priorities
When evangelist Tony Campolo is invited to be a guest preacher at suburban churches, he often begins his sermons with these words:
I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said shit in church than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night."
There's too much truth in his words. How has western Christianity reached the point where a vulgarity is a cause for more concern than the death of a child?
posted by BruceA @ 9:49 PM
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6 Comments:
WOW, that is powerful, and to the point!
I live in residence in university. Today we were informed that there was a homeless person sleeping in the lobby of our rez apartment. We were told that the "situation had been dealt with and this will not occur again."
I asked what homeless shelter or soup kitchen the person had been taken to, and that maybe we could give them a donation.
I got a lot of weird looks and was told that the homeless person had been taken to the police station, not a homeless shelter(an unspoken 'duh' hung in the air.)
His crime? Loitering.
Gee, did these university students not notice how cold it was last night in their fancy Columbia parkas and Thinsulate gloves? Did they not notice how freezing the wind was as they were snuggled away in their heated apartment?
I shake my head at the world around me and shrug my shoulders. And lend a hand where I can. If you see a need you have heard the call.
Colleen
I love it! A wonderful quote, and a critical point.
Tony's a very powerful presence in person. I heard him make this point at a pastors conference I attended decades ago and it had the intended effect.
It's a good shake-up line, but then the question is, "What do you do?" Doing nothing is not an option. Doing "something" is usually too little and a way to let ourselves off the hook. Grandiose fantasies of solving the problem brings a different set of sins.
We will all make choices how to live, and we will do it in a world that will continue to experience all sorts of need. We can hang our heads in guilt and shame, or we can live in the grace of God. Shall we go on sinning that grace may abound? By no means ... but however sacrificially we live, we're still on the hook, and we still depend on God's grace.
he's got a number of great lines, but i think this one is timeless as he's been saying it for years and yet, nothing changes.. what's wrong with us?
Tony is almost prophetic. He has repeatedly delivered this and similar "shock jock" type comments with exactly the same result, ie., some are offended, some are amused, but rarely is there any significant result. The problem is he has credibility only with a relatively small community of persons beyond which he is not heard. The problem is not that those who have heard him did not listen to him. The problem is that those who have not heard him are not listening.
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