Speaking My Mind by Tony Campolo
February 14th, 2005

Apparently one of Tony Campolo's famous illustrations involves a cuss word. In it he describes some dire situation and then says something like, "And the sad part is you don't give a sh*t. In fact, you're more upset that I just said sh*t than you are with the situation I just described." It tends to be very effective unless you REALLY hate cusses.

When I got his latest book for Christmas I knew it would be an interesting read. It was. Mostly for my own sake I'd like to recap each of the topics he discussed within it. He essentially gives his thoughts on various "hot-button" topics in Evangelical circles. One thing I liked was that he didn't present these things like he has them all figured out. He's trying to figure them out like we all are.

One thing that really seems to irk a lot of Evangelicals is the notion of discussion. In his book, Campolo suggests that we stop presuming we know everything. He asks us to honestly seek God in these issues with an open mind. Many Christians take this to mean, "You must change all your beliefs and values and accept everything you don't currently believe." They don't get it. We MUST, as responsable Christians, use our MINDS as much as our hearts. We need to think and be able to have intelligent conversation about issues such as abortion, homosexuality, sexism, and racism.

The first issue Campolo tackles is that of sexism in the church. The prevailing belief is that women cannot be preachers. 1 Timothy contains the passage of scripture that is most often used to support this notion. Kept in context it means something totally different. When Paul says women should "learn in silence" he says so in response to a behavior that was spawned by a great liberation for women at that time. They were now allowed to speak at these gatherings and many in this group seemed to be abusing that new right. It really had nothing to do with women preaching.

Campolo talks about the "yin and yang" of ministry.

Ok...I have a problem now. I've discovered that I need to recap after every chapter otherwise I get overwhelmed. There's just too much information that I want to remember. I'll do that with the next book I read.

I will add a couple sections that I thought were interesting.

Science and Christianity. He brought up Einstein's theory of relativity and how it relates to God and Christ. He said that God constantly lives in "now" which never can. All time is "now" for God. Therefore, as I sin now, Christ didn't feel it on the cross 2,000 years ago; he feels it now. He experiences all of history and future as eternal "now." I thought this was an interesting theory.

Helping the poor without doing further damage. Campolo claims that when youth groups go to poor countries and build churches, schools, and hospitals, they're actually hurting them. They are making them feel bad about themselves and taking away employment. This is just faulty logic. The reason they're there is because the people cannot afford to build these things, so how are they taking away jobs? Why would the people feel bad about themselves because they just received a new school? It just doesn't make sense. I think it's prudent to really think through these mission trips and make sure you're helping and not hurting, but I firmly believe these trips do more good than harm.

Islam. I believe his main point is that we need to stop expressing so vocally how "evil" Islam is if we hope to have any hope to engage in real and meaningful conversations with them. I agree with that completely. I think he goes a little far in drawing comparisons between Islam and Christianity, but his main point remains. We desperately need to love our enemies...a completely foreign task for most Americans.

Dispensationalists. Dispensationalism is difficult to explain, but important to know about. It basically says there are certain time frames for Biblical instructions and events. For instance, the gifts of the spirit ended when Christ came. The Sermon on the Mount was meant for those living in the 1000 year reign of Christ at His second coming. There are a lot of things within this system of belief that are hard to support with scripture, but it deserves to be examined. Campolo strongly believes dispensationalism is wrong and even dangerous.

Lastly, he spoke to the war in Iraq. The more I think about it and read about the facts, the more I see how wrong it was and is. It was not a "just war." I know this is an unpopular belief amongst my friends, but that's what I believe. Of course I support our troops that are there, I just don't believe they should have been there in the first place. This does NOT mean I liked Michael Moore's movie. I hated that propaganda.

Let's love Jesus and use the minds he gave us. Don't be afraid of discussion and learning. Sometimes *GASP* beliefs change when we learn something new. That's ok. Just keep pressing into Christ.