(Nashville, TN:W Publishing Group, 2004).
Not long ago, sociologist-activist-author Tony Campolo survived a
serious stroke. In the aftermath, he emerged with new sense of
prophetic urgency. The subtitle of his new book summarizes his
redoubled mission this way: “The radical evangelical prophet tackles
the tough issues Christians are afraid to face.” And so he does.
Campolo has again summoned the guts to go a-hunting after
evangelicalism’s sacred cows, even at the risk of losing still more of
his friends. His near brush with death and his upcoming seventieth
birthday leave him in no mood to walk on egg-shells. As I read Speaking
My Mind, I thought, “Here is a man who has a lot to get off his chest.”
Concluding
that American fundamentalism has successfully co-opted the evangelical
label, Dr. Campolo calls for nothing less than a new movement (p. 220).
He challenges his peers on every hot button topic you can imagine
(sexism, homophobia, militarism, consumerism, and even the nature of
hell). At times he reaches out, nearly pleading for his opponents to
join him as a peacemaker. At others, there is a bite to his words
reminiscent of Jesus who said, “Don’t think that I came to bring peace,
but a sword.”
I don’t know that many of his detractors will be convinced or
converted. But I think Campolo understates the importance of this book
to his secondary audience: those who are about to abandon the church
and perhaps their faith. At heart, Campolo is an apologist-evangelist:
by speaking his mind, he gives voice to many of the doubts that
post-moderns have about North American Churchianity.
So many in the emerging church have concluded, “If I don’t believe in
Zionism; if I don’t believe in hell as eternal torment; if I don’t
believe in a literal seven-day creation; if I haven’t made up my mind
about homosexuality, abortion, and feminism, I guess I must be a bad
Christian. I guess I don’t belong.” And they head for the door. This
generation wonders whether evangelicals care at all about social
justice issues such as the war in Iraq, environmental rape, children in
poverty, and the issues of globalization. If these matters are
peripheral, then maybe so are we. And we head for the door. In the
doorway, we find Campolo waiting for us.
In Speaking My Mind, I hear Campolo saying, “Where are you going? Don’t
leave! Why would you quit if I won’t? Why not stay and create a new
kind of evangelical?” The “progressive evangelicals” that he describes
are unabashedly opposed to fear, hatred, and violence. They treat
women, gays, and Moslems with dignity and respect. In short and to be
blunt, I believe Campolo is calling for a Christian that is less like
Rev. Jerry Falwell (quoted as saying, “Blow them all away in the name
of the Lord!”) and more like the Jesus Christ of gospel fame. Where is
that kind of Christian?
We’ve seen him in the doorway.
Dr. Campolo, sign me up.