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How Cults Begin—And How the Church Must Stay Free

A call for Spirit-led faith over coercion, control, and culture wars.

I've met—and heard stories of—many people who were part of a cult without realizing it at the time. Often, they were drawn in by a mix of personal vulnerability, persuasive recruitment tactics, and a deep longing for meaning or belonging. What’s striking is how often people don’t realize the truth until they’re already deeply entangled.

So how can someone protect themselves from falling into a cult?

One of the clearest definitions I’ve found is this:

A cult is a group—often religious or spiritual in nature—centered around a charismatic leader, rigid beliefs, and practices that are typically outside of mainstream society. It often exerts excessive control over its members’ lives.

Two Clear Signs of a Cult

One of the most telling signs of a cult is coercion—pressuring people to adopt a belief system rather than allowing them to choose freely. It doesn’t matter what the belief is—whether it’s a religion, a personal ideology, or even the teachings of Jesus—faith should never be forced. True belief must be presented with honesty and grace, giving people the freedom to respond on their own terms. Anything else undermines the very nature of genuine conviction.

Another red flag is when a person becomes more important than the belief itself. No human being should ever be elevated above the message they carry. Leaders are called to be servants and messengers, not the source of truth. When a leader becomes the center rather than the truth they point to, the foundation becomes unstable—and dangerous.

A Warning to Christians and the Church

This should serve as a serious warning to both Christians and the Church: we must never force people to follow God. Faith that is manipulated, pressured, or coerced is no faith at all—it’s compliance, not conviction.

I’ve met far too many people I call “T-shirt Christians”—those who wear the label, but lack the life. Their belief stops at the surface, and that shallow witness often does more harm than good.

We shouldn't try to force our faith onto a world that hasn’t asked for it. Mandating prayer in public schools, pushing for laws to make unbelievers follow God’s standards, or threatening hell as a weapon—none of these things produce true transformation. More often than not, these efforts stem not from concern for others’ souls, but from a desire to preserve our own comfort and cultural norms. It's not truly about loving people—it’s about protecting the world we want to live in.

But the truth is, transformation never comes through force—it comes through the Spirit. Our role is to faithfully present the goodness, beauty, and truth of God’s ways—and then step back. When someone chooses to follow Jesus through a genuine spiritual awakening, we can be far more confident that it’s real, and that their salvation is grounded in relationship, not religion.

We must allow people the space to grow in Christ at their own pace, guided by the Holy Spirit. Spiritual growth happens in God’s timing, not ours—and when it does, it becomes evident that the transformation is truly His work, not the result of our pressure or manipulation. That’s the difference between a genuine, Spirit-led change and a false, human-dr