The WMSCOG, Fear and Guilt

As you’ve seen in my latest posts, the media has recently published a number of articles in an effort to raise controversy and sensationalism around the World Mission Society Church of God. They’ve served as a medium for a handful of former Church of God members to voice their opinions and make the public think they are fact. One of their claims is that the Church of God uses fear and guilt to keep its members. Here’s what’s been said:

The Bergen Record:

“These ex-members…offered similar, independent accounts of being lured into the church, slowly at first, without being told all of its beliefs, then frightened into devotion…”

“People are systematically influenced to join cults by members who are trained to manipulate and use fear and guilt as weapons.”

People.com:

“Fear and guilt — that is what fuels this cult,” Colón tells PEOPLE. “They fill you with this fear that the world is going to end at any moment and you feel guilty for not doing enough good before the end comes.”

Michele Colon, specifically, claims that the World Mission Society Church of God uses “fear and guilt” to retain its members. Where does this claim come from? What drives her to say such things? This comes mainly from the “cult experts” who label the Church of God a “cult.” Because we follow the teachings of the Bible, different from mainstream Christianity and Catholicism, they label us a cult. This automatically puts the Church of God in a negative light. To these “cult experts,” basic Christian principles become “systematic psychological techniques” used to “manipulate” members.

The Bible has more than 100 verses teaching believers to fear God. This is not a topic unknown to Christians. Every Christian prides him/herself on the fear of God.

In the Old Testament, there are numerous verses where God’s prophets teach the fear of God. Here are just a few of them:

Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NLT) That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for that is everyone’s duty.

Deuteronomy 6:24 (NLT) And the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day.

Joshua 4:24 (NLT) For the Lord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all crossed over. He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God forever.

In the New Testament, Jesus, too, taught His disciples to fear God.

Luke 12:4-5 (NLT) “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.”

This is a pretty strong teaching about fear and guilt from Jesus Christ. So should we go ahead and blame Jesus of using fear and guilt to keep His disciples from leaving?

John 15:5 (NLT) “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.”

Through these teachings, Jesus Christ taught His disciples the way they could receive salvation — by depending on God and following Christ’s teachings. But according to these reporters and people like Michele Colon and “cult experts,” these teachings make the Church of God be “fueled by fear and guilt.”

Think about it this way. You attend an elite university. It’s the first day of classes and you receive your syllabus. Your professor says that after four absences, you automatically fail the class. However, your elite university does not allow F’s and if you fail even one class, you’re out and will not be able to finish your college education. Will you or will you not be afraid to miss class? So can we say that school uses fear and guilt to manipulate students?

The Church of God does NOT use “fear and guilt to manipulate members” as these people claim. The Church of God teaches people who are willing to learn about God’s teachings, the truth about the Bible. So for those who are ignorant of the teachings in the Bible, I urge you to study. And to those who are simply religious bigots, don’t forget that the first amendment gives us the constitutional right to practice our faith. And a basic Christian principle just happens to be the fear of God.