Contemporary Church Issues

I was born-again in February of 1978 and with only a few months under my belt as a Christian believer I can remember with vivid detail the global news of the mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, perpetrated by the master deceiver, Jim Jones. I remember my pastor’s remarks in his message that following Sunday with regards to the mass suicide and there being introduced for the first time to the concept of “cult”. In my mind, Jim Jones and the demonic debacle of Jonestown would forever be the picture and definition of a cult. Perhaps that national trauma is one of the reasons I am so sensitized to the use of the word, “cult”. To call something a cult is, in my mind, analogous to labeling a church, The People’s Temple, and its leader, Jim Jones.

My spiritual journey began at what most refer to as a “mainline, liturgical, denominational” church. There were certain things you could count on (right or wrong) if one attended there. The entire worship service would be one hour and it would start and end “on time”. I can’t ever remember a lesson, sermon, or announcement made about being in your seat when the service began, but I can tell you that our household and just about everyone else’s household who attended that church were in their seats at least 5 minutes before the choir entered and the first note was played. It was the culture of that church and denomination for everyone to be ready when the service officially started. Candidly, it was almost unthinkable to be late for church. In fact, if you were late, ushers would hold you at the back door until an appropriate, designated time arrived where late-comers could be seated and even then you were ushered to a designated area in order to minimize any potential distractions. My parents would have been mortified to have been chronically late. I suppose the special times and seating sections underscored the lesson that this church culture was “be on time”.