Is Tony stretching the Orthodox boundaries of many Christians? Yes, absolutely.
Is he outside of Orthodoxy? No … I don’t think so.
Is he compromising the gospel?. . . Depends who is deciding right? Some will say yes, others will say no …a quick glance through Church History shows Tony is not alone in his wrestling.
One thing for sure, he’s modeling how one can take the Gospel, Christ and the Christian Faith seriously while engaging with the tough issues before him, it’s a hard place to be but that’s where most of us especially in the rest of the world live in.
(Extra note: I would have been interested in what Ron Sider whom I had a glimpse of would have said. James Forbes was good.)
Tony’s comments on homosexuality mirrors my own. At least I have some language for it now.
Tony Campolo has always been a lightning rod for thoughtful discussion about the role of Christianity in a pluralistic society. He has always challenged me. I think he is right on with his views of how to live with others with whom we don’t necessarily agree. We are called to be a light and Paul says that our work is to teach with patience. The discussion in the video seems to be the groundwork for allowing thoughtful dialogue to happen. If we respect others’ right to be wrong, we gain the respect to voice our opinions.
Notice how much Tony and James Forbes were able to mention Jesus Christ and the transformative life that He brings. When I hear other Christians speak of these subjects, I do not here the evangelical message that I heard here from Tony and James. They earned the right to express their views by allowing for dissent. They show to me a great spiritual power that is patient and loving.
Great post!
I’d like to say that Tony Campolo was probably the first guy to teach me to listen carefully to alternative views and to evaluate them carefully without prejudice or bias. Coming from a fundamentalist background, I was brought up to see the world as “US” and “THEM” – that whoever said things that “felt” or “sounded” different from fundamentalist orthodoxy (literalism, the “solas” applied in a narrow manner, pre-trib/pre-mil eschatology, heaven/hell salvation) was to be held in suspicion; if not decried as an apostate/heretic. Campolo’s book “Partly Right” introduced me to philosophers and thinkers who were not always orthodox but who asked important penetrating questions that Christians today are still struggling to answer. I read that book during my college years and spent many years grappling with Hegel, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Marx, Freud, Schopenhauer, etc.
Most important thing I learned from the man, in short, was the importance of informed yet unprejudiced LISTENING.
~ Edmund