Tony Campolo, Preacher Who Challenged Religious Right, Dies at 89

The Rev. Tony Campolo, one of the most influential evangelical preachers of the past half century, who urged Christians to resist the strong political tug of the religious right and to affirm that their faith called them, first and foremost, to fight poverty and racism, died on Nov. 19 at his home in Bryn Mawr, Pa. He was 89.

The cause was heart failure, his son, Bart, said.

With a mesmerizing speaking style that combined humor, passion, worldliness and Scripture, Dr. Campolo in his prime addressed 500 or more audiences a year, at churches and conferences, often challenging the hegemony of the Christian right that aligned white evangelicals with the Republican Party.

He was a founder of Red Letter Christians, a movement that urges evangelicals to turn away from politics in favor of the values of charity and love preached by Jesus, whose words are printed in red in some editions of the Bible.

His lodestar was Chapter 25 in the book of Matthew, which warns that Christ will judge his followers by the compassion they showed to “the least of these” among humanity.

“While you were sleeping last night,” Dr. Campolo would tell audiences, “30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition.”

“Most of you don’t give a shit,” he added.

“What’s worse,” he’d say, building on the shock value, “is that you’re more upset with the fact that I said ‘shit’ than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.”