This special three-part testimony is posted to share my experiences within a church organization whose teaching and practice I discovered to be more in line with that of a cult than an ordinary church group as one should expect to find such. It is also posted to inform and encourage any person who believes him or herself to be in a similar situation.
To give you some background to this testimony I recommend you first read my post: I failed to study that word “free.”
Melbourne Christian Fellowship – Why I Left It. Part 3.
Continuing on from part Part 1 & Part 2.
In May 2001, both my wife and I spoke with Gary and Helen Worth, informing them of our concerns and intent to leave the Fellowship. I got the impression from both that I was wrong in almost everything I shared. Gary made the comment to me that there was something very Catholic about me. I didn’t ask him to explain, I simply responded by saying that’s exactly what I thought about them as a group. He didn’t ask me to explain either. But this testimony gives an explanation today that I would never have been able to express back then.
Also, even after being among them for 7 years, it was not until that meeting that I found out the Fellowship stands for the (false) doctrine of Sinless Perfection. Gary asked me if I believed in it. As soon as he asked, I thought, “Now I know why I’m confused and why you people are where you are at!!”
I was shocked and quickly responded in the negative. Now, as a Fellowship, they talked much over the years about the need for transparency amongst us, (“open-faced”, they called it) yet, in their handouts to all visitors, this doctrine was not openly published as part of their Statement of Faith. Why not? I know not. But I know why I experienced spiritual abuse! Sinless Perfection is a false doctrine. It enslaves all who drink its poison.
Someone may ask, “How come you got caught up in this abuse?” Good question. The short answer, it happened by way of gradualism. The leaders did not at any of their meetings ever come out and say, “We stand for Sinless Perfection, we aim to be totally, perfectly sinless before the Lord returns.” Yet, that is their belief, as I found out that night. If I had known this at my first attendance among them I would have grabbed my wife and family and immediately walked out. Satan’s intention is to steal, kill and destroy each one of us, spiritually, mentally, physically and he uses good people to do this, not only the bad. He’s too smart for that. But he too works by way of gradualism.
Analogy: Satan never puts a drop of coke in the glass of arsenic for us to drink, he puts a drop of arsenic in the glass of coke! That’s gradualism, “here a little, there a little, line upon line,” - “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” Galatians 5:9. As a result, I was not readily able to identify the real problem. It took years before I seriously sought the Lord on this indoctrination I was experiencing, and I was pathetically slow to respond to His voice anyway!
For 18 months or more the Lord gave me in prayer, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…….if the Son of Man makes you free, you shall be free (unrestrained, to go at pleasure, not a slave, exempt from obligation or liability) indeed” (really, certainly, clean, of a truth, verily) John 8:31-32, 36. I simply failed to act, by failing to look up the true meaning of what these words meant, thinking, “ that’s just my own thoughts”
Deception is not always readily discernable when it comes to rightly dividing the word of God. There was much truth taught in the Fellowship, but the full picture (balance) was not given (it can’t be given if one stands for that false, ‘Latter Rain’ doctrine), then you end up indoctrinated with half-truth. The problem then however, is most people think they have the whole truth.
Somebody once said in regards to the counterfeit, “A mushroom and a toadstool look exactly the same, except, one is sweet and one is deadly.” Well, I ate plenty of “mushrooms” (precious truths), but I ate too many “toadstools” (error) during my time with them. And that’s how deception works, one knows all is not right, but it’s difficult to put your finger on exactly what’s wrong – especially when the other party is not transparent (“open-faced,” as they taught) about what it is they really stand for in the first place.
- The Fellowship had/has a strong “group” mentality. Example: “nearly all Scripture is written to and for groups of people, not individuals. We must learn to read our Bibles this way. Instead of saying “what’s God saying to me?” we need to ask, “what’s God saying to us?”” In relation to this, it has been said that, “those misleading words sound believable because the message is cloaked in half-truths. We do need each other, but each of us can best encourage others when we know Jesus as our life and His word as our guide. Then, if we must stand alone for His name’s sake, His presence will be enough. Many tortured and persecuted martyrs can testify to the sufficiency of Christ when all other help is gone.”
- The Fellowship strongly taught that the church is never a church outside of a gathered community. Not true. The true church is not necessarily visible, nor is it an organization. The true church is an organism. The Lord Jesus has gathered to Himself believers “out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation….” Revelation 5:9. Most of us will never meet in this life, yet we are brothers and sisters in Christ and members of the body of Christ for all eternity.
- The Fellowship strongly taught that there are no lone-ranger Christians. Not true. Lone-ranger Christians are scattered around the world. Many left because they couldn’t commit to compromising (or scriptural/spiritual abusive) leaders. God will surely use solitary times to draw His people closer to Himself. He trained Paul during the solitary years that followed his conversion. He trained Joseph, Moses, David, Jeremiah (and John the Baptist?) through years of aloneness to put their trust in Him.
The same goes for countless missionaries as they sought the lost, shared God’s love and endured hostility and persecution along the way. The 3 dot-points above were written with the help of an unknown writer. In each case however, I have found such to be my experience.
Personally, I have no problems in submitting to leaders, insofar as they lead me to the Lord Jesus Christ. But, if in my “submission” they lead me away from the Lord Jesus, I am not in “submission” to them. How many of us know, Biblical submission; “Obey those who rule over you” Hebrews 13:17, means “to be fully persuaded”? That removes all mindless obedience – cancels out all lording over, manipulation, intimidation and domination and leaves intact your conscience, integrity, and individuality before God. That’s not spiritual abuse, that’s freedom!
Quotes: “Over –emphasis is over-balance. Over-balance is imbalance, and imbalance is error.” Unknown.
“Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous. God hates such a mixture! Any error, or any truth-and-error mixture, calls for definite exposure and repudiation. To condone such is to be unfaithful to God and His word and treacherous to imperiled souls for whom Christ died.” Dr. Harry Ironside (1876-1951)
“The grandest deceptions of all are those things that are mostly true.” Unknown.
When I finally did leave the Fellowship I suffered much psychological and spiritual trauma. However the Lord Jesus’ constant antidote to me was, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us (you) free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Or, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us (you) free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves (yourself) be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1.
I learned how to “fight the good fight” and let go of all bitterness etc. God’s ministry is very gracious. I am grieved, however, to observe those people as slaves to doctrinal over-emphasis and false teaching. As Christians, every one of us must know who we (you) are in Christ, and equally, we must know Who Christ is in us (you).
This 3-part testimony is written, firstly, out of love and obedience to God and His word, “……I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” Jude 1:3. Right at this point the reader might be thinking, “All these Scriptures you’ve quoted; couldn’t the Fellowship quote these straight back to you?” Yes, they could and probably will. One of us is right and one of us is wrong. I leave that in God’s hands in Jesus’ name.
Secondly, it is written out of love and deep concerns for all in the Fellowship. “And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” Acts 20:32.
Finally, it seems that friendships are strong in the Fellowship, but when one leaves, the friendships become very shallow. This really only struck me personally when I again went into the Fellowship to attend a 21st birthday party in 2006, and a funeral service in 2007. I am left wondering, how much friendship was there in the first place? They’ve all had other friends leave the Fellowship and I ask the same question to them about those folk.
Right here, someone from the Fellowship says, “That’s just not true!” My response has to be, “How would you know? The only way you could ever know – leave the Fellowship.” If friendship gets expressed in the group but then it ceases when one leaves the group, well then I say that’s not friendship. It doesn’t line up with what God’s word says about love either.
Sadly, as Christians, it’s my strong belief that our love and friendships for one another are going to be severely tested in the days ahead. It is also my belief that our special doctrines, denominations and groups will mean nothing when we face that day. Our brothers and sisters in other lands are finding that out presently, which makes me think our day can’t be too far away.
Test for us all. Question: How does one know if one is deceived or not? Answer: A deceived person will never ask that question. He already knows he’s right. Question: Did the reader pass the test? I am prepared to be wrong about anything I have written in this 3-part testimony. © Roger Williams. June 27, 2008.
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” 2 Timothy 2:15.
Related Posts for additional reading and study:
- It Is Not Only Rome That Has Its Pope!
- The TRUE One True Church.
- The Spirit of Cultism Entices People.
- They Were Made God-dependant Not Man-dependant.
- I failed to study that word “free”
© 2010 – 2012, Roger Williams. All rights reserved.
