Thread by @harrydaniyan

After being a Christian for over 30 years, after attending church regularly for about 25 years (I take church sabbatical for a few years once in a while), after being in leadership positions in churches a few times, after having to leave churches because of thing I saw...

Only to go to another and see the exact same thing as I did in the one I left, after having clashes with several pastors on doctrinal issues and the manipulation and control of the flock by these pastors, I have come to one conclusion:

The CHURCH is a CULT, & the CHURCH MEMBERS are CULTISTS.
They just don't know it.
The similarities are too striking:
You can't ask questions.
You must obey the leader.
You are bound by the rules.
You must be loyal to the leader.
You suspend your brain.
You finance the leader...

You do things against your conscience because you don't dare to do otherwise.
You defend your leader, even when it makes no sense to you.
You act like a zombie (you've suspended your brain, anyway).
You conveniently overlook the excesses of the leader.

"Touch not my anointed" has become a "get out of jail free" card, a licence for the leader to do anything.
When you leave to join another cult, you become a persona non grata to the cult you just left.
You identify with your cult more than you identify with the Body of Christ:

You're either a "Winner" or a "Redeemed" or a "Baptist" or a "Dunamite" or whatever. But not a "Christian".
You're very keen to drag a pastor who falls with glee, as long as he's not yours.
You are not interested in "making disciples" but in having more cult members...

And why is that?
Because the more members you have, the more people to control and manipulate and the more money to be made.
Truth be told: THE CHURCH OF TODAY IS RUNNING THE WRONG TEMPLATE.
The way our churches today are structured is not the way Jesus planned it to be...

Emphasis today is on entertainment, glamour, effizy, PA system, interior decor & all that drama.
Comedians are regularly invited to churches to entice people to attend.
Today's Pastors want to build a big auditorium, start a university & buy a private jet.
That is the template...

And the competition is getting nauseating.
A friend, @praisefowowe once told me, "the day you go to church as a pastor & you don't see anybody, all your church members stayed away because they have stuff to do with their lives, they don't need to come listen to you every week...

They have GROWN to the point where they don't NEED you again- & you're not scared or intimidated by their absence, you have succeeded as a pastor!"
It took me a while to understand this.
Pastors don't seem to understand that the same crowd is proof of your failure, NOT success...

I don't understand why anyone would be in a church for 20 years, listening to a pastor and within that time he graduated, got a job, got married, had kids, bought cars, built houses- and he always calls pastor to come "dedicate" these stuff to God...

After 20 years, you still don't know your God enough to dedicate your car, house or child to Him yourself!
You want to go for a contract tender, or a job interview, you still need "pastoral prayer" before you go because after 20 years in church, you don't trust your own prayer...

Your pastor has not taught you how to know God personally so that you can handle the issues of your life without him (pastor).
He has not taught you how to be independent of him.
Without your pastor & your church support, you'd probably backslide, so you need weekly top-ups...

If you have to be abroad for a while, you'd rather follow your church online than attend any other one where you are. Pastors even encourage this because they still want to control you while abroad.
Church folks are just unaware they're simply cultists in a religious setting...

Church is like a drug.
If you don't go, you don't feel normal. Like a drug addict who needs another shot, you go to church to get your daily/weekly fix.
The day you can actually live without your church and your pastor, that's the day you have grown as a Christian.

If my 4 year old daughter asks me for ice cream, I'll oblige her.
If my 24 year old daughter asks me for ice cream, I'll be worried. I'll conclude I've failed as a parent.
If after 20 years you are still going to "daddy" (pastor) for ice cream, you're not growing...

And your church IS running the wrong template.
GROWTH is what Jesus wants.
GROWTH is what Jesus expects.
if you're not growing in the church you attend, you're in a cult.
You just don't know: sentiments & emotions have blinded you.
May God deliver you from your ignorance.
Amen.