Whether it’s watching from afar through a documentary or hearing about discoveries/escapes on the news, we’ve developed a fascination with cults.
“I’d never do that!” we might proclaim. Or “Who is crazy enough to join something so silly?”
Or, we may even think a cult has slowly indoctrinated a close friend or family member.
A reader had a similar question for Billy Graham: “Why do people get involved in cults? I think my cousin has gotten involved in one, but she won’t listen to any of us who try to talk to her about it. In her view, we’re all wrong, and her group is the only one that’s right.”
The famed evangelist responded:
People get involved in cults for many reasons, but often it’s because they are spiritually hungry and are searching for God—and they hope this group will satisfy that hunger. And for a time, they may think it has, and they turn their backs on anyone who tries to tell them otherwise. The Bible warns that in the last days “there will be false teachers among you” (2 Pet. 2:1b).
But all cults have one thing in common: they can never bring a person into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He alone is the divine Son of God who came down from heaven to save us from our sins, and He alone took upon Himself our sin and our guilt when He died on the cross for our salvation. We cannot save ourselves, no matter how hard we try; only Christ can save us.
More than that, Christ alone offers us eternal life as a free gift—because He has already paid the price for our salvation. All we have to do is accept His gift, by putting our faith and trust in Him as our Lord and Savior. The Bible says, There is no salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Pray for your cousin, that God will open her heart to Christ and help her turn away from everything false. And let her know that you still love her—and so does Christ.
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