A REPORT ON TONY CAMPOLO'S INPUT TO THE SEMINAR AND EVENING RALLY ARRANGED BY BRITISH YOUTH FOR CHRIST
ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 11TH 1992

by Paul Mansbacher

Written: Sunday, 12th January 1991
HTML Version: Saturday, 18th March 2000

MORNING SEMINAR FOR YOUTH LEADERS

The morning was divided into two sessions - the first a talk by Tony Campolo, and the second a discussion on questions arising. The small side hall at Findlay Memorial Church was filled to capacity.

One has to say that the first session was very informative due to Tony's deep knowledge of the large influence of TV on young people. He also explained the reasons for his success as a speaker. For the purposes of this report, both sessions will be taken as one.

Tony started by saying that young people are very changeable, and what works now may not work in three months time. He then examined the situation in the USA, with special reference to the influence of TV.

TV has now become the primary socialising instrument in society, replacing parents. Young people watch around 5 1/2 hours of TV a day on average. However, a father talks to his son on average only about 2 1/2 minutes a day and with his daughter only about 1 1/2 minutes a day. Husband/wife communication lasts on average only 5 minutes a day. Many people accept what they see on TV as reality - for example, it has been known at a church prayer meeting for prayer to be earnestly requested for a soap opera character who is going through a difficult time. The involvement with TV characters is more real, more emotional, than with real people. Young people are rebelling against parents because they don't live up to the parents portrayed on TV who are shown as being witty, clever and able to solve all problems within half an hour, e.g., The Cosby Show.

The secret of the success of TV is that the producers have learnt to "mesmerize people" through the user of "technical change" - that is, frequently changing the images presented by using a number of cameras at different angles and changing scenes. The rate of technical change is increasing, even in the UK. Tony mentioned that a UK news presentation would be unable to hold an American audience, as they may hold the scene to one reporter for as long as 2 minutes, whereas in the USA every news item is covered within 15 seconds with a number of different images presented in that time. The actual content is unimportant. An example of this was the bombing of the US Marine barracks in Lebanon. Truth didn't matter. Reagan was in a difficult situation, but he came out and said that it was the government's fault for sending the Marines there (It was them and not him). Nobody perceived that Reagan WAS the government.

When the bottom was falling out of the movie market due to the influence of TV a producer guaranteed that he could produce a hit movie using unknown actors with an almost nonexistent plot (in fact taken from an old western). The "goodies" would not just have white hats but be clothed entirely in white, whereas "baddies" would be clothed entirely in black. The film lasted two and a half hours, used "rapid technical changes" and was a hit. It was Star-wars.

The sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, was longer and an even bigger hit. The next film, Return of the Jedi, lasted three hours and was another hit. The producers actually had plans for 27 sequels, but gave up making them because they were bored - they were bored making the films that were being made to have the very opposite effect on the audience.

Related to this is the influence of rock-music. The words (content) are insignificant (to the success of the song) - what is important is the medium itself - the rhythm. The epitomy is reached with rock videos - sex, rapid technical change and rhythm brought together. Madonna understands this medium very well, even changing her outfit between different shots. In the USA there are four channels showing rock videos exclusively.

Tony sees Sesame Street as the ultimate evil. It uses all the techniques used by TV commercial makers to hold the viewers (it is made by a well-known TV commercial maker) to hold the attention of preschool children in an attempt to make them literate. "A" becomes 15 things in 20 seconds. However, when the child starts school, "A" just sits in the board and doesn't change. The alphabet becomes BORING. The affect is to increase illiteracy.

Boredom is the primary drive of young people.

This presents a problem - How to present the Gospel to young people affected by all this. Everything that does not have a high rate of technical change is BORING!

Tony experimented with ways of presenting the gospel. He found that a very effective way was to challenge young people to get involved. He was using the Marxist technique of praxis or dialectic. He saw that the Greek idea of changing people by supplying them with more knowledge didn't work. He gave the examples of the ineffectiveness of "more education" to solve the drug and AIDS problems. (At no time did he mention that the source of all these evils is the sinful heart of man which needs to be transformed by the saving Grace of Jesus Christ. Effectively, Tony was saying, "faith comes by praxis", although Romans 10:17 says "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God").

The concept of dialectic is - "What we think influences what we do, and what we do influences what we think". It doesn't matter which comes first, says Tony, the chicken or the egg, faith or works, and we can't know which comes first. [Of course the Bible tells that the Rooster and Hen came first, and also Faith must come first, for without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is the initiator of action pleasing to God (Hebrews ch 11). Without it, our works are as filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6)].

How do we convert people? asks Tony, and answers, not by education, because young people don't educate. Get them to do Christian things before getting them to become a Christian. Challenge them to get involved on social work, to preach the Gospel to the poor. "Truth must be communicated in the concept of action. Those who come to do the converting end up being converted, not the children on the street"?!?! They won't convert the poor, but they themselves will get converted due to the principle of praxis?!?! This is the concept of Tony's Philadelphia Outreach to which hundreds of young people from around the world come each year.

The second secret of Tony's success is to apply the principle of rapid technical change to his preaching. He tells many intensive stories of vivid imagery - "one had an experience, as opposed to gathering propositional truth - it is meant as an experience and not to input information".

It is to be noted that Tony uses conversion in a special way - it is the second stage. "Most Christians are not converted", says Tony. Becoming a Christian is gaining an understanding of forgiveness. This is "being saved". Conversion is the process of becoming holy. It is a result of being in a desperate situation - "I call upon the Holy Spirit as a result of my action, because I need him", says Tony. "Conversion is giving oneself to Christ....Preach about the needs of the poor, get people to commit themselves to Christ by helping the poor....You're a Christian when your heart is broken by the things that break the heart of Jesus...The greatest need of a person is to live...Loving is what it is all about"

Tony followed this by praising the book The Road Less Travelled, by M Scott Peck, as an "absolutely brilliant book". Everyone should order it and read it. He claims that this book describes the process by which Scott became a Christian. However, this book is widely accepted as being New Age.

He then praised the work Steve Chalke was doing in the UK, saying that Steve was doing here what Tony was doing in the USA - namely, "Praxis".

He also said that a church service should be a celebration of the ministry that was being carried out in the world. Here he was very encouraged by the work of Graham Kendrick who was helping to change the nature of worship. "Preaching is old-fashioned - no-one wants to listen", he said.

Finally he said "Our personalities are changed when we develop a 'we-they' relationship". This is, of course, from the work of Martin Buber, the Jewish mystic.

At one point, Tony spoke about the "Christ within", although in such a way that at least one minister present thought he was talking about the work of the Holy Spirit on an unbeliever, drawing him to salvation. However, I met Tony afterwards and he made clear that he was talking about Christ present within everyone, but he was not prepared to discuss the theology of this as he had "been down this road before". He also mentioned that he had found the assessment I sent him of his preaching in Motherwell "very harsh". He received lots of criticism, he said, and his way of dealing with it was to pass it on to his own fellowship for judgement, as they knew him on a continuous basis and did not arrive at their opinions after hearing him preach just once. He was reasonably friendly, although obviously unhappy in talking to me. He was not prepared to enter into any discussion over the issues raised.

It is very alarming to know that Tony is consciously aware of what he is doing, using psychological methods to attract large crowds to hear a gospel that is really no gospel - relying on the methods of the world and not relying on God to "give the increase" with man's part being simply to faithfully preach the Word. While Tony may not be aware of it, I am sure that it is no accident that the spirituality underlying so much of what he does and says is New Age.

Tony had been informed that I would probably be present and this may have led him to be more cautious than usual on theological issues. However, the morning was a great help in understanding what is really going on.

EVENING POWERPOINT RALLY

The evening session showed that British Youth for Christ are well acquainted with the methods of attracting young people. It was hype from the start.

An estimated 1200 people packed the Church auditorium and overflowed into the adjoining hall, before the doors were closed and many turned away.

There was a praise band which provided music, usually with a steady beat and at high volume, although there were the occasionally quitter numbers. At one point there was a very professional audio-visual presentation on the plight of the earth. Between them, BYFC and Tony had no difficulty in keeping the audience entertained for nearly three hours.

Perhaps because he knew that there were some present who had been warned against him, Tony was far more subtle than usual. However, his style was the same, and he reused much of the material that he has used before.

Tony came on to the platform to thunderous applause and after a short presentation ceremony he started right in with a graphic story where everything went wrong for him. Briefly, while on his way to preach at a church, he discovered that he had forgotten to put his watch forward, so he was about an hour late. He phoned the church to tell them that he would be late. He walked in during the middle of a hymn, right up to the platform, only to discover he was in the wrong church. When he was at the right church, it was Mother's Day - [which leads to ask the questions - is this story true? - do they change to summer time in May in the States? - Doesn't the Scripture say, "Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another" (Leviticus 19:11)?] - and the reading was to be from 2 Timothy 1, verses 3ff which tell of Timothy's grandmother Lois and mother Eunice. However, Tony mistakenly turned to 1 Timothy 1 and read a passage which included mention of the murderers of mothers (v9).

Then there was a switch to "What is God like", and he read an essay, said to be written by a child, about God.

Eventually he said that Romans 1 tells us that most people have their own idea of God. Sociologists have found that isolated people have their own characteristics - that they develop totemism, and start worshipping animals. This is in agreement with Romans which says that people end up worshipping the creature. He asked, What is the God in Scotland really like? And answers, like a Scotsman. He quoted G B Shaw, "God created man in his own image - and man returned the favour".

Next came, God is love, and a story about a 14 year old girl on a youth retreat who just would not participate. On the last night, she had a dream in which she was at a ball. A wonderful young man asked her to dance. She realised that this was Jesus (?), and while he was dancing with her he whispered in her ear, "Catherine, I'm crazy about you".

There was a brief mention here that Jesus died in our place, before moving on to another story - this time about a woman who was having visions of "Jesus". A bishop, who was very sceptical, felt the need to visit her. He set her a test - he was going to confession [hence he must have been a Roman Catholic bishop!], and she was to ask the apparition what sins he had confessed.

When the bishop returned and asked the woman what sins he had confessed, she told him that "Jesus" had replied, "I don't remember".

We then had a short lesson on "imputeth righteousness", before moving on to Irangate and the story of the silent 18 1/2 minutes on the tape that Oliver North's secretary had erased. Tony then said, "Jesus has erased your tape" and received a tremendous response from the audience. [At no time did he mention that God also remembers sins, e.g. Jeremiah 14:10 "Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they ahve not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins", and 44:21 "The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind."].

He then said, "Jesus sends you in order that you should change the world...My task is to get you to be evangelists....Jesus loves everybody - through you he wants to take away suffering".

We then had the story of the 50 children he had to choose to live - leaving 250 to die - and the emphasis on 1 John 3:17-18 to give to the poor. "I want to make you all into Mother Theresa", said Tony.

We had more stories in rapid succession, before Tony mocked those Christians who say that the ecology movement is New Age. He said that they are stupid because they don't read the Bible. [It would appear that Tony is unaware of the signs of the times given in Matthew 24, or of Isaiah 24:1-6 which speaks of God making the earth empty and waste because man has broken God's laws]. He mentioned that the Sahara desert is advancing at two miles/year southwards - that it doesn't rain there because the rain is no longer produced in the jungles of Brazil due to deforestation. The trees are being cut to produce paper and provide land for cattle to supply meat for MacDonald's - to help solve the problem we should therefore cut back on meat. He mentioned Romans 8 that all creation is suffering, and we should be rescuing the world. "I'm asking you to become radical Christians - to work with the poor".

His final story occurred when he was visiting Honolulu. He was hungry and couldn't sleep at 3am as his body was still on American time. He found a greasy, dirty, restaurant, ordered coffee and doughnut when in came eight or nine prostitutes. One was having her 39th birthday the next day, and had never had a party. Tony, the chef (Harry) and his wife secretly arranged a party with a cake. Early the next morning the restaurant was "wall-to-wall prostitutes" and Tony. When they brought the cake out the woman was moved to tears and couldn't blow the candles out, so Tony did. Then she didn't want to cut the cake, wanting to take it to show her mother. The chef wanted to join the church that would throw such a party. Tony told him that "Jesus came to create a church of joy and celebration that would throw a party for a prostitute at three o'clock in the morning."

Tony then invited those who felt God had been speaking to them to stand up "not to believe in Jesus, but to TOTAL SURRENDER to Jesus...Jesus I am open to you...you can have me, transform me.... I am yours Lord, from now on my life belongs to you. This is no simple beliefism....Jesus wants to make you a radical agent of his revolution....1, 2, 3 stand". A number stood. Tony then asked everyone to stand as an act of commitment. Nearly everybody did - the only exceptions I noticed were some in wheel-chairs and myself, but I wasn't looking around. A few had walked out during Tony's address.

The question must be asked - to which Jesus did these people surrender themselves - the Jesus of the Bible, or a substitute?

The following extracts of Tony's may help in making a decision.

"Lastly, not only will he change the way you see people - not only will you see people through the eyes of Jesus - but, listen to this carefully, you will see Jesus looking back at you through the eyes of the people."

"One of the most startling discoveries of my life was the realisation that the Jesus that I love, the Jesus who died for me on Calvary, that Jesus, is waiting, mystically and wonderfully, in every person I meet."

"In that sense I sound way out of line - because what the evangelicals want to do is say, "No. If you're talking about Christians...." I find Jesus everywhere. The difference between a Christian and non-Christian is not that Jesus isn't in the non-Christian is not that Jesus isn't in the non-Christian - the difference is that the Jesus who is within him is a Jesus to whom he will not surrender his life. You say, Are you saying that Jesus is present in everybody? I am only telling you what it says in John 1:9, He is the light that lighteth every man, every woman that cometh into the world. The minute you start saying that God isn't in some people, you're on the verge of Fascism. Why? Erich Fromm saw that. The minute you can look at somebody and say God isn't in him - he is only in Christians - that person is pure demon." (Extracted from a video of Tony Campolo's address at Spring Harvest, Big Top, Prestatyn, 1988)

"We want to convince the whole human race that there is a God who established the infinite value of every person WHO MYSTICALLY DWELLS IN EACH PERSON...I do not mean that others represent Jesus for us. I MEAN THAT JESUS ACTUALLY IS PRESENT IN EACH OTHER PERSON." (quoted from Tony's writings on page 10 of Tony Campolo - Shedding Light or Spreading Leaven? by Cecil Andrews)

Scripture

"If a man love me he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." (John 14:23)

"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates!" (II Corinthians 13:5)

"So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." (Romans 8:8-9)