Are you a cult?

Since the word “cult” is often used as a slur word to criticize people instead of using scriptural or solid arguments, it is proper to define terms a little before answering such a question. If you are asking whether we believe in a pastor having mind control over a church and demanding absolute obedience in private matters of personal liberty, we are not a cult at all.

If you are asking whether we have red Kool-Aid on hand in preparation to commit mass suicide in the jungle of Guyana, we are not a cult at all. Nor are we isolated survivalists preparing to move to a compound like David Koresh and his followers. We reject any and all such reverence for any man. Jesus Christ alone is to be obeyed according to the Scriptures. We live in the world, though we reject the world’s sinful philosophy condemned by the Bible.

Our pastor teaches us to study the Bible and expects us to question and measure every word out of his mouth by the Word of God (Acts 17:11; I Thess 5:21). He does not care how we live in matters of Christian liberty, with the congregation varying widely in such matters. He only teaches the commandments of God found in a King James Bible as binding. Our church believes and practices what was quite common a few generations ago in Baptist churches. We are a group of simple Christians striving to keep the apostolic faith of the Bible in love, joy, and peace.

We realize there are churches and organizations that are cults in the modern sense of the word. We personally know of a church that forbids church officers from having wives, requires officers to make vows of poverty, tells its people when they can and cannot eat meat, requires mind control to believe that a cracker literally becomes God, sells candles to help dead relatives, requires disclosure of secret sins to a church officer, denies members the right to interpret the Bible, requires a public gesture of three points over the forehead and chest, says only its members can be saved, and has been known in the past to burn opposing persons at the stake. Are you familiar with this cult?

The Oxford English Dictionary, the supreme standard for our language, defines a cult as a particular form or system of religious worship. In that sense, we are a particular form or system of religious worship dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was accused of being the ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes – a cult of followers of Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 24:5). We would join his cult in a minute, if he were still around. Wouldn’t you? Paul admitted on trial that he was a member of the way the Jews called heresy (Acts 24:14)! The Jews never had nice things to say about Paul and his followers, but he did not care.

No, we are not a cult. We are a Baptist church based on the original work of John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, and His apostles. We welcome you to explore our website and/or visit an assembly.