1. |
Does your church so tightly control the flow of information within its ranks that it's almost like a secret society? |
2. |
Does your spiritual leader use public shaming as a method to gain the compliance of followers? |
3. |
Is your spiritual leader intolerant of questions or critical inquiry? |
4. |
Is your spiritual leader the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving "revelation" from on high? |
5. |
Does your spiritual leader have unreasonable fears about the outside world such as evil conspiracies or persecutions? |
6. |
Are you discouraged to be friends with or associate with former members, being warned that they are "evil" or "defiling" and unhealthy for the rest of the body? |
7. |
Is leaving your group to join another church equal to leaving God? |
8. |
Does the surrounding community view your church as a cult? (NOTE: Sinners were ALWAYS attracted and compelled to come to and draw near to Jesus when He walked the earth...only the religious rejected Him. Our secular communities should be thankful the church is there). |
9. |
Does your spiritual leader get hyper defensive and offensive and consider it evil persecution when criticized or questioned? |
10. |
Do the goals of your spiritual leader seem to supersede any personal goals or individual interests? |
11. |
Do you often fear being rebuked, shunned, or ignored for expressing a different opinion? |
12. |
Do former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances? |
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If you answered "no" to all of the above 12 questions, your church is very healthy. If you answered "yes" to three or more, your church is showing signs of being unhealthy. If you answered "yes" to six or more, your church is very unhealthy. If you answered "yes" to eight or more, your church is more than likely a full-blown authoritarian cult. |
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