"Red Letter Christians" - is Tony Campolo Right?

Dr. Tony Campolo, Founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, refers to himself on his website as a "speaker, author, sociologist, pastor, social activist and passionate follower of Jesus!" Dr. Campolo wrote a book called "Red Letter Christians," championing a movement to emphasize and try to live out the words of Jesus in the Bible, often printed in red to distinguish them. The product description for Red Letter Christians from Amazon explains, "Believing that Jesus is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, Red Letter Christians want to jumpstart a religious movement that will transcend partisan politics and concentrate on issues such as fighting poverty, caring for the environment, advancing peace, promoting strong families, and supporting a consistent ethic of life, all viewed as critical moral and biblical values." Are Tony Campolo and his followers in this movement on the right track as Christians? What is the difference between a "red letter" Christian and the "regular" Christians?

First of all, is it a good idea for Christians to focus on the words of Jesus while He was on this earth over all the rest of the Bible? There is a danger in divvying up the Bible in to More Important and Less Important. Often people say disparaging things about Paul, and dismiss his letters as something they don't really have to follow. The book of James is in contention as well.

The words of Jesus while He lived on earth are of course very important, and I certainly wouldn't want to minimize them. But God says the entire Bible is the Living Word of God. He also calls Jesus The Word. (John 1:1 -- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:14 -- "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.")." God's Word declares that all scripture is relevant for teaching and exhorting. ( 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 - All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." ) The Word of God tells us that it is all Truth and not to be added to or taken from. (Revelations 22:18-20, Deut. 4:2).

Putting Jesus' words in red is a man-made contrivance that can muddy the waters a bit, as can all things not directly from God. For instance, some churches teach that since Jesus Himself never uttered words to the effect that homosexuality is wrong, that it must not be wrong. Anyone who wants to say Christians have no call to get involved in politics could well point to the fact that Jesus never mentions or advises that course of action. When He fed the multitudes, after all, He never began a campaign to get the government to begin feeding them. God says in John 1:17 that the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. We must remember and teach that "what Jesus taught" is the Bible in its entirety, since He is the Word (Revelation 19:13). ALL of Jesus' teachings are valuable. Biblically, we are taught to do things individually, or through churches, while praying for our elected and appointed government leaders.

Does the Bible teach a social gospel? The Bible does teach that visiting orphans and widows in their distress is pure religion, along with keeping ourselves unstained by the world. (James 1:27). We as Christians are exhorted to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, care for the sick, visit those in prison; as individual Christians, we are told to do what God puts before us to do. However, lectures about all the problems in the world, and angry agreement that "other people" aren't doing their share, really don't solve much. We each must quietly do what inconveniences us personally, without fanfare or praise, usually without even the thanks of the person we helped, sometimes with persecution for our efforts.

In Dr. Tony Campolo's article in the Huffington Post, "Who Are Red Letter Christians," he tells a story of eating in a restaurant in Haiti while starving children pressed their noses against the glass. He was shocked because the waiter wanted to simply lower the shade so the diners would not be made uncomfortable. All I could think was, "Why didn't you get up and go out and feed them?" Rather than turning this episode in his life in to a lecture about how other Christians "pull down the shades" on the needs of the world, why wasn't Tony Campolo repenting of his own reaction? That would have made a powerful point; the power of one person to do what is before him to help others rather than relying on one's government.

But saying that the government of America is not budgeting enough to help the world is disengenous, because not only does America do far beyond what is budgeted whenever there is a crisis of any kind, but the inviduals and churches that Dr. Campolo mentions do far beyond what the citizenry in those other countries that he mentioned do. If we agitate for the government to do more, we will simply be taxed more. This will lead to us being less able to help as individuals, and will also mean we have no say in what charitable projects are contributed to. There will also be no giving it in Jesus' name if the government is the one doing it.

Dr. Campolo also spoke at length about the problems in Camden, New Jersey. Problems in places like Camden do not arise from physical poverty, however, so much as from spiritual poverty, and what I would call a poverty of family. Universal health care and minimum wage reform will do little to help. The breakdown of the family, personified in such issues as gay rights and abortion, contribute more to the problems then slender paychecks do. Abortion preys on the weakest and most vulnerable, and if we won't do any thing about that, it's unlikely we'll do much to help those more able to help themselves.

We do need to follow the words of Jesus - all of them. We are stewards of the earth, our brother's keeper, and servants to our fellow man. Sometimes we need to remind each other of that when we get too comfortable inside our church buildings and begin to think it's all about us. But soapboxes just make the speaker feel self-righteous. We are the body of Christ, each with our own role to play. We should do what God calls us to do, while supporting others in what He calls them to do. That way we can better accomplish the things Jesus Christ, the Head, wants done in the world.

Dr. Tony Campolo and all those who call themselves Red Letter Christians are right when they say that Jesus is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. The lives He calls us to lead go far beyond politics. Jesus calls for personal sacrifice and quiet service. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Now that's what I call a social gospel.

Sources:

Tony Campolo, Who Are Red Letter Christians?, Huffington Post

Tony Campolo, Home Page of Tony Campolo website

Amazon, Red Letter Christians Product Description