Blog: The "B" Word

I was recently talking to someone when they asked me, “Where do you work?” I explained I am the pastor of a church. The young lady was intrigued and immediately asked, “What denomination is your church?”

Before I share what happened next,let me just say up front, I really don’t like
that question. Not because I’m ashamed of my denominational background, but
because many people have such a poor opinion of my denomination (no doubt…some of that opinion has been rightly earned).

I told her the church I served was a Baptist church and my concerns over what her opinion might be were quickly confirmed. The smile left her face, her eyes narrowed a little and before she could say anything I quickly added, “It is not an ordinary Baptist church.” With a quizzical look and a tone of “Yeah…right” she asked, “What do you mean by ‘not ordinary’?”

I then explained, “Many people think Baptist pastors are yelling uneducated hicks who are prejudiced and hate homosexuals and Disneyland.” A little smile returned as she said, “That’s what I think.” I then explained I was not that way and the church I served was not like that either.

I don’t think she was fully convinced, but she was listening. Truth is…most Baptists aren’t uneducated and bigoted. Unfortunately, the yelling hicks seem to make the headlines. Fighting a media image that portrays the worst of a group is hard to overcome.

Jesus said, “Each tree is recognized by its own fruit (Luke 6:44).” It is unfortunate that followers of Christ are recognized by their root system and not their fruit. The roots of a tree are the most unattractive, undesirable part of any tree (maybe that’s why God put them in the ground). Yet, we keep using the “B” word (part of the root system) to promote our faith in Christ. We turn the tree upside down and claim our roots are more valuable than our fruit and then get offended because people aren’t attracted…claiming the problem is theirs and not ours. Instead of exalting the roots, let’s put them in ground and grow so that the attractive, desirable fruit will speak for itself.

I apologize to all the people out there who have been forced to look at the roots and been denied the fruit. Please allow us the opportunity to plant the tree right-side up so that the good stuff becomes available.

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Cary Duckett is pastor of .