Friday, February 12, 2016

Governments Push Back Against Religious Groups Defined as Cults

© 2016 The Wired Word
www.thewiredword.com

Last month Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta urged that churches be regulated to ensure that "thieves" do not "use religion to steal from Kenyans." Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation quoted Kenyatta as saying that bogus preachers should be removed.
Pastor Conrad Mbewe, of the Kabwata Baptist Church in Zambia, said many Africans are looking for "a conduit that enables communication between humans [and] the various layers of spiritual beings, which include angels, demons and spirits. They see these prophets as messengers from God." But Mbewe said other Zambian church leaders suspect some of these prophets of sexual abuse and swindling.
Government leaders across Africa and elsewhere have also expressed concern about self-proclaimed "prophets or men of God" who use religious services to foment civil unrest and sedition.
In July 2014, PRI's The World reported that France classified about 300 religious groups as having "cult-like tendencies" including "manipulating people who are mentally weak, separating members from their biological families" or bilking vulnerable people out of their assets. Groups on the list could be targeted, investigated, harassed and prosecuted there even if they were not considered cults elsewhere. At that time, France had 400 anti-cult court cases on the docket.
Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, chair of South Africa's Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CLR), told the BBC that poverty and unemployment drive vulnerable, desperate people to flamboyant leaders who promise to transform their lives. Some claim to have the power to heal the sick and raise the dead, and some promote bizarre practices such as giving followers snakes, rats and grass to eat and fuel to drink.
Other religions such as Islam and Judaism appear to have systems in place to monitor and discipline spiritual leaders, Mkhwanazi-Xaluva said, whereas Christianity seems more volatile and uncontrolled. Hence the push to regulate churches by the South African government.
But Reverend Moss Nthla of the Evangelical Alliance of South Africa said, "It is difficult to see how the government would regulate churches; we've got reports of politicians themselves being faithful members of some of these controversial churches -- some of which are a law unto themselves."
South African Penuel Mnguni, nicknamed the "snake pastor" by locals, said he was "doing God's work and didn't need to explain God's ways to people." But a Pretoria man told the BBC that area residents burned down his church and drove him out. "Some people threatened to kill him if he ever returns," he said. "People here are angry at what he did -- that's why he ran away."
"There needs to be at the very least, a bare minimum standard that we as Christians can set and adhere to and any church found to be operating outside of that needs to be stigmatised," said Reverend Nthla.
Thabo Makgoba, Anglican Archbishop of Capetown, agreed: "Now for a cleric who's supposed to be trusted, who's supposed to talk about healing, wholeness and bring hope to take advantage of the desperate and make them eat snake, it's just unimaginable. We need these clerics investigated because they can't do it in our name."
But some church leaders are protesting government efforts to register religious organizations, audit membership rolls and financial records, and certify non-native religious ministers as a threat to freedom of religion. Others believe regulation should be done within the church rather than by government officials.
President Kenyatta affirmed that the Kenyan constitution guarantees "the right to worship," and insisted that his proposal to regulate churches was not meant to curtail religious freedom. He pledged to work with the nation's Catholic and Anglican bishops and other religious leaders to determine how best to "work together to root out people who use the church to enrich themselves."
A recent Pew Research Center poll reported that of those in Africa who identify with a religion, 63 percent call themselves Christians, 30 percent Muslims, and 3 percent practitioners of traditional religions (which are often mixed with Christian or Islamic beliefs).
Frank Ramirez, who is a member of The Wired Word team and is a pastor in the Church of the Brethren, warned of the dangers inherent in branding groups as cults. "Those of us from the Anabaptist tradition have to deal with this sort of thing all the time. We, along with Friends and Mennonites, comprise the three historic peace churches. That makes us a target. Does the fact we Brethren wash feet -- as Jesus commanded -- make us a cult?"
Ramirez said that when larger denominations are empowered to define what constitutes Christianity and what doesn't, the results can be self-serving and even deadly. "When you mix Christianity and power you get people burned alive along with other tortures. I'm not convinced that's just part of the past. Brethren and Mennonites were tortured and killed in military camps during World War I."
More on this story can be found at these links:
1. Have you ever been drawn to a religious teaching that later you discounted as false? What was the initial attraction? What led to your becoming disillusioned later on? How hard was it to extricate yourself from the teachings, from the leader who taught them, and from the group that held to them?
2. Should churches and church leaders be held accountable only to God, or to some earthly religious authority, or to some secular entity? One, none, or all of the above? Defend your position.
3. What constitutes a cult, and how should Christians relate to such groups? Where have you seen cults take root in our own country? Why are they appealing? To what unmet human needs or desires do they speak?
4. How can Christians help others understand the difference between biblical faith and distorted teaching?
5. What should Christians do when people in government or the rest of society presume that they belong to a dangerous cult?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Matthew 7:15-16, 21
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. … Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. (For context, read 7:13-27.)
In this part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns people to be discerning about false prophets who, like wolves in sheep's clothing, may look innocent and harmless at first glance, but upon careful inspection, prove to be destructive and vicious.
If you find thorns on a bush instead of grapes, you would naturally assume that you are looking at a thorn bush rather than a grapevine. Even so, if you don't see Christlike character and behavior in a spiritual leader, you'd have to wonder whether that person truly follows Jesus.
Using religious language, name-dropping "Jesus," performing spectacular "miracles," and winning acclaim from the public are not the yardstick by which we are to judge the legitimacy of a person's ministry. The key is whether a leader hears and acts on Jesus' words.
Questions: How can you tell whether a teacher or preacher is telling you the truth? What are the marks of a false prophet? What are the traits of a prophet who speaks God's word faithfully?
2 Corinthians 11:3-4, 13-14
But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough. … For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (For context, read 11:3-15.)
Not all leaders who preach "a different gospel" do so with the deliberate intention of deceiving followers; the leaders may be deceived themselves or simply be in error. But here Paul doesn't mince words in condemning those who proclaim "another Jesus" and "a different gospel" in "a different spirit."
Questions: What is the common denominator in the serpent's encounter with Eve, false apostles who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ, Satan who appears as an angel of light, and the false prophets who disguise their "wolfish" predatory nature under sheepskin in the previous passage? Why the disguise and deception? What are they hiding?
What did Eve find appealing about the lie the serpent presented to her as good news, so that she was willing to be deceived?
What "different gospels" have you heard about that were not really the good news of Jesus?
Define the gospel of Jesus Christ as the Bible presents it. How is the biblical gospel unique from other so-called gospels? How do you tell the difference between the "real" Jesus and "another Jesus"? How can we protect our minds so that our thoughts are not led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ?
Acts 13:7-8, 12
[Bar-Jesus] was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. But the magician Elymas ... opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. … When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord. (For context, read 13:6-12.)
In this incident, we learn about Bar-Jesus (or "Son of Jesus or Joshua" or "Son of 'God Saves'") or Elymas, whom the author of Acts calls a Jewish false prophet. When he opposes Saul (a.k.a. Paul) and Barnabas, Paul calls him "son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy" and pronounces a judgment against him of temporary blindness … which ironically mirrors the judgment Saul had experienced when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).
Questions: What is the significance of Paul's calling Bar-Jesus by the name "son of the devil"? Why do you suppose the magician (or sorcerer) opposed Barnabas and Paul? Do you think Paul identified with Elymas? Why or why not? Why was Elymas made blind rather than receiving some other punishment? What do you think was the reason the blindness was temporary and not permanent? What can we learn from Paul's response to the false prophet that can help us when we encounter false teachers today?
1 John 4:1-3, 6
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. ... We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (For context, read 4:1-6.)
John counsels his children in the faith not to be gullible but to evaluate the character of those who claim to speak for God in the world. John was probably addressing a notion known as docetism (from a Greek word meaning "to seem"), which claimed that Jesus wasn't really human, but was a spirit or phantom that only seemed to have a real human body. John states that this notion is a false teaching.
Questions: What biblical passages speak to the humanity of Jesus? Why is his humanity essential as one of the traits that qualify him to be our Savior?
What methods do you use to test or discern truth from untruth?
For Further Discussion
1. When are the words "heresy" and "false teaching" useful and helpful in serving the kingdom of God? When are they used in ways that do not serve God's kingdom? How do we know the difference?
2. Have you ever trusted a church leader so much that you cast superhuman expectation on him or her? What happened?
3. Respond to this from TWW team member Liz Antonson: "I doubt that humans can be protected from the Father of Lies other than by the Holy Spirit who quickens the Word of Truth to an individual and thus brings a saving knowledge of truth. If we want protection from deception, we must have a fundamental understanding of the source and power of deception. Secular prohibitions will not be enough. The only government that can address this is the kingdom of God and his righteousness. This gives new meaning to the urgency of preaching the Good News of the Kingdom."
4. Respond to this from TWW team member Frank Ramirez, who is a Church of the Brethren pastor: "The historic creeds show how inadequate larger churches are when it comes to defining Christianity. What do we learn about the life of Jesus? We learn Jesus was 'born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate …' all of which I believe, but notice what the Creed skips over: the Sermon on the Mount, the healing ministries of Jesus, the barrier-destroying ministry of Jesus, speaking to power and challenging entrenched political, economic and religious powers. What happens to groups like ours who seek to live like Jesus and thus are perceived as dangerous by Christian groups tied too closely to the government?"
     How would you define Christianity? Who does your definition exclude? How did you arrive at your definition?
5. Have you ever been asked to do something risky or even bizarre in the name of religion while trusting in God to help you? If so, did you expect a positive outcome because you believe in God' providence, and/or did you accept negative consequences as God's will?
Responding to the News
You may wish to use this statement of faith or another of your choice to express your solidarity with Jesus. TWW team member Joanna Loucky-Ramsey received this from her father, Lubomir Loucky, and always associated it with him as his creed, although it is not clear whether he wrote it or copied it from another source. The 12 statements each require more than mental or verbal affirmation of beliefs; each statement is followed by a commitment to act.
                      My Faith
I believe in God the Father Almighty: I will trust him.
I believe Jesus Christ died for me: I will live for him.
I believe the Holy Spirit has come to purify and possess me: I will receive him.
I believe in the authority of the Holy Scriptures: I will obey them.
I believe Christians are the light of the world: I will help dispel darkness.
I believe Christians are the salt of the earth: I will oppose the corruption of the world.
I believe Christians are Christ's witnesses: I will declare what great things he has done for me.
I believe Christians are stewards of what they possess: I will give freely of my material goods to the cause of the kingdom.
I believe in the communion of saints: I will keep my place in it by fervent love.
I believe faith expresses itself in works: I will do good unto all people.
I believe prayer is the key to the storehouse of divine resources: I will make much use of it.
I believe there is an eternal inheritance for the redeemed: I will strive for it.
Closing Prayer (Suggested by Jude 24-25, Philippians 1:6 and 2 Timothy 1:12)
Almighty God who is able to keep us from falling, and to make us stand without blemish in the presence of your glory with rejoicing, we give you glory and acknowledge your majesty, power, and authority, before all time, now and forever. Bring to completion the good work you started among us, and guard what we have entrusted to you until the day of our Lord Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit at work within us. Amen.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)