Tony Campolo Asks “Who is Your Jesus?”
November 25, 2008 - The question Dr. Tony Campolo asked the 1000 plus crowd in the Ambrose University College gym was "Who is your Jesus?"
Ambrose hosted Dr. Campolo as part of its commitment to bring in academic and practitioner experts who speak to contemporary issues that face the Church and society in the 21st century.
Campolo, a sociologist and prophetic voice within North American evangelicalism, set up the question "Who is your Jesus?" by quoting Emile Durkheim who theorized that religion is the group worshiping itself. He then challenged his listeners to describe their Jesus.
Asked Campolo, "Is he a symbolic representation of your self or the Jesus of the Bible?" He then went on to suggest that wealthy Christians have altered Jesus to fit their lifestyles. The proof is in the Christian response to the poor. Too many Christians have focused on going to heaven and in the process have ignored the 2000 verses in the Bible that speak about the poor, whom he describes as "sacramental," meaning that Jesus comes to us through the poor and oppressed.
"You have the right to reject Jesus, but not change him into a middle class Canadian. You are idolaters if you worship a Jesus other than the one of the Bible," Campolo warned.
Calling himself a "red letter Christian" Campolo is part of a movement attempting to live out the red letter texts in the Bible which are the words that Jesus spoke. He takes seriously the Lord's Prayer where it reads "thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven."
Using Isaiah 65 as a template for the kingdom, he asks Christians to work toward a world where children don't die in infancy, people have decent housing, and jobs and the environment are rescued.
Campolo believes that by living the red letters of the Bible, Christians will gain the moral authority that will draw society to the message of the gospel. Trying to spread change in society through power politics hasn't worked he said.
"Jesus didn't play power games. Jesus says I will change the world if I be lifted up (on the cross). Church doesn't have much authority because we try to use power. We need to earn the right to be heard."
Campolo admitted that he began to question his own white middle class understanding of the gospel when he heard the Bible read among the poor. He found Marx to be right when he said in Das Kapital that each social class has its own world view.
"When I heard the Magnificat read (by a black pastor) I was shocked," he said. One of Campolo's friends, a liberation theologian, goes so far as to describe Jesus as a nigger because he was one of the despised and cursed.
Panelists Assistant Professor of Sociology, Joel Thiessen, Associate Professor of Education, Bernie Potvin, from Ambrose, and Wendy Lowe, Executive Director of the Calgary Pregnancy Care Centre, responded to the lecture with questions.
Thiessen asked what it means for wealthy Christians to "live simply" and what "redemptive engagement" looks like for a Christian university like Ambrose, which is comprised of the wealthier segments of society and is situated in a wealthy neighborhood. Campolo responded by urging Christian individuals and organizations to examine their spending habits to discern where their hearts were. He went on to chide parents and our culture that encourage children to get an education so they can get a good job and make lots of money.
"Education should be used to make the world better and spread the gospel." Campolo said.
When questioned by Wendy Lowe on US Christians and health care, Campolo, a pro life advocate, believes that the Church, particularly in the US, should be addressing the issues of poverty and health care that lead to 90% of abortions in that country.
One member of the audience asked Campolo to comment on the legitimacy of cooperating with other faith groups on social issues. He replied by paraphrasing Jesus' words to his disciples: "When other faith groups do good (things) for the poor they are with us."
Panelist Bernie Potvin asked for a comment on what is oppressing us as middle class North Americans. Campolo responded with the words of Herbert Marcuse who wrote in One Dimensional Man, "The American people have been seduced into a comfortable slavery, but we don't know we are slaves."
Campolo ended the session with a message of hope, stating that the economic collapse presents the Church with a great opportunity to remind people not to store up treasures on earth, but in heaven. As with the Babylon described in Revelation 18, this culture is doomed, like every system, to fail. Loss of faith in the economic system will free the people of God from the seduction of the culture to help usher in the kingdom of God.
Dr. Campolo's lecture is now available on pod cast and DVD. The audio pod cast can be downloaded at http://www.ambrose.edu/podcast/2008-12-01. For a DVD contact Velma Warnock at 403.410.2938 or vwarnock@ambrose.edu .
Contact: Joel Thiessen, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Phone: 403.410.2000 ext. 2979
Email: jathiessen@ambrose.edu
Ambrose hosted Dr. Campolo as part of its commitment to bring in academic and practitioner experts who speak to contemporary issues that face the Church and society in the 21st century.
Campolo, a sociologist and prophetic voice within North American evangelicalism, set up the question "Who is your Jesus?" by quoting Emile Durkheim who theorized that religion is the group worshiping itself. He then challenged his listeners to describe their Jesus.
Asked Campolo, "Is he a symbolic representation of your self or the Jesus of the Bible?" He then went on to suggest that wealthy Christians have altered Jesus to fit their lifestyles. The proof is in the Christian response to the poor. Too many Christians have focused on going to heaven and in the process have ignored the 2000 verses in the Bible that speak about the poor, whom he describes as "sacramental," meaning that Jesus comes to us through the poor and oppressed.
"You have the right to reject Jesus, but not change him into a middle class Canadian. You are idolaters if you worship a Jesus other than the one of the Bible," Campolo warned.
Calling himself a "red letter Christian" Campolo is part of a movement attempting to live out the red letter texts in the Bible which are the words that Jesus spoke. He takes seriously the Lord's Prayer where it reads "thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven."
Using Isaiah 65 as a template for the kingdom, he asks Christians to work toward a world where children don't die in infancy, people have decent housing, and jobs and the environment are rescued.
Campolo believes that by living the red letters of the Bible, Christians will gain the moral authority that will draw society to the message of the gospel. Trying to spread change in society through power politics hasn't worked he said.
"Jesus didn't play power games. Jesus says I will change the world if I be lifted up (on the cross). Church doesn't have much authority because we try to use power. We need to earn the right to be heard."
Campolo admitted that he began to question his own white middle class understanding of the gospel when he heard the Bible read among the poor. He found Marx to be right when he said in Das Kapital that each social class has its own world view.
"When I heard the Magnificat read (by a black pastor) I was shocked," he said. One of Campolo's friends, a liberation theologian, goes so far as to describe Jesus as a nigger because he was one of the despised and cursed.
Panelists Assistant Professor of Sociology, Joel Thiessen, Associate Professor of Education, Bernie Potvin, from Ambrose, and Wendy Lowe, Executive Director of the Calgary Pregnancy Care Centre, responded to the lecture with questions.
Thiessen asked what it means for wealthy Christians to "live simply" and what "redemptive engagement" looks like for a Christian university like Ambrose, which is comprised of the wealthier segments of society and is situated in a wealthy neighborhood. Campolo responded by urging Christian individuals and organizations to examine their spending habits to discern where their hearts were. He went on to chide parents and our culture that encourage children to get an education so they can get a good job and make lots of money.
"Education should be used to make the world better and spread the gospel." Campolo said.
When questioned by Wendy Lowe on US Christians and health care, Campolo, a pro life advocate, believes that the Church, particularly in the US, should be addressing the issues of poverty and health care that lead to 90% of abortions in that country.
One member of the audience asked Campolo to comment on the legitimacy of cooperating with other faith groups on social issues. He replied by paraphrasing Jesus' words to his disciples: "When other faith groups do good (things) for the poor they are with us."
Panelist Bernie Potvin asked for a comment on what is oppressing us as middle class North Americans. Campolo responded with the words of Herbert Marcuse who wrote in One Dimensional Man, "The American people have been seduced into a comfortable slavery, but we don't know we are slaves."
Campolo ended the session with a message of hope, stating that the economic collapse presents the Church with a great opportunity to remind people not to store up treasures on earth, but in heaven. As with the Babylon described in Revelation 18, this culture is doomed, like every system, to fail. Loss of faith in the economic system will free the people of God from the seduction of the culture to help usher in the kingdom of God.
Dr. Campolo's lecture is now available on pod cast and DVD. The audio pod cast can be downloaded at http://www.ambrose.edu/podcast/2008-12-01. For a DVD contact Velma Warnock at 403.410.2938 or vwarnock@ambrose.edu .
Contact: Joel Thiessen, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Phone: 403.410.2000 ext. 2979
Email: jathiessen@ambrose.edu