved, they are baptized with the Holy Spirit automatically, but it is not always accompanied by speaking in tongues. That was the case in the early church for the most part, because that gift was more useful back then, but today when people are saved they can receive any one of the many spiritual gifts. To say that every saved or truly spirit filled person must speak in tongues is very narrow minded.
2. Like cults, Charismatic churches cause you to shun everyone but their members.
"There is a degree of intellectual limitation, so outside ideas or interaction with non members are not encouraged." Charismatic churches discourage people in their churches from being friends with anyone outside of the church, even family members! They do not want their members talking to other mainstream Christians, most likely because they know that then their people will see the truth and won't need them anymore.

Charismatic leaders get their subjects to depend solely on them because they can given you more of the "anointing." They propose that they can "make the Holy Spirit fall" in spectacular and amazing ways with great signs and wonders.

If you enjoy the practice of falling in the spirit, or being slain in the spirit, they are the only ones who can make that happen for you. They keep you spiritually addicted to the spiritual highs that only they can give you.
3. Many other characteristics of a cult apply to Charismatic churches.
"Members are encouraged to do certain practices, methods & techniques and only those" such as praying in tongues and being slain in the spirit. There is a GREAT degree of pressure to get you to be slain in the spirit, even if you really have NO desire to do so.

"There is no exploration, modification or comparison with other similar or different systems." They do not, and will not, even consider that most other Christian groups never practice being slain in the spirit.

"The screening of new potential members is quite large as they filter looking for suitable like minded, or easily mold-able people." Charismatic churches look for people that can be easily manipulated. They look for people that aren't very intelligent or have very poor boundaries; people that can be fooled into believing almost anything.

They know that the less intelligent someone is, the more likely that they can be dominated and controlled. As God sad, "My people perish for lack of knowledge." They thrive on people that never read their Bibles for themselves but only depend on them, the Charismatic teachers, to teach them what the Bible says. People are then taught Scriptures completely taken out of context and things that are completely unbiblical, like being slain in the spirit.
4. Some medium risk qualities are also very true of Charismatic churches.
"There is a noticeable degree of repetition, so key figures such as the founder and their stories are often repeated to train people to think the same way." They repeat over and over the stories of the disciples at Pentecost. There is an insatiable desire of the people to have this experience over and over. They disregard that the rest of the book of Acts talks about witnessing to people and helping the lost. They are obsessed with and only think about the experience of the tongues of fire and wind shaking the building etc.
Certain verses are pounded into the member's brains and they are indoctrinated to all think the same way about the same verses. Every Charismatic has sees exactly the same verses the wrong way and takes the same verses out of context.

"There is a medium degree of personal image inflation to make certain figures appear greater than they really were and that association with them is a great or noble thing." Leaders in Charismatic circles will dub themselves "prophet," "bishop" or they will say they are more "anointed" than other Christians etc.

"Members are all very similar and have minimal contact with the outside world, or the real world." The only reason they might have contact with the outside world is to bring them into their tight knit circle. They only leave the herd to bring more people into their herd, which sounds nice, but it really is like them wanting to pull you into a pot of boiling water. Don't do it.
5. There are also many high risk characteristics of a cult that are true of Charismatic churches as well.
"Manipulation of initiates is obvious to outsiders." If you don't really want to fall in the spirit, they will mentally and emotionally wear you down until you do, or you think you do. If you don't pray in tongues, they will almost emotionally abuse you until you do, or fake that you do. Anyone on the outside can see this plainly. They are not good at hearing no for an answer. They consistently try to force people against their will to do things they don't want to do.

"Members are required to part with large amount of funds or assets." Charismatics are notorious for always asking for your money. This can be seen on TBN etc. Charismatic churches will literally encourage their members to sign entire checks over to the church as their "tithe." They love to tell their members, "You are broke because you don't give enough" and for some reason the people are dumb enough to believe that. They sell miracles and healings for money etc.

"There is a high degree of mental stagnation, so that there is a focusing on key principles or myths." They want their members to be dumb and to stay dumb, so that they can be easily manipulated and will believe anything. They are big on telling high tale stories and discourage any questioning or doubt among the members.
6. There are few more unsettling cult characteristics that are true of Charismatic churches and circles.
"There is a degree of mentally stressful or intensive practices." They will manipulate you or shame you into attending prayer meetings that can last hours and hours. They shame you if you do not pray on your own for hours and hours every day. They encourage you to read the Bible for many hours every day, which can be good, but they are like the Pharisees in placing extremely hard loads on their members.

"It is impossible for an ordinary member to have the same skills or status as the founder or leadership. So the founder may be a dubbed an avatar, master, or guru." The common man in the church, the lay person, is not able to cause others to be "slain in the spirit." Only the pastor or leaders can do this miraculous and supposedly wonderful phenomenon. They teach that the only way to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for them to lay hands on you, so you depend on them to "cure" or "anoint" any new person you bring to the faith.

"There is a very effective propaganda system." They might speak at other churches in the city, if they are allowed to, and greatly push their ideologies of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the required praying in tongues. They teach very adamantly that praying in tongues is necessary to show that you are spirit filled, and so spread their poisonous and demeaning lies to as many churches as they can.

"There is a definite separation from society." The members might even say things like "Your parents have a spirit of witchcraft on you" just to get you to not want to see or talk to your parents very much at all. They tell their members over and over, in indirect ways, that those outside their church are less than and inferior species of humans.

They teach that to interact with these normal and inferior Christians would be a waste of their time because they alone are the enlightened and "anointed" ones.


Tips

Be very, very cautious of any charismatic person trying to pull you into their web of lies. Don't be fooled if they seem very friendly, that is only like baiting a trap for a mouse. It is an act to get more people to join their group.

Always stay educated, in the Bible and in general, so that you will not be easily fooled by their teachings. Know your Bible like the back of your hand so you always see the truth and "the truth will set you free" from such dangerous cults.

Know who you are in Christ so that you will never depend on anyone else to give you a special blessing or "the anointing." Realize that you are already fully anointed just as you are.


Warnings

Don't tell a charismatic person any of these things, unless they are not completely and totally sold on the Charismatic doctrine. They might hate you and try to punish you in some way. They strongly come against anyone that tries to question any of these beliefs!
Keep your guard up whenever talking to a Charismatic. Know that probably the only reason they are talking to you is to try to initiate you into their group.

"Be as wise as serpents but as innocent as doves" as Jesus said. Be wise so that you can see through their schemes. Don't fall for anything they try to teach. Stand firm in the faith, not the Charismatic faith, the Chrisitan faith. Stand firm in the truth of the Bible. God bless!

(Here is a common response or reaction by a Charismatic person to all this.  This was a comment in a group on Facebook about my writing: "Lisa Bedrick: Why choose to be a false prophet? Read the penalties in the bible for misleading others away from God. If you don't understand, seek a pastor, seek the word. "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. - Hosea 4:6"

Notice how this person is assuming that only they have the "correct knowledge?"  Notice the attempt to intimidate someone like me into silence?  Notice the slander and accusation that since I don't agree with them I must be a false prophet? Notice them saying that since I offended this Charismatic person I then offended God?  Quite a jump isn't it?  Notice how they use rejection from God, which they are the ones saying God will reject you, as intimidation in order to control people?

Another way to tell that my article is true is that this person got offended.  The only reason someone would get offended or angry is if they know deep down that something is true. 

Notice the verses taken out of context?  God was talking about knowledge like in the Bible but they are making it seem like God is talking about Charismatic knowledge.  hm....  Notice this person insulting me and saying that I am actually the one that doesn't understand?  They have been programed and trained to respond like this by their leaders.  Any truly Charismatic person will respond this exact same way.)