I've been seeing more and more about the Duggars and Bill Gothard's "Institute for Basic Life Principles" (IBLP) in the news and here on Facebook lately. The recent revelations describe IBLP as a cult, and Bill Gothard as a cult leader who molested his "purity culture" followers, even those underage. Thing of it is, this doesn't surprise me all that much. I ran into Bill Gothard's teachings on relationships back in 1994 when I was trying to have a relationship with a young woman I met as a camp counselor. I was able to speak with her and tell her how I felt for one night. At the time, it seemed like those feelings were reciprocated (indicated by the tears in her eyes). After that, I was never able to speak to her again and spent the next frustrating year being stonewalled by her Gothard following father over the phone until I finally gave up.
I remember at the time in the early to mid nineties at least where Bill Gothard's IBLP had gone mainstream in some way in most Evangelical churches and organizations. I ran into it everywhere, even when I didn't really know what the source was. Gothard was held in high esteem by folks from my home church at the time, and his purity culture teachings were even somewhat reflected in our courseworlk at the first Bible School I attended. The Duggars were held up as the Christian family you aspired to be in the mid 90s.
Think on that long and hard. What is now recognized as a cult group whose leader took advantage of his flock, like so many others, was held as a standard of holiness for a large percentage of the Evangelical church in the United States at the time. Why? Why didn't we recognize it at the time? In the same way, why didn't we recognize Hillsong for what it was at the time? Or any of the others which rose to prominence in Evangelical teaching and then fell apart as the internal corruption was exposed?
The simple yet painful answer is the American Evangelical Christianity doesn't actually know what real Christianity looks like. They use a standard of theological doctrines and anyone who teaches within that standard is considered okay. The "purity culture" sounded "Biblical," even as the legalism within the IBLP was the driving force behind it, and not the Spirit of Christ. They're more concerned with a person's position on abortion, creationism, and whether or not they adhere to their Biblical interpretations than whether or not the person is living as Jesus taught, and walking as He walked.
The Evangelical churches can't distinguish a counterfeit because most have never seen or identified the real thing. And chances are, when they do see the real thing, they've been so indoctrinated that they wouldn't recognize it if they did, and would possibly attack it as being "unbiblical."
Real Christianity isn't about following laws or rules. It's not about moral codes or theological creeds and political positions. It's about internally cooperating with and submitting to the Spirit of Christ with whom you are joined. It's about channeling Jesus Christ so that when you speak or act people will see and hear Jesus Christ through you. As Paul wrote, "Walk in the Spirit and you will absolutely not bring the works of the flesh to completion." Those who are cooperating with and in submission to the Spirit of Christ have no need for laws, rules, or "purity culture" because it is Jesus Christ who is acting and speaking through them, and there is neither reason nor need to constrain His behaviors. When love incarnate is acting and speaking through you, are you going to murder, steal, commit adultery, lie, covet, or any other harmful thing against the person next to you? No! God forbid anyone should accuse Him of such things.
This clinging to counterfeits isn't going to stop until Christians start seeing and understanding what the real thing looks like and are able to actually be discipled to follow the Way. This is the primary reason why the churches are falling apart, because they weren't being the Church to begin with.
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