A Latter-day Saint by any other name...

What's in a name? that which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet;

"I can't stop reading definitions---I think I have an addictionary!" I once quipped. And while I don't quite have an addictionary, today I spent some time perusing definitions.

The words I was looking up? Cult and Christian.

Ordinarily, it wouldn't have been news that an evangelical pastor like Robert Jeffress stated that Mormons are a cult, or are not Christian. Evangelicals have said that about us for years. But this time it made bigger headlines because he stated it about  a Mormon who happens to be a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.

But his statement revives a concern I have always had about those words. Often, we use one meaning of the words to justify labeling a group with such terms, even though the application of the label has a different connotation. It's like labeling spaghetti as cheesy when someone has only heard that phrase in connection with cheesy jokes. It conveys an untrue idea.

So what exactly is a cult? Here's what you see when you type "define:cult" into Google:

1. A system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object.

2. A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.

Here is what Dictionary.com has to offer:

1. a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies.

2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, especially as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.

3. the object of such devotion.

4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.

5. Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols

With the exception of the phrase "regarded by others as strange or sinister," none of these sound half bad. A system of religious worship with rites and ceremonies? Religious veneration towards a person, object, ideal? Sounds every religion, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Jeffress' church, could meet that definition.

But what does cult mean when you hear it? It has a negative connotation. It invokes images of weirdos claiming to be Christ and forcing people to drink Kool-Aid in their underwear. Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, find the cult label offensive because they know this is how their neighbors interpret the word.

To give Jeffress credit, in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, he tries explaining that he means Mormons are a cult in the theological sense, not in the sociological sense. He could have explained that better by saying "I'm not saying your Mormon neighbor worships the devil and wants to summon alien spaceships to abduct your children. I'm saying they believe differently than I do."

He also says that Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists are cults. Why? Because they are not Christians.

Which brings me to another question. What is a Christian? Here is Google's answer:

A person who has received Christian baptism or is a believer in Jesus Christ and his teachings.

Here are Dictionary.com's thoughts on Christian as an adjective:

1. of, pertaining to, or derived from Jesus Christ or His teachings: a Christian faith.

2. of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ

3. of or pertaining to Christians

4. exhibiting a spirit proper to a follower of Jesus Christ; Christlike

5. decent; respectable

and as a noun:

7. a person who believes in Jesus Christ; adherent of Christianity.

8. a person who exemplifies in his or her life the teachings of Christ

9. a member of any of certain Protestant churches, as the Disciples of Christ and the Plymouth Brethren.

Most of these definitions focus on an affinity to Jesus Christ and His teachings.

The only definition here that Mormons do not meet is number nine, which narrowly limits Christianity to Protestantism. But when you use this definition to classify Mormons as non-Christians, anyone who hears you say that will hear you say that Mormons have nothing to do with Jesus Christ.

Many people point out that Mormons differ from traditional or historic Christianity. This phrase might also be correct, but "Mormons differ from historic Christianity" doesn't do nearly as much to convince your congregation (and therefore paycheck providers) that they shouldn't investigate this other church.

But what exactly is "historic Christianity?" At one time, Catholicism was "historic Christianity," and then Protestant Churches broke off of that church, and more Protestant churches broke off of them. And they all trace most of their beliefs not only to the Bible, but to creeds that were written hundreds of years after Jesus died on the cross.

Meanwhile, Mormons claim their religion is a restoration of historic Christianity---Christianity the way Jesus taught it himself in Jerusalem before his crucifixion and resurrection, and in other parts of the world after those events.

Jeffress pointed out that many people claim to be Christians but are not. And he is right. So who judges the difference? How do we know whether someone really is a Christian?

Jesus said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." So it seems to me that we should look at someone's fruits.

I'm not suggesting you go look in someone's orchard to decide whether they are Christians, but for Mormons, that might be a good place to start. The church owns orchards and farms that it uses to supply food for people who are poor. Jesus often talked about the importance of helping the poor. Mormons take that to heart.

Another thing to consider is the centrality of Christ to Mormon doctrine. This word cloud shows that the most common words in a recent worldwide conference of the church were things like "Jesus," "God," "Church," "Holy," "Father," and "Lord."

Then there are quotes from The Book of Mormon, like these:

And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.Omni 1:26

And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning...Mosiah 3:8

I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell.2 Nephi 33:6

I have named just a few fruits of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are many more good, Christian things that have come about because of this church, The Book of Mormon, and its teachings. We look to Jesus as the head of our church. We pray in his name. We hope to live the kind of life he wants to live.

Some Christians object to our belief that we have a modern prophet, but consider the things that prophet asks us to do: stay away from pornography, treat women with respect, pray to God, read the scriptures, walk out of filthy movies, volunteer time and money to help other people, raise good children, and be good citizens. But he doesn't tell us which candidates deserve our votes. (That would be rather cult-like.)

We probably always will have people who call us a cult, and they will always be incorrect except in the way that all religions can be called cults. But even then, we will go on doing good works, testifying of Christ, and trying to make the world a better place.

To paraphrase Juliet,

What's in a name? that which we call a rose
 By any other name would smell as sweet;
 So Mormons would, were they not Christians call'd,
 Retain that dear Christianity which they have
 Without that title.

Correction: In the original version of this post, I wrote that Jeffres called Catholicism a cult. My wife pointed out that I was incorrect. In the interview, he actually said that Catholicism's basic teachings run counter to the New Testament.