| Book Review - Letters to a Young
Evangelical |
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By Tony Campolo
Website: www.tonycampolo.org
Review by Tom Gilbert
Purchase book here
 Christians
consider an evangelist to be someone who carries the gospel
message of Jesus Christ to others. That is the basic definition,
however the over the years the term has accumulated much baggage.
Evangelicals are thought of by many as a distinct type of Christian
and many associate evangelicals with Christian fundamentalists
and those closely aligned with the Religious Right and the Republican
party of the United States. Such is the influence of the media
and the attempts by many to define Christianity in a certain
way.
Thankfully, Tony Campolo, named by Christianity
Today as one of the twenty-five most influential preachers of
the last fifty years and a best-selling author, has spent much
of his writing and preaching attempting to clarify what an evangelical
is. His honest and sincere attempts to focus the evangelist’s
message on the true meaning of the teachings of Jesus Christ
and the message of salvation are a light in the darkness for
many believers, both young and old.
Campolo’s latest book, Letters
to a Young Evangelical, is written in a style
reminiscent of the Apostle Paul. He writes each chapter as a
letter to two young Christians known as Julia and Timothy. These
two disciples are meant to represent any interested young evangelist
in today’s society. The letters are written with clarity,
insight, honesty and wit and the author does not shy away from
hot-button topics that are currently dividing believers in America
and around the world. Some of these topics include abortion,
gay rights, war (especially the current Iraq conflict), feminism,
Islam, the secular workplace and the environment.
These topics have often created debate, misunderstanding and
divisiveness. When one stops to consider the call by Jesus that
the “body of Christ” be united in love and care
for each other, especially those less fortunate, we must give
pause as believers and consider how our evangelistic efforts
are compromised. The very people we strive to carry the message
of a loving God and a redemptive savior surely can become disillusioned
when they don’t see this message applied by those who
profess it.
I like this book and recommend it. Diversity and debate are
healthy, but we also must be willing to open our hearts to the
radical message of the Christ. Tony Campolo still considers
himself to be an Evangelical, but he has adopted the term “Red
Letter Christians” to demonstrate the commitment to the
teachings of Jesus (some Bibles have the words of Jesus printed
in red).
Campolo reminds us in his “letters” that we can
be kind, gentle while still being strong and opinionated. Prayer,
support groups (church) and love-in-action are very much a part
of an evangelist’s vocation. His book is valuable mentoring,
not just for young evangelicals, but for the faithful of any
age who find the Savior’s challenging call to social activism,
loving service and heartfelt prayer and reliance on the Holy
Spirit to be part of the path of a Christian.
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