Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2, 1986 Page 53
Other people to whom I have related my experience point out YWAM‘ers who have attended
DTS and returned home apparently not adversely affected by the experience. In fact, those
who consistently conformed never had to be coerced to embrace YWAM doctrine. Indeed,
the conformists were never aware of the pressure that was brought to bear on those of us
who resisted in any way. I did not hear most of the stories about other people that I have
related in this paper until many months after DTS. (If I heard anything at the time the
incident took place, it was: ―Well, you know how rebellious that person is. He‘s just not
adjusting well. We should be praying for him.‖) The fact is that many people freely leave
cultic groups and resume their lives as though they were never members. Different
personalities respond to similar situations in different ways. But my point about cultic
groups is similar to one I could make about the surgeon general‘s warning on cigarette
packages: not everyone who smokes will develop cancer, but some will.
Some have observed that YWAM‘s methods may be justified if the group is producing
strong, conscientious, dedicated Christians. They are basically saying that the ends justify
the means. My reply to this was preached by Martin Luther King, Jr.:
We will never have peace in the world until men everywhere recognize that ends are
not cut off from means, because the means represent the ideal in the making, and
the end in process, and ultimately you can‘t reach good ends through evil means,
because the means represent the seed and the end represents the tree.35
A YWAM staff member once argued, however, that ―It‘s a pressure-filled situation, and yet
from an educational standpoint, a very effective method of learning. If the Moonies have
applied these principles, that doesn‘t bother me. It‘s just another example of how the
enemy takes truth, distorts it, exaggerates it, and then uses it to deceive people. Why
would he use something that didn‘t work -he‘s much craftier than that.‖ (I would like to call
attention to this person‘s use of the word truth. Of course, the way in which YWAM operates
is Truth. They feel that they couldn‘t be wrong.) But YWAM is more than just a pressure-
filled situation, as I hope I have shown. It is manipulative and deceitful -playing on people‘s
love and respect for God. ―I realize the reason I became frustrated all over again today is I
see how my mind was ‗Played with,‖ one former student wrote. ―I feel ripped off – it‘s just
not fair to be taken advantage of.‖ It is wrong to teach people to despise their intellects -we
were told that ―knowledge puffs up‖ -to destroy their ability to judge their spiritual lives,
and to discourage them from making independent decisions. As L. Ron Hubbard, Jr.,
declared: ―[Cults] commit the highest crime -the rape of the soul.‖36 Cultic deceit is similar
to a fast-talking salesman‘s pitch: he throws it at you and gets you to buy the product
before you have time to think it over and determine if it‘s a good deal. It‘s as if they are
afraid you might discover they are wrong.
YWAM may feel that they are protecting the students by allowing them no freedom to make
mistakes, but this denies the power of the Holy Spirit and Scriptures. ―All scripture is God-
breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so
that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work‖ (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). It
seems that YWAM is afraid of questioning because they have no faith in the truth of what
they believe. If it is truth, then further questioning will only make that evident. ―The good
shepherd leads but does not control. He is a resource for the truth seeker, but not the
ultimate source of truth. His flock must be encouraged to emulate the Bereans of the Bible
who ―examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true‘‖ (Acts 17:11).37
Ronald Enroth has said that ―the deceit of the promoters, not always conscious, is often the
result of a sincere desire to do good and intense commitment to a cause.‖38 But whatever
the motive, deceit was perpetrated during my training. One deceitful incident especially
sticks in my mind. We were repeatedly told that no student is selected to be an Outreach
Other people to whom I have related my experience point out YWAM‘ers who have attended
DTS and returned home apparently not adversely affected by the experience. In fact, those
who consistently conformed never had to be coerced to embrace YWAM doctrine. Indeed,
the conformists were never aware of the pressure that was brought to bear on those of us
who resisted in any way. I did not hear most of the stories about other people that I have
related in this paper until many months after DTS. (If I heard anything at the time the
incident took place, it was: ―Well, you know how rebellious that person is. He‘s just not
adjusting well. We should be praying for him.‖) The fact is that many people freely leave
cultic groups and resume their lives as though they were never members. Different
personalities respond to similar situations in different ways. But my point about cultic
groups is similar to one I could make about the surgeon general‘s warning on cigarette
packages: not everyone who smokes will develop cancer, but some will.
Some have observed that YWAM‘s methods may be justified if the group is producing
strong, conscientious, dedicated Christians. They are basically saying that the ends justify
the means. My reply to this was preached by Martin Luther King, Jr.:
We will never have peace in the world until men everywhere recognize that ends are
not cut off from means, because the means represent the ideal in the making, and
the end in process, and ultimately you can‘t reach good ends through evil means,
because the means represent the seed and the end represents the tree.35
A YWAM staff member once argued, however, that ―It‘s a pressure-filled situation, and yet
from an educational standpoint, a very effective method of learning. If the Moonies have
applied these principles, that doesn‘t bother me. It‘s just another example of how the
enemy takes truth, distorts it, exaggerates it, and then uses it to deceive people. Why
would he use something that didn‘t work -he‘s much craftier than that.‖ (I would like to call
attention to this person‘s use of the word truth. Of course, the way in which YWAM operates
is Truth. They feel that they couldn‘t be wrong.) But YWAM is more than just a pressure-
filled situation, as I hope I have shown. It is manipulative and deceitful -playing on people‘s
love and respect for God. ―I realize the reason I became frustrated all over again today is I
see how my mind was ‗Played with,‖ one former student wrote. ―I feel ripped off – it‘s just
not fair to be taken advantage of.‖ It is wrong to teach people to despise their intellects -we
were told that ―knowledge puffs up‖ -to destroy their ability to judge their spiritual lives,
and to discourage them from making independent decisions. As L. Ron Hubbard, Jr.,
declared: ―[Cults] commit the highest crime -the rape of the soul.‖36 Cultic deceit is similar
to a fast-talking salesman‘s pitch: he throws it at you and gets you to buy the product
before you have time to think it over and determine if it‘s a good deal. It‘s as if they are
afraid you might discover they are wrong.
YWAM may feel that they are protecting the students by allowing them no freedom to make
mistakes, but this denies the power of the Holy Spirit and Scriptures. ―All scripture is God-
breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so
that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work‖ (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). It
seems that YWAM is afraid of questioning because they have no faith in the truth of what
they believe. If it is truth, then further questioning will only make that evident. ―The good
shepherd leads but does not control. He is a resource for the truth seeker, but not the
ultimate source of truth. His flock must be encouraged to emulate the Bereans of the Bible
who ―examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true‘‖ (Acts 17:11).37
Ronald Enroth has said that ―the deceit of the promoters, not always conscious, is often the
result of a sincere desire to do good and intense commitment to a cause.‖38 But whatever
the motive, deceit was perpetrated during my training. One deceitful incident especially
sticks in my mind. We were repeatedly told that no student is selected to be an Outreach
