Campolo Inspires Emotion

     Bombarded with liberal messages and violence, not much can rattle today’s college student, but passionate evangelical speaker Bart Campolo managed to touch hearts even if his message contained some shock value.
“I hate being a Christian speaker on a campus like this,” he told the audience. “You attend a Christian university, and you’ve heard everything about what it means to be a Christian. I have to talk about Jesus with a new twist, make him sound like something you’ve never heard before.”
Campolo, who delivered Campbell’s annual Staley Lecture Series, is president of Mission Year, a national Christian service program, which recruits young adults to join outreach teams and live and work in the inner city, but his primary goal is to inspire young people to share his passion for the Lord.
     “Jesus is not cool. He never was cool, and he never will be cool,” Campolo told the audience. “He isn’t anything that our culture values. He was poor, he hung out with a bunch of losers-prostitutes and crippled people-and he was very emotional.”
     To illustrate his point, Campolo used the story of Jesus’ wrath at the money changers in the temple. “Jesus didn’t write a letter to the editor or circulate a petition complaining about their greed, Campolo said. “He got angry. He overturned their tables, he became overwhelmed by his emotion.”
     Jesus has the same kind of passion for people, Campolo explained. “Jesus is wildly, passionately, desperately in love with you,” he said, “and he wants to make you into a passionate person like him.”
     Campolo is also the director of Kingdomworks Urban Youthworkers Conference, which draws more than 1,000 inner-city volunteers to Philadelphia for training and inspiration. He is a national representative of Compassion International and a leader in Christian social action. He is also a popular speaker at youth gatherings, college campuses, and conferences across the U.S. and overseas.
     Campbell University’s annual Staley Lecture Series was founded by Dr. Thomas F. Staley in 1970 to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By equipping students with a better understanding of the Gospel, the series strives to enrich both the quality and effectiveness of Christian service. The program continues to reach the college community for Christ through gifted speakers.

Bulletin 0066-3/16/05