Westboro: A Hate Group, Not a Church

If I told you that I was a bird, you might have your doubts. After all, I don't look anything like a bird. I can't fly. I don't have wings. In fact, I have very little resemblance to a bird unless you want to count my bird legs as evidence.

Well, as a third generation Southern Baptist preacher and a professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where I teach about the church, I think know what makes a Baptist church. According to the Bible, a church is a gathering, but a gathering with a purpose ... an "ecclesia." This Greek word is a compound word from "ek" and "kaleo" meaning the "called" "out" ones. The church is made up of those called out for God's purposes. There are other assemblies in the New Testament. People called out and gathered for political reasons which may form assemblies but not churches. You see, a church has a special mission, which is the mission of Christ. Christ came to offer love and hope, and saving grace to those who were hopeless, unloved and sinners.