First they came for the Moonies...?

The Japanese government have voted to strip the legal status of the Unification Church (also known as the Moonies) following investigations into members being pressured into giving large sums of money.

They can still operate, but lose all the privileges of religious registration (tax-free status, etc.). Some are welcoming this as a curb on coercive activities by the cults, but some Christian leaders are concerned about future implications for religious freedom.

The Unification Church is one of the largest cults in Japan. They promise Heaven on Earth, but see God as in need of our help, Jesus as a failed saviour, and salvation as a human activity – one that requires money.

Hearts opening to Christ?

For the last year, members of the Unification Church have been occasionally turning up at our church services. They have a history of infiltrating churches and deceiving weaker believers, so we are being cautious, but hoping they will keep coming.

Just before the government’s ruling was the 30th anniversary of the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo Underground by another cult, and on the Sunday I had decided to pray for the cults in my pastoral prayer. It turned out to be a day the Unification Church members came! “Is it right that you just have to believe in Jesus to be saved?” one of them asked afterwards. Is the Lord at work in their hearts? Will the above incidents shake their false beliefs and open their hearts to Christ? We don’t know, but we pray on for their salvation.

Many Japanese people do not know the difference between true Christianity and the so-called “Christian cults” (The Moonies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, etc.) and we, along with many evangelical churches, explain on our publicity that we are a Protestant church with no connection to the cults.

The recent media coverage has made people more wary of cults and further heightens the need for us to be distinguished from them. May the Japanese church display the glory of Christ, fearlessly proclaim the truth, and be holy in all matters. And may many see that He is the way, the truth and the life.