1 Corinthians 13: 1-2
13 If I speak human or angelic tongues[a] but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.
As with anything, you will know them by their fruit. My biggest problem with NAR is the lack of accountability. It will not take much to turn a church into a cult. Jim Jones started off as a preacher, after all. And you all know how that ended. Or you should.
People would be much better off learning how to think for themselves. And learning how to spot a cult. Any culture that demands absolute authority, loyalty, obedience, and submission is suspect. The more confining the mental prison, the more dangerous the cult. Fear mongering is not love, nor does it embody the Holy Spirit. Controlling manipulative behavior is not a defining quality of the Holy Spirit or those moved in the Spirit. Nor is the Holy Spirit known for imprisoning the minds of man. The Holy Spirit sets us free from all the chains that bind us.
Word of Life Christian Church was lead by Jerry Irwin who prophesied and prayed for healing, and some would say he did this quite effectively. And yet he became increasingly controlling, demanding total obedience. Disobedience was a step toward an eternity in hell. After he died, his adult offspring took over the church, also claiming to hear God. They went on to make false accusations and lead two devout Christian parents (and one of their adult daughters) to brutally beat their teen sons over a period of several hours. One of the sons eventually died. This happened in 2015.
This is one example before the NAR movement even gets rolling. Google children killed by churches and see what comes up.
This is what happens when love has nothing to do with your faith. This is what happens when you are so scared for your immortal soul that you will do anything to save yourself, even kill your children.
Is this what the love of God looks like to you? How about churches preaching to round up sinners and kill them? This is also happening in our present day.
If you have not love, you are nothing…. Maybe pondering on exactly what love means would be a good idea before finding yourself bound to a church that lays the fear so thick you never know real joy or freedom again.
Or don’t.
