Tony Campolo

Tony Campolo

The gospel is about grace and we all know that grace is about us receiving from God blessings that we don't deserve.  - Tony Campolo

I was excited last night to get to see Tony Campolo at my church.  I've just finished reading his best seller, "Red Letter Revolution." Tony is a world famous (in some circles) speaker, writer, sociologist and professor emeritus at Eastern University.  He's also highly controversial in evangelical circles.  Here are a couple of personal observations about Tony Campolo.

Tony Campolo or Don Rickles?

First, his communicating style is fantastic.  To me, it's a cross between Don Rickles and Lewis Black.  Why is this important?  He's over 80 years old and he still has over 300 speaking engagements a year.  He's been on the Colbert Report, The Carlie Rose Show, Nightline and Crossfire, to mention a few.  His book is endorsed by Bono.  He's in the mainstream. His message does not appeal to everybody but he's so entertaining folks are attracted to him even if they don't agree with him.

So what's the big deal that makes some fellow evangelicals dislike him?  His theology reminds me of my husband Ken Crossman's theology.  Ken was often called a Bleeding Heart Liberal.  He took it as a compliment.  But he certainly was not "liberal" in his theology.  He believed every word Jesus said.  He was part of the "Red Letter Revolution" well before Tony wrote the book.  Unlike most of today's evangelicals, Tony (and Ken) are primarily about taking care of the poor and marginalized people in the world.

Why?  Because Jesus says so.


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