There is an old saying about counterfeit money that is priceless (excuse the pun).
The saying goes, that you have to handle a lot of authentic money in order to be able to identify a counterfeit bill. The reason for this is, the more you know what a real $100 bill feels like, the easier it is to know when a fake one is in your hand.
This also translates to spiritual authenticity as well. The more you see true Godly authenticity in a leader, the easier it is to spot a fake one. AUTHENTICITY is a trait that marks a true spiritual leader and the ability to maintain authenticity is a danger for a false leader. Consider the following.
When I was saved, I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. The trust for my salvation was transferred to Him instead of my good works. At the point of my conversion, I had to admit to God and to others, that I had been involved in a lot of stupid things that was sending me straight to hell. In admitting this to God and others, I was being authentic about who I was, and the telling of the story became my “testimony”.
This did not mean however, that I stopped sinning. No, I messed up a lot, and continue to do so. A true spiritual leader will admit to still falling short in word and deed, and is quick to confess and repent and move on in grace. But NOT a counterfeit leader.
To a cult leader, daily authenticity is dangerous, because it signals that they are JUST LIKE YOU. They refer to their PAST sinfulness, but are very careful not to admit to having a bent toward a particular sin that continues to harass them. The false leader counts on being seen as having moved on to a “higher plane” or “walk” with Christ, and to confess an ongoing struggle with sin removes the perception that they are “holy men and women of God”. In fact, I will state further that their insistence that they have “overcome” a particular area of sin, should be a ‘red flag” that self righteous hypocrisy is present in their lives.
Of course we should seek to refuse to submit ourselves to areas of sin that once overcame us in life…but the counterfeit leader will seek to present themselves as one who has no need to be transparent, because their “faith” has made them “overcomers” and now, they can move up to a higher place of leadership as a result.
The greatest leaders I have ever known have publicly confessed areas of sin in their lives that they continue to struggle in. This is because they do not wish to draw glory to themselves…they want Jesus to receive the glory. In fact the fellowship that I have enjoyed with these leaders is because we share a common fallenness…from which we will not be completely freed from until Jesus returns and exchanges our mortal for immortality.
This is one of the greatest signs of cultish activity that exists today. A “leadership” that requires a level of holiness that even they cannot attain. It is a misunderstanding that stems from an arrogant belief that they have arrived, but they insist that YOU must have something wrong with you….maybe even have demons…if you still struggle in areas of your life after your initial salvation. And instead of lovingly coming alongside of you to assist you confidentially and in love, the spiritually counterfeit leader, will actually use self righteous comparisons to other people in order to shame you into submission. They say, “well, the reason you have problems with that is, you just haven’t committed yourself completely to Jesus”. No…the reason you have ongoing problems is, that our sins of the flesh, are something with which we will grapple until the day that Jesus returns. We were told by Jesus Himself, that we would have tribulations in this life…but to REJOICE, because He had overcome the world.
Ongoing authenticity in a cult leaders life would mean that you would see them as vulnerable and fallen as YOU are…and THAT is simply not something they can allow to happen. Why….what would you do if they weren’t spiritually superior than you? I guess it would mean you would have to trust only in Jesus to be forgiven and to trust in His grace. It would mean that THEY are as much in need of “deliverance” as you are. It would mean that they too would need to publicly confess their sins. Do you really think Wildcat Cult Church for Christ leaders don’t have problems with pornography? Or drunkenness? Or other sins you need to confess? For any of them to deny these things happen in their lives is an outright lie. But they won’t tell you, because, they are NOT AUTHENTIC in humility and transparency. It would topple the house of cards.
Ask yourself the following questions:
1.Do you think your leaders always spend their money the “right” way?
2.Have your “covenant group” leaders ever confessed to you their sins?
3.Do your leaders feel they are spiritually better than you or impervious to the same sins you contend with?
4.Have you ever seen them grieve over their own shortcomings Publicly?
5.Do your “leaders” allow YOU to rebuke THEM? If not….why not?
If the answers to any of these questions is “No” then I would say there is spiritual pride and arrogance where humility and authenticity should be.
Remember, only Jesus is perfect, and his pastors are to have his gentle heart. Jeremiah 23:4 says,
“I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD.
If your leaders are not transparent about their imperfect lives, then you are following a wolf and not a true shepherd.
We are here to love you and to assist you to come out from under the harsh treatment of prideful taskmaster who seek to benefit by manipulation and guilt. Contact anyone on this site for help. You are loved.
Former Members of Faith Christian Church Tucson and its offshoots 
Right on!! You certainly exposed the truth here, in a loving way. Thank you!
Thank you a lot! I needed to hear that.
I just re-read this and wanted to thank you for validating and continuing to do so publicly. The destruction of a cult runs deep even after physically being free of this group almost a decade later. My prayer for those still stuck among this group and the future innocent kids to be free and never be held in a yoke of slavery that exists among this and other groups affiliated.
Paul lays out for us what characteristics constitute a man qualified for leadership. He must be a clean and holy living man, transparent before God and others, with an established mature steady character, a good and humble example, a gentle, loving, man whose consistency is already known and observed. In no way, would a man struggling with anger, pornography or drunkenness, or any other sin that could cause the flock to stumble, be qualified for leadership, because he’s not ready or established in a steady mature walk with God, according to His Word. That doesn’t mean they can walk in pride or manipulations. If a man is mature in the Word, then he knows that. There are lots of less visible sins that a man becomes aware of as his walk with God progresses, things that the spirit of YHUH brings to his attention. Paul made it abundantly clear, as did Yahusha, that shepherds are not to lord over us. Transparency, humanity, humility, gentleness, can all (& must) coincide with consistency, right living before God, maturity, and ACCOUNTABILITY, something false teachers refuse. But all these characteristics are biblically conveyed for the man of God. The problem is that almost none of the men in leadership that we see, even meet these criteria. A lot of them are pretenders, not even willing to repent when YHUH brings something to their attention. They don’t ” hearken” to the Word of YHUH. They are, in truth, HIRELINGS. It’s a job, a paycheck, a performance, an image, an ego trip. We cannot honestly expect such a man to be authentic about anything. To be a hireling isn’t even biblical, but only serves a Wrong Motivation in the first place. These guys get their jobs the same way any other guy gets his job. The other evening I ran into a website all about ” church jobs”, with postings just like Craigslist, for crying out loud. That’s not the way YHUH would put a man into leadership. That doesn’t even afford the people hiring him to know the truth of his character or walk with God or anything! Who knows the man’s reality? No one at the hiring location. This is flat wrong. A man, his heart, his reality, should be known for a long time. But that leads us to other things, like ” Do not call any man father or teacher.” Titles are of this world, and all about exacting
Correction- Not exacting, (oops!) But exalting men. That’s what titles do. Yahusha (” Jesus”) said we are all brothers, but titles exalt particular men, create a false separation between them and everyone else, and then we land right where you describe- in ego- land! He says we are not to use special titles, and in fact, not to have special seats for ” important people.” ( See James.) Well that does away with platforms and titles and impressive cars for the ” clergy”. In fact, if you want to get truthful and biblical, there is not to be One Man over a fellowship, but ELDERS, all of whom meet the biblical criteria, and that do not lord over others, remembering that we are all brothers. There is not to be One important dude, or a group of important dudes, them and us, but humble, mature elders that are BROTHERS. Keep in mind also, that before we ever arrived at said location of false teachers, they signed on the dotted line to make the ” church” subject to the state, incorporated as a contracted state corporation, and are no longer under the Lordship of Christ anyway. So, these false teachers are playing a big game, and are taking souls captive to falsehoods left and right. A person needs to get in the Word about all these things, search these things out, and seek or start a fellowship that actually aligns with scripture. This is vital. We need such a fellowship in Tucson very badly! Thank you.
No man should be exalted in the first place, by himself OR others. We are to be exalting Yahusha!! This is all to be about HIM, and HIS glory, not a man!!