Remembering Tony Campolo
1984, a friend loaned me a cassette that would change my life.
It contained a speech or sermon from Tony Campolo and in it, Tony contrasted sacrificial love with earthly power. For the first time, I became aware of a Christian faith that was about more than just me, and my own personal comfort. Although I had grown up in the church, I had always struggled with the “what next” part of the story. What are the implications for how we live? Surely there must be more to it than not going to parties and R-rated movies.
Most importantly, I realized that God did have a response to suffering, and it was us!
We are not the whole answer of course, but we do have a vital role to play. We are invited to be a part of God’s redemptive work in the world. That started me on the journey that I have been on ever since, trying to live out my own faith in a way that serves and lifts up those who are less fortunate - to live and “plant” with purpose. His call to be “heroes” in our service to others stuck deep in my 23-year-old brain.
I had to return the tape, so before I did, I copied it with the only recording equipment I had at the time. I played the original over my car speakers, while recording it with an old hand-held tape recorder.
I have listened to it dozens of times since and shared it with friends even more often. You can clearly hear the alarm in the background as the car door opens and closes.
A few years later, I heard he would be speaking in San Diego, at an event sponsored by Plant With Purpose, or Floresta, as it was then known. That dinner was my first real contact with the organization where I have spent most of my adult life. I was thrilled to learn that Tony was on the Plant With Purpose advisory board and had made one of the key grants to get the organization established. That association figured heavily into my decision to begin volunteering.
Tony dedicated much of a chapter in his 1992 book, How to Rescue the Earth Without Worshipping Nature: a Christian's Call to Save Creation, to championing our reforestation work in the Dominican Republic. (Also, much to the chagrin of a couple of our board members, he creatively fleshed out the life, backstory and motivation of Don Paulino, breathing life into a composite character which they invented for an early brochure.)
Once, when I was driving Tony to a Floresta event, he shared with me that, disappointingly, this had been his worst selling book to date – apparently, there wasn’t much of a market for books on Christian environmental stewardship. Since it was going out of print, he offered us a sweetheart deal to buy out the remaining stock. For years we gave away those books like a U2 album, including them free with everything. We may still have boxes stored somewhere.
Later, I was honored to have Tony both inspire and contribute to my own book, Tending to Eden: Environmental Stewardship for God’s People.
When I think back over my interactions with Tony there are a couple that stand out.
In 1994, he was once again scheduled to speak at one of our events. Two weeks earlier, I had unexpectedly taken on the role as Interim Executive Director and was a little overwhelmed. As we sat down before the event, he asked me how many trees we had planted so far, ten years into our history. “It must be millions and millions by now!” he said with his characteristic enthusiasm.
“Actually, it has been 600,000.”
He looked noticeably crestfallen, before recovering with, “Oh…well that’s still a lot of trees…isn’t it?”
I think about that conversation almost every year, first as we planted 600,000 in a single year, and now as our annual tree planting totals have grown to around 10 million. How I wish I could answer that question for him today.
The second incident occurred at a small retreat, attended by 20 or so people working in the Christian environmental space. There had been a recent scandal or embarrassment involving someone at the opposite end of the ideological spectrum, who had, in the past, personally attacked Tony. The topic turned to the scandal, and we began to pile on with glee, relishing this person’s downfall. Tony had been quiet up to this point, when he brought us up short.
“You may not like him, you may disagree with him, but you are talking about a brother in Christ!” The room fell silent as his admonishment hit home. That incident has stuck with me ever since, both as an indication of his character, and a reminder, especially in these times, to be very careful what we celebrate.
Thankfully, on several occasions, I got to share with Tony what he meant to me and to our work. Some of that is commemorated in the e-book, Over the Top for Jesus, which was written for a celebration of his life in 2006.
Although he inspired and empowered thousands of us, Tony was one of a kind. He is missed today, though his legacy lives on in dozens of ministries and countless individuals.
