Is It A Cult?

So, the strange message I got Monday, was from a family whose college daughter they fear is slipping into a cult. 

Instantly, I can think back and realize she has never attended any of classes since I have been at that church.  So I am surprised how, this young lady is headed in the wrong direction.....?  Apparently, she has done two conferences with this suspicious group and very interested in going all the way through their offerings.  Think real $$$$$ here!

I am always the ultimate skeptic, so I am not going to consider the family's concern as valid nor invalid.  I have to do a little research to figure this out for myself.

Now the group in question is one of the many of the self improvement groups professionals consider to help invigorate their careers.  The internet presents them in the light of being a leadership training / self help / inspirational conference provider.  Now I know nothing about this group, but I do know of the ilk - my last company sent all of their golden boys to the offerings of similar providers.  A quick look at their web site and you can find that they address the usual problems Americans are troubled by: poor self image, poor communication skills, poor non-verbal communication skills, poor ability to interpret their surroundings, etc.  You can go for the big bucks and learn how to dress for success, talk like you are educated and successful, have real confidence in yourself, learn the latest ideas on teaming, etc. 

All external fluff, cause it is the inside of man that needs changed not their outside....  But we are talking the world's values here after all.  The founder has even written a book covering his ideas by comparing what the code of the samurai with what great leaders (like you should be) have in common.  You too can learn not be a loser.  Everybody wants that, right?  And yes, I did read quite a bit of the book - it is just not a subject I am interested in.

Whomever did their website design gets a Kris' Golden Gummi Award!  It is very well done - does everything to project the group in a positive light - and yet say as little as possible about what it is they do or what you can expect to gain from attending their seminars!  Its content is totally vacuous! And as a prospective client I am interested - why?

Since their site presents nothing about their product, very little about their instructors and lots about their benevolence activities - obviously we are looking at a group whom has public image problems!  Or, at the least. has taken flak from the public and so now are trying to show that they do benefit others.  At least that is the message one can get from reading through their site and what is not on their site.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

If we start with Dale Carnegie and his, I'm Okay, Your Okay, (don't even get me started on that guy!).  Continue on in time to seeing how eastern religions were combined with those ideas to form Eckankar, a popular 1970 through 1980's cult.  And then springboard into the millennium with numerous self help and positive image groups - you have to wonder why.

From a totally human perspective, I have no problem with any of the non-religious groups.  They provides a service for people to try and get ahead via attending.  But, I do have a problem with this young lady taking this route.....

Why?  Because she is a Christian.  To be thinking in such a way that she NEEDS this training in order to "get ahead", then her eyes have to be fully and completely focused on the world - not what she is called to be as a Christian.

If you are a Christian and you are having self image problems, you are wanting to "get ahead", you want to be in leadership, learn to communicate better - have I got an offer for you!

• Turn your eyes back upon Jesus
• Get down on your knees and humble yourself before Him
• Turn off the TV, pick up your Bible and start to STUDY it
• Go to a real Bible school where relationship not religion is taught
• Go on the mission field or into service for Him, not yourself

If you can do this, you will have accomplished not only everything you will have been seeking but also all in an eternal sense.....

Now, my advice to the family?  Try to woo her away from the world and its success she is hungering for.  Encourage her to attend Ecole Hall in Cannon Beach, Oregon for a year.  Her church is heavily involved in missions in Seattle, Mexico, Liberia, Chile, etc.  So, plenty of opportunity out there - just within their sponsorships.

Failing this, try to support her discovering she is not a loser and if she hates her life - change it!  Get a different job, better education - even at night, whatever it is that will help her gain the confidence in herself she lacks.  Going to a conference and not changing anything back home, is not going to help her in the long term.....  Will she go, I would bet on it.  Will it hurt her, I doubt it.  Will she succeed because of it?  You never know how God is going to either frustrate your activities or use them for His benefit - not yours.

Prayer item.