TONY CAMPOLO, PROMOTER OF SAME SEX MARRIAGE, WELCOMED AT NAZARENE THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE
BY MANNY SILVA
Tony Campolo was a recent featured speaker at Nazarene Theological College on May 17. This is very troubling in the long list of troubling signs regarding the future of the Church of the Nazarene. The most recent issue with Campolo is his outright promotion of same sex marriage as being fully compatible with the Christian lifestyle. So why does a Nazarene college invite such an enemy of Christ to speak?
I can only think of two possibilities of why Tony Campolo was allowed to set foot on the campus of a Nazarene college or seminary. It was either from total and complete ignorance of what this man stands for, or the other explanation is that the leadership of this college has no problem with having a speaker who promotes same-sex marriage. I do not for a minute believe that the leadership of any Nazarene university is stupid and ignorant, therefore the only other explanation is certainly alarming to those who are concerned with the movement towards eventual acceptance of homosexuality as compatible with Christianity.
What Tony Campolo Believes In
Mr. Campolo is an avid promoter of contemplative mysticism, he believes in evolution, he rejects the inerrancy of scripture, he is an ecumenist, he has described man as divine, he believes non-Christians might go to heaven, he promotes Roman Catholic practices, he believes in praying to people, he has a disdain for fundamentalists. And now he has changed his view on homosexuality and same sex marriage.
Campolo’s New View On Same Sex Marriage
On June 8, 2015, Mr. Campolo made his position perfectly clear regarding same sex marriage:
As you read the entire article, you notice that this man’s position comes not from an “authority of scripture” perspective, but from a selfish vantage point that all post-modernists and liberals view from: the “I believe” view, the “what I think” view, the “intellectual analysis” view. See these examples:
“One reason I am changing my position on this issue is that, through Peggy [Campolo’s wife], I have come to know so many gay Christian couples whose relationships work in much the same way as our own.”
“I have concluded that sexual orientation is almost never a choice and I have seen how damaging it can be to try to “cure” someone from being gay.”
Campolo also makes false assumptions and gives strawman arguments for the acceptance of same sex marriage. Nothing he argues comes close to referencing scripture, except when he suggests that we will never fully know who is right regarding the subject of homosexuality and same sex marriage.
“As a Christian, my responsibility is not to condemn or reject gay people, but rather to love and embrace them…”
“I just knew too many wonderful Christian people who are in gay relationships…”
“Obviously, people of good will can and do read the scriptures very differently when it comes to controversial issues, and I am painfully aware that there are ways I could be wrong about this one.”
And notice what he says is the greatest influence in nurturing him as a Christian. It is not the Bible. It is not Jesus Christ.
“If I was asked, what has been the greatest influence in nurturing you as a Christian, I would have to say, it’s my wife. No church, no organization, no studies, nothing has nurtured me more as a Christian..”
It is his wife! Yes, his wife, a fallible human being, is his greatest influence in his Christian growth. Central Baptist Church in Wayne, Pennsylvania, where his wife attends, is “an open and affirming congregation.” This means that her church accepts unrepentant practicing homosexuals as members.
Perhaps that is one of the contributing factors to this poor man’s error-filled ways of thinking. His justification for approving same sex marriage does not come from scripture. It comes from his observation that since he had such an uplifting, satisfying marriage with his wife, why should same sex couples be denied the same experience?
In 2006, the Pacific Southwest region of the American Baptist Convention voted to withdraw from the denomination because of its relaxed policies on homosexuality. This is a problem in many ABC churches, as many accept unrepentant homosexuals as members. Tony Campolo criticized the withdrawal decision, saying that it “runs counter to the prayer of Christ that we might all be one people.”
This is the man that Nazarene Theological College was proud to bring to campus and expose to all the students!
Conclusion
The appearance of Tony Campolo at another Nazarene college ought to be no shock to those of you who have been seeing the very unraveling of the Church of the Nazarene. It is but a symptom of what ails the church. That ailment is a progressive spiritual death of holiness and biblical principles. What is shocking is how fast, in the last four years or so, the church is stumbling into life-support status. And homosexuality is what is getting the Church of the Nazarene onto its death bed faster than anything I could have imagined nine years ago.
In my warning about Andy McGee and his LGBT group (back on April 2, 2018) which I sent to the General Superintendents (to one of them personally), and to every district office in the United States and in Canada, I received only two responses. Both responses were requests to take them off my mailing list. That’s all. Nothing else, no words of concern, no questions, no rebukes…just silence. It is a deafening silence that has gone on for years now.
Where are the voices? Do so few care? Do even so few know what is happening in the church? Is it an innocent ignorance, or a deliberate action by many to pretend all is well with the emperor and his clothes? Where are the Orville Jenkins, Jrs to sound the warnings to the people? Where are the Joe Staniforths who spoke out and were willing to lose everything in the church rather than betray the Lord Jesus Christ? Where are the Rick Headleys who defied the church’s demand to capitulate to worldly methods and philosophies? Where are the John Hendersons and the Jeff Allens, fearless in speaking out against the moral decline in the church? These are just a few.
I know they are out there, and many of them are standing up for the truth right now, and perhaps paying a heavy price. I just simply do not know or cannot list all their names and all their circumstances, but they are there, and we thank them for their faithfulness. But yet, so few are still turning a blind eye to the truth, which leads to such spectacles as a homosexual marriage promoter- and an ENEMY of the church- being given the opportunity to further damage the church, and to further help destroy a denomination that is moving from holiness to heresy. To those who know what is wrong, and continue to say nothing, you may have to answer to the Lord someday for your inaction and silence.
Manny Silva
Related Links For Tony Campolo:
Andy McGee:
#SpyGate
