Do You Really Get It?

By Larry Ellison, JR.

The courage of those that were brainwashed and come forward is to be admired, not denigrated. Some have tried to question the validity of people’s stories due to the seeming contradictory behavior on the part of the victim. One example is why a victim of rape or molestation by a pastor would want to move to that pastor’s church. It is a good question because I know that if this was tried in a court of law that this question would be asked. This is where we must look deeper than the incident of rape in this situation to determine such bizarre behavior on the part of the victim. I mean in a normal rape case, the victim does not even want to be in the same courtroom, as the perpetrator, much less go to the same church. What one must understand is that the hope that one is saved and goes to heaven or is “in the kingdom” is of utmost importance even to the point that rape if of little consequence in the “grand” scheme of things. I’m not saying that the victim enjoys it or anything like that but more important to them is eternal life. Look at what people in various religions, Christian and non-Christian, will do to gain life or their perceived utopia. Rational people find this behavior unbelievable and that is why brainwashing does not happen overnight. In fact, it is a carefully, crafted work. It happens to good people, bad people, educated people, uneducated people, rich people and poor people. Also it does not negate any good that happened while one was a part of it nor does it negate truth as truth cannot change. However, one must be willing to evaluate everything that was taught as truth after being delivered from a cult. When I speak of a cult here, I am speaking of a destructive cult.

One point that most fail to understand is the mindset that those in a cult have or develop, some to a greater or lesser extent but pretty much all have it to some degree or another. The mindset is one of total dependency upon a certain church or leader and is one of the primary signs of a cult. This mindset shows itself from the biggest decisions in a person’s life to the most basic. My memory as a survivor of a church cult or a cultish church, if that makes you feel better, was that adults had to ask if they could buy a house or a car or who they could date or marry or if they could go on vacation. Of course leadership never used the terminology that we had to “ask permission” as they were smart enough to couch it differently. They would say, “If you are considering the purchase of a home or car, you should run it by the pastor. Of course the world will think you are foolish but who cares what they think. It is what Jesus thinks of you that matters, not your ungodly family or the backslidden. It will seem like such a little thing when you are in the bride of Christ and ruling 10 cities. Or is it that you are just to proud to submit to a power of the world to come. I mean that is why you are having the problems that you are having. It is your lack of obedience to God’s Word. That is why your finances are all out of whack. That is why your kids are going to hell. That is why you are sick. God is chastising you [here they throw in Hebrews 11 where Paul talks about chastening] because you are His son. You are not a bastard and you should thank God for it.” This is only one example but do you see the manipulation in this example. Let’s break that whole statement down and see it for what it is.

1. “If you are considering the purchase of a home or car, you should run it by the pastor.” ? They are not saying exactly what they really want. They do not say that they are going to deny what you are asking for. In fact, the whole intent is not denial or approval, it is control. Denial would only happen if they felt the need to let you know that they were in control. If they denied you but you persisted anyway then they would further humiliate you to the point of making you feel rebellious and then place a curse on you which, of course, the word curse would never be used. It would be more along the lines that “I hope God doesn’t have to do something to get your attention for this act of rebellion”. What this causes later is that if anything happens such as you have a wreck, someone breaks into your house, you or your kid gets sick, etc., you immediately believe that God is judging you and you quickly repent and confess that you were wrong and you will act differently in the future. You also let the leadership know that you are glad that they are watching for your soul because it has to be tied into salvation otherwise this mind control would not work. AND this was their goal in the first place. Many times after this repentance and confession , especially if is public or they make it public (which sometimes they do to reinforce good behavior), they will then commend you publicly for the benefit of the other members. You actually leave feeling pretty good when all the time you really should feel humiliated. Among other things this commendation put you in a position that you feel you cannot turn back. The whole point of the commendation was not to make you feel good but to keep you under their control and convince others that may be wavering in their loyalty.

2. “Of course the world will think you are foolish but who cares what they think. It is what Jesus thinks of you that matters, not your ungodly family or the backslidden. It will seem like such a little thing when you are in the bride of Christ and ruling 10 cities.” ? Here we experience an “us versus them” message which is designed to alienate and isolate you from everyone except the loyal followers. Even good hearted and loving Christians are thrown into this mix because they are not part of your particular group. Since they are not part of your group, that means they really are not saved at least not saved as good as you are. They throw in the name of Jesus or a scripture simply as a ploy to make their argument sound reasonable and have some sort of godly basis. This also created in the followers an air of superiority and makes you feel “above” everyone else especially other Christians that just do not possess the knowledge of your leader. So now you can take humiliation and the total breakdown of your self-esteem because it is worth it. It is worth it because you are called to a greater position than other believers. Sometimes you will experience guilt because you know you don’t deserve this “high calling”.

3. “Or is it that you are just to proud to submit to a power of the world to come. I mean that is why you are having the problems that you are having. It is your lack of obedience to God’s Word. That is why your finances are all out of whack. That is why your kids are going to hell. That is why you are sick. God is chastising you [here they throw in Hebrews 11 where Paul talks about chastening] because you are His son.” ? Now we are being bombarded by what I call the shotgun approach. You are bound to be hit by something that is being shot from the leader’s mouth. So you immediately feel bad because you know that at least one of the things he said is happening to you and he has just tied it all together with God, the Bible, him and whatever point he is making. You don’t stop to think that these things mentioned are common to man and simply part of the human experience. Think about it, you already feel bad enough over your financial situation or that your kids are having problems or if you are sick. AND now the leader has shown you why these things are happening to you (I say that facetiously), so you want to change if it will make things better. Throw God and scripture in the mix and now you really want to change because you truly love God and His word.

4. “… because you are His son. You are not a bastard and you should thank God for it.” ? Here we go again. We are once again left feeling we are super special. This statement is also designed to pit people in the group against each other or former members because if one is not obeying these commands and not being judged by God then he/she is just a bastard so don’t follow their example. The leader destroys normal self-esteem that God intends for us to have and replaces it with a false, inflated opinion of ourselves (as long as we listen and obey him and stay with his group) that God never intended for us to have. The statement is true but the leaders motivation or intent is wrong.

Under these tactics, you soon find yourself unable to function without the support of the leader and his group. Instead of growth and evolution in Christ, you actually revert back to a baby-like state as you fight with the other members to get your very own nipple to suck on like little pigs nursing from the momma sow.

Paul said in Ephesians 4:14 & 15, “That we (included himself and everyone else) henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But, speaking the truth in love, may grow into him (nobody else) in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” Any church leader, pastor, apostle, etc., that directs you to himself or his group for salvation or a more complete or a better salvation is deceiving people. In other words, statements like “It was a great day in my life when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior but is was a much greater day in my life when I met the “Body of Christ” should be your first sign that something is wrong in this church. Why? Because they are inserting themselves in a position that their followers will grow into them instead of Jesus.

There is much more to say on this subject but I will leave it at that for now. By the way, the quote I used above is not exact but very similar to what I heard many, many times in my 26 years at the Des Moines Gospel Assembly Church.

God Bless You.
Larry D. Ellison, Jr.

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