Over at Real Clear Religion author Douglas Wilson wrote about distinguishing between sects, cults and religions. He began,

“Classification is always a dicey business, and especially if it is classification that brings with it some sort of implicit praise or blame. And if that praise and blame is connected in any significant way to eternity and the afterlife, then the task of classification is like that red wire/green wire moment in the movies. One false move, and it is farewell to your eyebrows.”

Considering the importance of careful discernment in these classifications, Mr. Wilson made these broad distinctions:

“Within Christendom, a sect would be a group that is basically orthodox, but they usually keep to themselves, fearing the spread of ecumenical cooties. They tend toward rigorism, like the early Donatists, but other than having their sandals strapped on too tight, they are generally orthodox at the center. A cult is a group that is isolated and small, keeping to themselves just like a sect does, but with radically heretical notions at the center.”

Time, he said, can result in the change of one thing into another. That is, something that starts out as a sect might morph into a cult (e.g., People’s Temple). Something that starts out as a cult might grow into a religion (e.g., Mormonism). Mr. Wilson wrote,

“I would want to regard Mormonism as a particular religion, not a cult, simply on the basis of age and size. It is a religion that hived off from orthodox Christianity, but of course, that is also what Islam did — Christian heresies can veer off into cul de sac cults, or they can grow big and become regular religions, like Islam, Marxism, and American Idol.”

Becoming recognized as a religion rather than a cult “does call forth more respect,” Mr. Wilson wrote, but it also has a down side. He noted,

“Now a religion can be every bit as wrong about the world as a cult is, and being widely accepted just puts it in a position to do a lot more damage, and doing a lot more damage is not an upgrade.”

This reminds me of an exchange I once heard about between a mom and her rebellious teen-aged daughter. The daughter, having found herself in some trouble in the past, wanted to do several other things that her mother deemed unwise (and perhaps dangerous). When the mom would not grant permission, the daughter yelled, “Just wait until I’m 18! I can do anything I want once I turn 18!” The mom replied, “All 18 gets you is the right to be tried as an adult.”

It’s same idea with Mormonism. Being “upgraded” to a religion just gets Mormonism the “right” to be scrutinized (and criticized) by a wider audience. That is, it has a greater accountability before men — and God. Being in a position to do “a lot more damage” should be sobering to Mormon leaders as they call people to follow a “different Jesus Christ.”

Defining the differences between sects, cults and religions may seem to some like nothing more than the billowing smoke and frantic hand-waving Dorothy encountered in Oz. Nevertheless, the labels we use do prove helpful as we try to sort through the truth claims promoted in the world in which we live.  Yet in the end, the classification that really matters is whether we are numbered among the sheep or the goats (Matthew 25:32). “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks (Matthew 16:15). The answer to His question makes all the difference in the world to come.