Those Who Do This … Are Deceivers
The book “Out of the Cults and Into the Church” (copyright 1994 Kregel Resources) by Janis Hutchinson has provided us with many insights and direction in previous posts. This book was recommended to me from a couple that had spent many years in the “Worldwide Church of God”. That group was reported as a cult and at the minimum had unusual behavior control practices that permeated their doctrines and everyday life. The first post on this group stemming from a lunch meeting with the husband can be found here.. http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=903 It was a fun meeting to say the least. Later, the wife referred me to this book. It had helped her in years past.
The most recent post about the insight in this book can be found here: WOFF Contradictions – Part 4: http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=2533 . In that post, we looked at the net effect of many scriptures quoted at WOFF. “In my opinion, the net effect negated true relationship with God and furthered a subservient relationship to Jane Whaley and the leadership at WOFF. Scriptures were not intended to be tools to make one person a servant to another.” Please read the entire post in order to obtain the context for the quote…
Today, the subject at hand comes from chapter 8 of this book. “Deadly Doctrines Tough to Divorce” The author uses her experience from Mormonism to explain her views since she was in that group for over 30 years. Hutchinson explains that as members leave religious cults, they have a tough time separating themselves from the doctrines that enslaved them while in the group. It is not obvious to many that observe a person’s exit from such a group, why the struggle would exist. Can’t you just lay down the sacred stories and start believing the truth? From the author’s experience, she relates that the Mormon’s sacred stories were taken from orthodox Christianity. The Book of Mormon “borrows from Matthew, Mark and Paul’s writings, and parallels New Testament stories.2” (page 154) This would have drawn folks in to believing and also can keep the exit process slowed as an ex-cultist struggles to replace the Mormon stories with Christian scriptural truths.
On this point, my opinion is that this one observation explains why many ex-members from Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) led by Jane Whaley, find it difficult to move on from WOFF doctrines and practices. Jane Whaley and her leaders teach several doctrines that are accepted by Protestant, evangelical churches. It is difficult for ex-members and some of those peering in from the outside, to accurately discern where the preached “truths” deviate from sound, safe Christian doctrines. Admittedly, I do not pretend to be an expert on this subject; however I will share what I have learned so far. The key for me is to examine the practices that are founded on the doctrines of WOFF. What is it that is preached that supports and justifies in the mind of Jane and members- the loud prayer, shunning of members and others, financial misdealing, isolation of regular members from the media, the isolation of children from society and other things already mentioned on this blog. Once a person can know and possibly understand the basis for such practices, then dividing the practice from the scriptural truth and its application will be less complicated.
Along the same line of thought, Hutchinson writes concerning sacred stories and cult myths, … “Neither are the doctrines that cults try to establish from them. Visions, dreams, symbols, images or angels, which are often incorporated in myths, were never meant to produce doctrine or dogma. According to the biblical pattern, that is not how God works. Those who exaggerate a meaningful message in order to establish doctrines are deceivers.” (page 155) When I read this I was both excited and fearful at the same time. I was excited to know a key in determining the validity of certain doctrines and thus the practices. But, I was also fearful since I had been sitting under this practice for years. How would I be able to tell the difference in a doctrine or practice properly supported by scripture and one manipulated to fit the need of the leader of the group- Jane Whaley? Yes, some were obvious, but some not so obvious, for me. I will begin with one of the obvious.
When quoting the story of Elisha found in 2Kings 2:22-24-
22So the waters were healed to this day, as Elisha had said. 23He went up from Jericho to Bethel. On the way, [a]young [maturing and accountable] boys came out of the city and mocked him and said to him, Go up [in a whirlwind], you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead! 24And he turned around and looked at them and called a curse down on them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and ripped up forty-two of the boys.
Jane Whaley would quote this story and warn WOFF members not to talk back or mock “God’s anointed”. The effect of sharing this story, in this fashion and in this setting was to cut-off any questioning or inquiries of Jane or what she taught or did under the guise of being “God’s anointed”. It was a clear use of fear to squash the voicing of doubts or questions. Oddly enough, Warren Jeffs used this same story for the same purpose and had the same effect. This is an example of what Hutchinson was speaking about. Other examples may make for a good future post.
After considering this passage, I believe that in order to continue with such practices, the leader(s) must first deceive themselves and believe that this way of creating doctrine and church practices is normal and accepted. Indeed, I have learned, it is not. Years ago, a dear friend warned me of becoming a “jackleg preacher”. The idea of becoming a self taught preacher and possibly propagating this kind of deception on others scares me and causes me to be leery of people who may consider this as an acceptable “ministry”.
Hutchinson also mentions in this chapter a phrase that caught my attention. “In addition, cults promote another myth designed to establish the divine calling and anointing of their leader… The most effective myth a cult will produce is one that boasts the strongest supernatural element… It is important for a religion to do this because there must be some kind of story (to) legitimize a group’s calling into existence as an act of God… In the case of cults, their myths acts as a sacred canopy… to use Peter Berger’s term5 …” (page 161) For WOFF, the sacred canopy is based on Jane’s perpetual thrust to make sure all members as well as others know she is the voice of God for WOFF members. She constantly extends the “sacred canopy” concept by saying how much the WOFF environment is a protection for the members. During the first few years at Greenville, I remember using the phrase that it seemed like we were “living in a bubble”. No, I was not sure why or the cost that would be extracted for living in the bubble in the years to come. “One would certainly have second thoughts about coming out from underneath that kind of canopy!”(page 161)
Hutchinson goes on the write, “When an individual believes that he belongs to a religion with a sacred origin, he feels secure and protected. This leads to intense dedication” (page 161) I might add this applies to either a sacred origin or a leader that claims a “direct sacred connection”. Jane Whaley perpetuates the direct sacred connection as hers alone. This is a foundational concept to understand when reviewing the group dynamics of WOFF. This is meant to intensify the aura around her and the “value” of membership at WOFF. Does this help explain the intense faith and actions of present and former WOFF members? The depth of understanding found in this book cannot be told here. I recommend everyone read this book and learn from it.
Please, consume the information on this site responsibly. The author is not a licensed mental health professional and encourages those that need professional help to seek it. The intent of the material is to inform and be a resource. Be sure to tell every member that you know at WOFF about this blog. There are readers at WOFF. Comments are invited from all readers, including present or former members. Polls are not scientific and no private information is gathered.
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(Please, take time to read the Terms of Use for this personal blog. As mentioned, the information about WOFF is from my memories and recollections as perfect as that may be or not be. ) Scripture references are Amplified Version unless otherwise noted. (Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ) This is post number 152.