old timer's story

I joined a GCM church while I was in college. After it was discerned (yeah, they didn’t take my word for it) that I was saved, it was STRONGLY recommended that I move into a household with 5 other brothers (forget that the housing code called for a maximum of 4 people living there). From there, I was ENCOURAGED to move into another place with 3 church members. I’m not sure why but I suspect that it was disciplinary in some way. I never quite conformed as they wanted.

I have to admit that I was not all that cooperative. I missed meetings because I had class or was studying. I refused to aggressively proselytize my classes. I missed most every school break conference. Eventually (and feeling their disapproval), I began to attend a small local bible church on both Sundays and Wednesdays. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

My roommates scheduled time with me and told me that they wanted me to leave the house as soon as possible. Well, it was in the middle of the year and I was too involved with my studies to have to worry about finding a place and then having to move. So (since my name was also on the lease), I told them that if they did not want to live with me, they should leave. LOL And they did! I had the entire house to myself for 4 months and they had to continue to pay their portion of the rent. Even still, they still came by to check on me by trying to sift information from me about the church I was attending or people with whom I had begun to build friendships. Once they came by and I had the televison on. It was suggested that the television was not the best use of my time and they offered to remove it (it belonged to me).

The lease ended in June, but classes ended in May. And so I moved out 3 weeks prior to the deadline (with the rent paid in full). It was then that they began to track me down, wanting to know what had happened to me, where I was living, why I had left, etc, etc, etc….But ya know what? I had excommunicated them from fellowship with me!! I refused to even speak with any of them because I thought then (and I still think) that they were a cult (or cultish).

Absolute control freaks! But I refused to let them push me around. From what I read here, complacency seems to have emboldened them. They prey on weak people, but they shrivel when someone stands up to them.

Anyway, just my 2 cents.