Objection: The “Word of Faith” Movement Is a Cult

Those who enjoy tearing down other Christian ministries with statements like this should examine the Scriptural criteria for cult status.  How do you know if a group is a cult – a group that is of the devil whose doctrine will send you to hell?  The biblical test for this is in 1 John 4:1-4.

According to this, anyone declaring that Jesus Christ “came in the flesh” is of God.  In other words, they believe that Jesus Christ pre-existed with God and was made flesh.  For this to be true, Jesus Christ must have been God in the flesh.  Anyone who does not believe this, no matter how sincere, is not a real Christian.  Therefore, anyone who teaches that Jesus is not divine is a cult teacher.  Anyone who denies that Jesus came in the flesh – that He was fully human like us as well as being God and that He has always existed – is also a cult teacher.  This would include anyone who denies the virgin birth and thus reduces Jesus to being just another man.

Some of the slicker cults are aware of this Scriptural test and have figured out a way to sidestep it.  They will agree with you for purposes of argument that Jesus is God so that they can say they pass the test in 1 John 4:1-4.  Their unspoken footnote (which they will have to admit if you press them) is that they believe that you are equally as much God, and that you can become just like God, and even that God was once like you.  This is still cult teaching –if Jesus and God are not on a higher level than you are, the cultists fail the test.

I do not defend every practice done by every “Word of Faith” church.  I know some “Word of Faith” churches that have gone off the deep end.  But even then, most if not all the people involved were born again.  Also, if we wanted to have an embarrassment match (which we should not), I’m sure that the “Word of Faith” people could point to humiliating episodes at churches in any other denomination.  You can be born again and get into error.  (The fact that there are countless healing critics out there attests to this.)  You can have the right doctrine and fail morally, too, and this happens all too often.  A church can become so wacky that it could be injurious to attend it, but even that does not make it an unbelieving cult by Bible standards.

I do not know of anyone currently self-identifying as a “Word of Faith” teacher who denies that Jesus is fully God and fully human, or denies that He pre-existed before His incarnation.  If anyone ever did so, I would stop listening to him, because he would no longer be a true “Word of Faith” teacher.  If someone strays from the truth and gets into the heresy of universalism (it’s happened), that does not mean that those still in the “Word of Faith” doctrine are “off.”  A lot of “guilt by association” goes on that isn’t fair to anybody.

One issue that gets thrown around a lot is the objection that Word of Faith teachers claim that Jesus died spiritually and no longer had God’s nature, so at that point He “wasn’t God,” thus failing the test of belief in the Trinity.  This objection (handled in much more detail elsewhere in this book) is used as a scare tactic to keep people away from teaching on divine healing.  If people are convinced that a group is a cult, they will stay away.  I have seen certain teachers’ quotations snipped out of context and turned on their heads in books that promote unbelief.  This is not fair, and “touching God’s anointed” is dangerous.  Of course, there are plenty of anointed people who do not associate themselves with “Word of Faith” churches; I am not saying that anyone has a monopoly on the anointing.

Not all “Word of Faith” churches teach that Jesus died spiritually, anyway.  If that’s not your cup of tea, you can get your tea served at a church that doesn’t teach what you object to but still teaches that Jesus purchased healing for everyone.  (However, you should still read my article on the subject – maybe you’ll change your mind!)

The fact is that faith in God’s Word (which calls itself the word of faith – Romans 10:8!) is essential for salvation, and has never been a “movement” per se.  The “Word of Faith Movement” would better be described as a revival of teaching certain truths.  Whether you agree with “Word of Faith” teaching or not, as long as the teacher believers that Jesus was fully God and fully Man, the teacher is not a cult leader.  You cannot class “faith” people with Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Moonies, Christian Scientists and other groups that deny the eternal existence and deity of Christ.

Accusing someone of being in or leading a “cult” is a very serious charge.  You’d best have your facts together before making such a claim, lest you end up causing damage to the Body of Christ by skewering a fellow believer just because you disagree with him on certain doctrinal points that are nonessential for salvation from hell.