Authority is idolatry

 

"When you point to another as an authority in your world, you are transferring the power that belongs to God to an idol. " - Neville Goddard  

In 2019 Naomi Van Winkle produced Cult in Connecticut, about the King's Chapel of Norwich, CT, and its sister Bethel Church of Mansfield Woodhouse, UK. The second season debuted in December 2022. As of this writing, two episodes of the new season are out. 

CIC features survivors of spiritual abuse at the hands of a "prophet," Jean Spademan, and her inner circle. Some were gaslit into confessing sins they didn't commit and manipulated into giving thousands of dollars to help fund, for example, lavish vacations for Spademan's family. Children in the churches were accused of having impure sexual thoughts before they even reached puberty. Well-meaning people, adults and children alike, were accused of harboring evil in their hearts and were ostracized. Families were torn apart.

Ironically, Spademan seemed to offer nothing in the way of wisdom, holiness, or charisma. It seems strange that anyone would have sacrificed so much for her. Until you consider that these church members thought their eternal souls were at stake. They believed that by following Spademan's pronouncements, they were following Jesus Christ. 

In contrast, the 2016 documentary Holy Hell features a cult leader who was in many ways the opposite of Spademan. Jaime Gomez, aka "Michel" (and other names), was (at the beginning) handsome, fit, and knowledgeable. He recruited young, attractive, single adults to his New Age-ish "Buddhafield" community. Many devoted their lives to him for decades even as his behavior became increasingly strange.

Holy Hell features allegations of Michel's sexual abuse of men in the group. While legally the relationships were "consensual," they were unwanted by the men who nevertheless felt they had no other choice. 

Why wouldn't they just leave? Eventually, they did, but footage taken of life in the cult suggests close friendships and many happy times together. The cult provided community,  friendship, and a sense of being part of something greater than oneself.

So, why am I trying to explain away the irrational devotion of the followers of these cults?

Well, I'm not. I'm instead trying to figure out when devotion is rational. 

Is it when the church is part of a larger denomination that's centuries old? Does a resolution from a denomination or a declaration from the Pope have any more validity than the whims of an old lady in England?

Why?

The simple truth is that nobody has authority over you. If someone asks you to do something that seems morally repugnant or just "feels" wrong, would you do it just because they claimed God said so?

Would you do it if they had graduated seminary and been ordained? Is that what distinguishes a cult from a legitimate church in your eyes? 

Some are born teachers, and some are natural at leadership. But you are always free to skip the class. You are free to follow your own path; nobody is here to tell you what to do. You own your consent. You are the author of your life, and so you are its only author-ity.

It doesn't matter if it's a small, localized group like Buddhafield or the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, or the Roman Catholic Church: if a leader asserts "authority" to get you to surrender your own will, then it's a cult.

On the other hand, if someone says something that resonates with you, you may believe the message is "from God" and you may well be right. But that doesn't mean the other person is your God or is the only one who receives and transmits messages from God.  

It is, in fact, your agreement with the message that is proof that God is working within you as well. And that's really the only place you can know for certain that God does work: within you. Not through charismatic teachers, not through the representatives (clergy) of ancient, "respectable" institutions. In you.

Ever since childhood Sunday School, I thought that idolatry consisted of worshipping that which is powerless: the golden calf, statues of Baal, etc. Neville Goddard's statement above tells me something additional: idolatry means surrendering your own power.

Authority is idolatry.

       

James Leroy Wilson writes JL Cells, The MVP Chase, Daily Miracles, and The Daily Bible Chapter, Thanks for your subscriptions and support! You may contact him for your writing, editing, and research needs at jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com.