Are Free Churches Cults? And how do I distinguish between religious currents? There is often an uneasiness in the air when the conversation turns to free churches. Sometimes it is just insecurity because one cannot classify the phenomenon “free church”. Others have had experiences themselves, have been a guest in a free church, attended a service, or know these or those people who attend free churches themselves. For many people, this is somewhat opaque. So what are free churches, and what distinguishes them from “normal” churches, and how do they differ from sects?

Sects

Cults are characterized by certain features. Thus, any community is to be classified as a sect only if the characteristics of a sect are present. But what is a cult? For an up-to-date definition, it is best to search for information from well-known websites that provide information about religions and cults.

Free Churches

Free churches are communities of faith that are free from the state ties of the national churches. The term “free church” therefore first says something about the type of organization. For the most part, free churches emerge from the churches of the Reformation, or at least stand in some part of that tradition. However, there are also free groups with a Catholic background. Just as there are many churches, there are also many free churches.

Free churches, however, differ from national churches in other respects. One does not become a member of a free church by birth, but by a personal decision. That’s why free churches are usually well attended because personal connection and personal faith have a high value. In addition, many free churches will not know a detailed liturgy in the service, but rather celebrate the impression of a spontaneous and lively process. This liveliness in the celebration is very attractive for many people.

Churches

Every church once started as a free church. When Jesus and the apostles walked on earth, there were no churches in the modern sense. There were house churches, local meetings and the like. There were traveling teachers like Apollos (Acts 18:24-28) or apostles like Paul who went out into the world with a gospel of God’s grace and told people about the dazzling love of God made visible in Christ Jesus. Wherever people responded, communities of faith emerged.

Only with time did these faith communities become dogmatically solidified, become institutions and, with broad recognition, popular churches. The next step was then in the 4th century to the state church (312 AD, Constantine). Thus, there was a development towards a power structure that could become the identity of a country or a culture, even when the personal reference was missing. The original character was thus largely lost, leading many people over the past 2000 years to fellowship differently outside the state church.

In many churches today, tradition is, so to speak, the outer framework within which faith and trust in God can develop, while in free churches, faith and trust in God are seen as the starting point for community. The starting point and approach are different, but the core can be and remain the same. In both cases, it is about expressions of Christian identity. However: Not for everyone a personal faith is a characteristic of a “Christian”.

When is one a Christian?

  • For some, anyone born in a “Christian” country is already a “Christian.”
  • For others, everyone is a Christian who was baptized in a church (member of a national church)
  • For still others, the one who considers himself so (individualism without a certain imprint) is a Christian.
  • For some, you are not a Christian until you recognize that God has reconciled Himself to you and me through Jesus Christ, and we respond to that message with a personal life surrender
  • For some, you are only a Christian if you belong to this or that denomination (the rest is lost)
  • For some, “being a Christian” is synonymous with “spirituality” (that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Christ)
  • For others, “being a Christian” is a stamp that has been put on you and you want to get rid of it as soon as possible (the burden of tradition).
  • For some, “being a Christian” is a belonging that comes from God’s calling.

You may find other “opinions” about what exactly a Christian is. It is typical of free churches that one cannot be “born into the faith.” It always remains a personal decision that grows out of an experienced trust in God and is based on the good news of Jesus Christ. However, this is not a unique selling point of a free church because people who recognize themselves in this description can also be found in national churches, in house churches and outside these institutions. Living faith does not live out of or in a particular drawer. Living faith refers to people who are in relationship, not those who are members somewhere.

A community usually has a common basis and a common self-image. That’s how the world works. It can become problematic if this self-image develops into a sectarian orientation.

When does a community become a cult?

Neither churches nor free churches are per definition sects. However, like any other community, both churches and free churches can take on sectarian characteristics. This depends primarily on the people who are active in a particular assembly or church and the doctrines that are considered fundamental.

The fact sheet already mentioned lists many points that urge caution: Ripping off members, promises of healing, discrimination, threatening messages, egalitarianism and exclusivity, leader cult, secret teachings, breaking contact, prohibition of criticism, and others. If one or more of these apply, caution is advised.

I have observed all of these points somewhere before, but I have met just as many quite outstanding communities, led by people with vision and an open attitude to life. There are no easy answers.

Features of a healthy community

  • A healthy community leads to the maturity of its members (cf. Eph. 4:11-16). Members are led out into freedom and independence.
  • The world is recognized as complex and there are no easy answers. The community is binding in the sense of “caring, welcoming, responsible, compassionate, sustaining, communal,” but does not lead to closure, but rather to openness.
  • An identity is fostered that can also withstand confrontation with dissenters. Self-reflection takes place and there are no taboo topics.
  • One is aware of one’s own imprint and limitations and can see these as partial realizations.
  • Man can share his own understanding with others, and is also willing to learn from others. This kind of community is neither elitist nor segregating. There is no (religious, emotional, etc.) abuse taking place, but:
  • People are confirmed in their humanity, as well as strengthened in their trust in God.

Features of sectarian character

  • A sectarian community leads to the immaturity of its members.
  • Members are placed in dependence on believed doctrine and leadership.
  • Safety exists in the simplified worldview, which is seen as absolute.
  • The community seals itself off, consciously or unconsciously, and distinguishes between the evil world outside and the healthy world in the community.
  • A confrontation with dissenters is experienced as threatening, and black-and-white thinking replaces a critical examination of oneself, the community, and the world.
  • Members are strongly absorbed in the community life that this, in fact, amounts to a separation from everything else.
  • The community may at first become a kind of “surrogate family,” but it can also become a substitute universe for the real world, from which even friendly and familial relationships can suffer.

A community can become a sect only when the people themselves begin to think sectarian first. Manipulation is used for this purpose, not infrequently, under the pretext of “God wants it this way”. Spiritual abuse uses the supposed aura of the Most High. The soul is manipulated, and the mind is hijacked. Anyone who does not resolutely stand up to this can easily fall prey to the intoxication of the community. The abandonment of maturity is the beginning of the end.

The mystery of faith

Critical questions should be asked. For that would be an expression of healthy self-confidence. One can look at the doctrine, customs, leadership style, tasks, outlook, and responsibilities of the community. The goal cannot be criticism per se, but rather the promotion of a connecting life, of liveliness, of the creation of a sustainable openness. What does not lead there may be put up for discussion without further ado. Freedom does not come by itself, but only by consciously “standing in it” (Gal 5:1).

Those who still have some difficulty with a living faith may not be able to comprehend everything that goes on in a faith community. So there is not only black and white, even when viewed from the outside. However, differentiation is challenging when you are an outsider trying to form your own opinion. While one should be able to see good and not so good clearly, the content of faith itself, of trust in God and confidence, can remain strange. However, a new understanding begins with the content of faith, trust in God and confidence. This is about the core of the good news itself, which wants to speak into our lives.

Thus, the apostle Paul speaks to his co-worker Timothy of the “mystery of faith” (1 Timothy 3:9). This general “mystery of faith” should be kept by the servants of the church in a pure conscience. This has nothing to do with secrecy, nor with a detached world view. It has more to do with the sober attitude of faith that Paul emphasizes as a characteristic. Servants were to have an excellent testimony even from those outside the church (1 Timothy 3:7) and people were to “prove themselves” for a task (1 Timothy 3:10). Sobriety and sound reasoning are characteristics of healthy faith (1 Timothy 3:11 and 2 Timothy 1:7). In this, the mystery of faith proves itself. It cannot be judged, only understood by yourself. It can be shared, but not fully explained, any more than a living relationship can be fully explained. But you can live a relationship.

Living faith is the best protection against sectarian thinking. It may be difficult for outsiders to understand, but dealing with life issues in the light of God’s grace gives strength, confidence and outlook. Such an understanding of faith inspires the human condition and enables us to live in the world, perhaps with our own new values. This is then not to be confused with a sect. One key may lie in this distinction:

  • Those who allow, enable and encourage debate cannot be sectarian
  • Anyone who prevents, blocks and heresies a debate is already sectarian.

What if it is actually sectarian?

Sectarian communities or sectarian views usually already characterize themselves by cutting themselves off from others. There is only one thing to do here: stay away from these views. It is not a matter of staying away from a “foreign doctrine” or excluding what is merely unknown, but of maintaining a healthy distance from “sectarian behavior“. Those who are troubled can examine themselves, can examine the community, can seek help from others, can get information. That would be a healthy attitude. If this is not tolerated or encouraged, a tangible problem arises. The Swiss/German website relinfo.ch gives a good orientation for many questions.

Traumatization through religion

Sectarian thinking has consequences. Those who stand in faith communities that claim to have absolute truth have exchanged living faith for ideology. This has devastating consequences. Many people are religiously traumatized by this. This also happens (but not only) in free churches. In English, the term “Religious Trauma Syndrome” (RTS) is coined here. See for example: Journey Free.

The threat of hell, black-and-white thinking and the like leave deep traces in the minds of many people. There is little more to be felt of the freedom in Christ. One loses contact with oneself, free decision-making becomes difficult, and one is constantly pressured from the community. Dogmatically entrenched is the doctrine, and life must run adapted.

Those who break out of this world experience liberation. This means that only part of the liberation has been achieved. To become free in faith would also mean to find one’s own approach, to let oneself be directed anew by the grace of God – without compulsion and dogmas, but carried by the calling of God. This can certainly be justified with the Bible. For the Bible itself is not sectarian, nor are the people described there. They are fully human and have a living faith, without any claim to perfection. For example, as Paul puts it:

“I do not yet consider myself to have grasped it. But I do one thing: I forget what is behind me and reach out to what is before me. Thus I chase after the goal, after the prize of God’s calling, above in Christ Jesus. All of us now who have matured may be mindful of this.”
Phil 3:13-15

Continuing contributions

This article first appeared in July 2016. This is a revision and republication.

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