In my own case, I was profoundly shocked to realise the extent of the mind-control I had been subjected to. It felt a bit like coming out of a spell or waking up from a state of hypnosis. You can leave such a setting in a moment, but it may take years to recover from some of its effects.
The other thing that shocked me was realising that I had actually accepted and practised some forms of occultism. Realising that many prophecies were false came as a shock too. As well as that, what I had interpreted as the presence of the Holy Spirit was nothing more than techniques by which I had learnt to manipulate my own feelings.
Whereas strong leaders are needed, we must never let them go unchecked. Each individual needs to compare the “voice” of the leader with the true voice of Christ. And if there are signals that something is wrong, it has to be taken seriously. Any claims by the leadership that they are receiving revelations directly from God need to be watched very carefully indeed, even if they are supposedly being scrutinised in the light of the Bible. An uncritical person may not notice when it is the Bible that is beginning to be interpreted in the light of these revelations instead of the other way round.
In a sound setting, a leader may be corrected by co-leaders or sometimes even by ordinary members, if he starts to go astray. If this possibility of correction is done away with, one needs to watch out.
It is wise to be sceptical whenever supernatural phenomena are automatically interpreted as signs that one is on the right track. Members who are silenced by this argument may be unaware that other cults also interpret similar phenomena in the same way.
People in movements like the Faith movement do seem to take the message of the Bible seriously, trying to implement it in everyday life. This is not an impression one would necessarily get in certain other churches. It has been said by some that the all out involvement in cults is due to mind control and authoritarian leaders, and that such wholehearted involvement, therefore, cannot be expected in mainline churches. Some ex-members, therefore, try to be content with a moderate involvement in church life. This is partly because of self protection, trying to avoid ending up in another cultic or erroneous movement. But the New Testament does not describe the normal Christian life as half-hearted or dull. It should be possible, with a proper use of safeguards, to get wholeheartedly involved in a Christian setting without ending up in a cultic situation.
