Support for homosexual unions, commitment ceremonies, and marriages are coming from within the church. This should not surprise us since Paul warned the Ephesian elders nearly 2000 years ago:

“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears” (Acts 29-31).

And this was happening while many of the original apostles of Jesus were still alive.

The most notable power couple promoting homosexuality has been Tony and Peggy Campolo. Tony Campolo, a social liberal who has spoken to many conservative groups over the years, at one time said that he was opposed to homosexual relationships while his wife, Peggy, was not. They played the good cop-bad cop game for more than 20 years, and many Christians fell for their act. I never did.

“On June 8, 2015, Tony Campolo released a statement changing his position on the issue of gay relationships, and stating that he now supported full acceptance of Christian gay couples into the Church. He cited several reasons including the institution of marriage primarily being about spiritual growth instead of procreation, what he had learned through his friendships with gay Christian couples, and past examples of exclusionary church traditions.”

Tony Campolo was Bill Clinton’s “spiritual advisor” during the ex-President’s sexual “indiscretion” with Monica Lewinsky. Given Campolo’s “evolved” views on homosexuality, I wonder if he has changed his mind about adultery since adultery and homosexuality are both condemned in Scripture.

Campolo describes himself as a “Red Letter Christian.” RLCs elevate the actual words of Jesus found in the gospels (often printed in red in many translations) as being more important than the rest of Scripture. Here’s some red letters that Campolo and other RLCs seem to have forgotten appear in red in Red Letter edition Bibles:

“And He answered and said, ‘Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE [Gen. 1:27], and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’? [Gen. 2:24] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

“Male and female” is the biblical standard going back to creation, not male and male or female and female no matter how people “feel” about their “committed relationship.”

Tony Campolo has been described as “probably the most influential Christian communicator to Baby Boomers and young people in the English language. He writes a book a year, travels widely, is a professor of sociology, and has Italian-American parents.” At 80 years old, I doubt that Campolo has much influence today.

Many have found that Tony Campolo speaks out of both sides of his mouth on the issue of homosexuality. For example, in his book 20 Hot Potatoes Christians are Afraid to Touch regarding Romans 1:26-27, Campolo argues that “there may be some validity to [the] argument” that “this passage refers to heterosexuals who adopt homosexuality as perversion rather than to those who are born with homosexual orientation” (113-114). There is no such argument if the passage is read against passages like Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13.

Campolo subscribes to pro-homosexual interpretations of 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 2 Timothy 1:10. In his book, he favors a position that says Paul was only condemning pederasty (men who seek to have sex with young boys) and clearly sides with that view when he considers the view that “To compare pederasty to a relationship chosen in love is considered by [some] to be a serious mistake” (115).

Campolo leans on the notion that homosexuality is biological (112-113, 116, 118), a scientifically unsubstantiated claim. He walks such a thin line between condoning homosexuality and calling it sin that no reasonable person could say that he ever condemned homosexual relationships. Campolo endorsed homosexual “covenants” (117) in lieu of homosexual “marriage.” Not anymore.

In a February 1994 Prism article titled “What about Homophobia?” Campolo said, “Those who remained silent about the Jews in Nazi Germany helped sign the death warrants of the Holocaust. Those who did not speak out for Blacks can be accused of allowing slavery to continue. . . . I believe that those who do not speak up for the gay and lesbian community at this crucial time in history may be lending support to oppression.”

Being Jewish or black is not a sexual behavior. Sexual acts in particular situations are being judged as immoral and “against nature.” Same-sex sexuality is in the same category as adultery, incest, bigamy, bestiality, pedophilia, prostitution, and polygamy. Are these also accepted sexual behaviors of the aging Campolo?