CNN recently aired a documentary about Jonestown, that doomed community formed by Jim Jones and his cult back in the late 1970s. It was not a good thing. A lot of people were deceived into thinking that he was all that he said he was and that he had their best interests at heart. He may have, at one point–but certainly not at the end of his ministry. And though I don’t know the precise reason for his actions, and though I’m no psychoanalyst, I have come up with something that we can take from the disaster that he left in his wake:
Check your motives in everything you do, especially when you’re in a leadership position. If what you’re doing is not for the glory of God, don’t do it. Because, ultimately, that is our purpose as human beings: to bring glory to God. If we do anything contrary to that purpose, then, we’re living for no good purpose, which in turn leads to nowhere good, fast.
And, may I suggest that this principle should extend not only to you, but to the ministries and/or churches in which you are involved. Make sure they have the right perspective and exist for the glory of the true God. If it’s not, perhaps you should get out of it…or do something to change it, before the damage becomes irreparable.
Because the legacy of Jim Jones does not only consist of those who died; a few survived, but have been scarred for their lifetimes by the things that they witnessed. As a result, some even fear to enter church buildings for the memory of their last doomed attempt at “religion.” Please, fellow believers, may we do our best to keep this from happening to someone else! Test everything…
My heart goes out to the deceived of this world.
