Exalt Jesus, Not Men

A lot of people in Christianity talk about being wary of cults, and a lot of people have opinions about what makes a religious group a cult. I’ve seen the term ‘cult’ applied to just about everything from truly righteous fellowship in Christ, to nominal Christian affiliations, and to groups that truly are cults. But if you want to know the real earmark of a cult, there is one thing that is present in EVERY cult, and it’s really not hard to see. That is that some man, or even some woman, is exalted by the members to a place far beyond what they should be regarded as. It’s true that the scripture says the following: “And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake” (I Thess. 5:12,13). It is also true that the scripture says of the early believers, “And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them” (Acts 5:12,13). In truth, the way the people “magnified” the apostles was in the exact manner mentioned in the previous quote from 1 Thessalonians. In reality, a true servant of the Lord will not allow those in their care to exalt them to a place where only the Lord Jesus Christ belongs. The apostle Paul dealt with this very spirit which was influencing the believers at Corinth to exalt himself, Apollos and Peter in this manner, and he cut it off in short order: “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? … Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase… Therefore let no man glory in men… And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another” (I Cor. 1:12,13; I Cor. 3:4-7,21; I Cor. 4:6).

When the 'puffing up’ of men by men includes more than one man being exalted too highly by the people, it will cause division among the people like it was doing with the Corinthians. The result of that if not dealt with like the apostle Paul dealt with it in Corinth, will be a sectioning off into divided, opposing camps. When there is only one person being exalted unduly it will result in the group being secluded off from all other believers, because it always cultivates the mindset of “we are the elite.” That mindset prevails in that type of situation because of the undue regard of the leader being God’s special messenger, or his specially anointed. Anyone who people can manage to put in that position can become a cult leader. As we have seen from the scriptures, people even tried to do this with true apostles of Christ. To become a cult leader, all one need do is have people who are trying to overly exalt them, and then just allow it to go unchecked. There is only ONE man who is worthy to be exalted like that, and that is “the man Christ Jesus,” who is the “one mediator between God and men” (I Tim. 2:5). When someone is merely depending on whatever their leadership says and does, and is not seeking God diligently on their own; they are preparing themselves for the cult mindset. When you get enough people who together are doing that, and it isn’t corrected by godly oversight; a cult can be in the making if those things continue. When the apostle Paul did a notable miracle in Lystra through faith in Jesus Christ, the people there rushed to offer sacrifices to him and Barnabas, believing that they were gods come down to earth. But Paul and Barnabas would have nothing to do with it, but rather they reproved and refused the people’s willingness to exalt them: “Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein” (Acts 14:14,15). Like Paul and Barnabas, any true man of God understands that he is merely a brother in Christ who has been given responsibility by God to feed God’s sheep with the bread of life that Jesus provides from heaven. And any true servant of the Lord will compel God’s people to feed in God’s pasture on their own, and to seek to stay in tune with the voice of God’s Spirit themselves. When everyone does those things, then Jesus will be the only one exalted to the place of preeminence where only he belongs. Amen.