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Tony Campolo Talks to New Man
New Man: We are here with Tony Campolo, the author of the book Red Letter Christians. Our readers may not be familiar with the movement you’ve been instrumental in starting called red letter Christians. Can you just explain in basic terms what is a red letter Christian?
Tony Campolo: We love the term because very few people know what it means outside the Christian community. It refers to the red letters of the Bible. The reason why we claimed the label is because we don’t know what to call ourselves anymore. Evangelical is a wonderful word. But the evangelical community is so married to the Republican Party. The minute you say “I’m evangelical” the red flags go up on a campus like Harvard or Stanford or the University of Chicago. Our group speaks in those places often and they immediately assume that we’re anti-woman, pro-war, anti-environment and down the list. And we’re saying, “Hey that’s not what we are about—we’re about being faithful to the Scriptures.” We have a strong tendency toward pacifism. We have the simple belief that when Jesus said, “Love your enemies,” He probably meant we shouldn’t kill them. But we are evangelicals who do not want to be married to the religious right. That is the best way of describing who we are. We believe that salvation comes from Jesus Christ period. That’s where we are, so we are evangelical. We think that Jesus should transcend all political lines. He’s neither democrat nor republican.
New Man: I have a question about the theology of the movement? Some have said that the Protestant Tradition has placed an emphasis of the words of Paul over the other scriptures. Is the movement a reaction to this? Have you developed a “canon within a canon” with the words of Jesus?
Campolo: When the movement started we didn’t originally plan for it to be that way. But people have raised the question, particularly Christianity Today magazine. They asked whether or not we were elevating the words and teachings of Jesus over other passages of Scripture? And the answer to that has to be “yes.” No ifs, buts or maybes. It’s a reality that the words of Jesus take precedence over other passages of Scripture. Jesus said that they do. Jesus said “Moses told you this about divorce, but I give you a new commandment.” When he says it’s a new commandment, I think it’s a new commandment. All throughout the Sermon on the Mount He says you have heard from the Hebrew Scriptures this, but I give you a new commandment. There is no question that the ethics of Jesus up the ante and ups the morality of the Hebrew Bible. The message in the Old Testament is retribution. You commit a crime, it’s eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Jesus says it’s not going to be an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth anymore. Jesus says, “Love your enemies … blessed are the merciful,” which really puts a spin on capital punishment, if you take His words literally. Also we would argue that you don’t really understand the black letters of the Bible until you come into a relationship with Jesus Christ and understand who He was. The rest of the Bible must be read through the eyes of Jesus and what He did on the cross, otherwise you don’t understand Psalm 22 or Psalm 53 or the book of Isaiah. My Jewish friends read those same passages and don’t get the Jesus message because they haven’t accepted Jesus as the Son of God.
New Man: Your movement is big on social concerns. What do you say to the average Christian who scoffs at the social activism and says, “Why don’t we just stick to preaching the gospel?
Campolo: Because there are over 2,000 verses of Scripture about social things. That’s the first thing. Addressing poverty is a social issue. Jesus let it be known that the way we relate to the least of our brothers and sisters is contingent upon our relationship with him. I believe that you can’t be saved except through a personal relationship with Jesus, but Jesus turns around and says, “You can’t have a personal relationship without these other brothers and sisters.” He says, “I was hungry; did you feed Me? I was naked, did you cloth Me?” Jesus says I want to be your savior. But if you want to meet Me, you’ve got to meet me, not only in prayer, but also in the lives of those who are racially oppressed, of those who are being wiped out in tribal wars in Africa. When you see Jesus being oppressed, when you see Him in people with AIDS, when you see Jesus going through suffering—because He does—wherever there is suffering, Jesus is there—you have to respond, because you sense that He is there in the lives of those who are going through agony, suffering and oppression.
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