Lessons From Tony Campolo - A Case Study In Christian Leadership Decline

Prominent author, pastor, and sociologist Dr. Tony Campolo recently told UK-based Premier Media that he no longer wanted to be considered an evangelical.

Speaking on Premier's Inspirational Breakfast, Campolo in answering the 'why' of his decision said: "Evangelicals in the United States are anti-environment... If you say you're an Evangelical you're anti-gay, you're anti-women, you're pro-war...

"In the southern states, eighty percent of the people go to church at least once a month and yet they're the strongest supporters for capital punishment. How do you reconcile Evangelicals favoring capital punishment when Jesus said: 'blessed are the merciful'? If you're going to get mercy you've got to show mercy. Evangelicals are hard-nosed people when it comes to punishing criminals."

Shane Vander Hart for caffeinatedthoughts.com recently weighed in on this, decrying that Campolo paints capital punishment with a pretty broad brush here, considering that God, who instituted the idea of capital punishment, also identified Himself as a merciful God.

Hart emphasizes that he isn't saying Campolo is not a Christian. He recognizes the extensive and effective work that Campolo has done in ministering to prisoners, the poor, youth ministries, and other ways. 

"I do believe he has promoted false teaching, though, and I think he has strayed from the evangelical reservation, so to speak, for a few reasons," Hart stated, observing three areas of the Campolo's teachings that he considers false:

 "I am saying that there is no salvation apart from Jesus; that's my evangelical mindset. However, I am not convinced that Jesus only lives in Christians" -Tony Campolo (National Liberty Journal, 8/99).

"...what can I say to an Islamic brother who has fed the hungry, and clothed the naked? You say, "But he hasn't a personal relationship with Christ." I would argue with that. And I would say from a Christian perspective, inasmuch as you did it to the least of these you did it unto Christ. You did have a personal relationship with Christ, you just didn't know it," Campolo said.

Hart states that such comments about salvation cause confusion and will lead to a diminished emphasis on the proclamation of the Gospel.

Red Letter Christianity describes those who "by a public commitment to the "red letters"- focus on the words of Jesus that are set apart in red letters in some versions of the Bible. "We confess that the way of life Jesus taught and practiced is the way we want to follow."

Hart's reaction is that although on the surface this sounds good, it is basically a 'pick and choose' approach that ignores the fact that all of God's Word is important. Jesus Himself said He did not come to abolish the law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).

The Bible also stipulates that all scripture is God-breathed, meaning it is God-inspired (2 Timothy 3:16). Campolo seems to want to disregard what God inspired the apostle Peter to write: "No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:20b-21, ESV).

Campolo has embraced same-sex marriage within the Church. "I'm not just talking about supporting a civil commitment outside of the Church", Hart says, "but a blessing of same-sex relationships within the Church".

In 2015 Campolo declared, "I am finally ready to call for the full acceptance of Christian gay couples into the Church."

Since he's into the "red letters," Hart notes that perhaps he overlooked that Jesus affirmed marriage as being between a man and a woman.

"Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What God has joined together, let not man separate" (Matthew 19:4, ESV).

Christian Post writer Michael Gryboski described how Campolo, who was once head of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education made a u-turn to embrace openly the pro-gay position. "I have come to know so many gay Christian couples whose relationships work in much the same way as our own," Campolo said mid last year. 

"Our friendships with these couples have helped me understand how important it is for the exclusion and disapproval of their unions by the Christian community to end. We in the Church should actively support such families."

At the time Christian Post Reporter Ray Nothstine had further noted some telling comments from Campolo, who also once served as a spiritual mentor to President Bill Clinton:

"While I have always tried to communicate grace and understanding to people on both sides of the issue, my answer to that question has always been somewhat ambiguous. One reason for that ambiguity was that I felt I could do more good for my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters by serving as a bridge person, encouraging the rest of the Church to reach out in love and truly get to know them," he explained.

"The other reason was that, like so many other Christians, I was deeply uncertain about what was right," Campolo added, emphasizing that he spent "countless hours" in study and prayer wrestling with the decision calling it an "emotional turmoil."

"I am finally ready to call for the full acceptance of Christian gay couples into the Church," he asserted.

Robert Gagnon, associate professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, alleged that Campolo had supported the homosexual position for about 10 years and was just coming out of the closet.

"I have known for about a decade that Campolo accepted homosexual unions," Gagnon said. "In my view, he kept it quiet so that it wouldn't affect his book sales and speaking engagements in an evangelical context."

Gagnon also took a shot at Campolo's exegetical skills, saying, "He has little understanding of how to read Scripture in its historical and literary context, at least as regards this issue."

Campolo served as Bill Clinton's spiritual advisor during his presidency. Little wonder then that in April of 2014, he was quoted by the Christian Today having advised Christians to vote for Hillary Clinton. He, however, said he was vetting Hillary for more than personal reasons.

Beginning with Hillary's tenure as first lady of Arkansas, Campolo said she "has demonstrated her administrative abilities and commitment to educational reform". He also cited her experience as senator of New York and Secretary of State as evidence of her ability to work effectively across party lines.

Although Clinton is pro-choice and fully supports abortion, the pastor and author said she has a plan to cut the abortion rate "by at least 50 percent (despite her pledge to fully fund planned parenthood)," and reiterated that the former First Lady of the United States is a "committed Christian."

The Campolo regression makes for a painful case study of decline in Christian leadership. From being a self-proclaimed 'red-letter' prophet and getting to 'pick and choose' from the scriptures, to openly condoning homosexuality, to misleading many regarding how salvation is obtained - all are examples of how not to grow 'good fruit'  after starting out so well in evangelical leadership and service.

No wonder Jesus sternly warned - straight out of the revered 'red-letter' texts:

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.  (Matthew 7:20-23).