It\u2019s amazing how Sunday school songs can stick with people for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cOh be careful little hands what you do! Oh be careful little hands what you do,\u201d sang social activist Tony Campolo, as he led a recent Milligan College (Tenn.) chapel audience in the hand motions that children have learned for generations. \u201cGod is up above. He is looking down in love. So be careful little hands what you do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
This song may sound silly, but it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThat song! That song ruined my dating life,\u201d shouted Campolo. \u201cYou know, I\u2019d be out there in a car and just when I\u2019m ready to make the move, this voice from heaven says, \u2018Be careful little hands, what you do.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n\n
This kind of slapstick sermonizing always brings howls of laughter, especially on college campuses. The 64-year-old storyteller delivers more than 400 sermons and lectures a year and few people are better at making students laugh, think and cry at the same time. But he also wants to inspire tough questions.<\/p>\n\n
Campolo has heard one question more than any other, ever since the Labor Day call from the White House asking him to serve as one of President Bill Clinton\u2019s three pastoral counselors. The question could be phrased this way: Has he sung \u201cOh be careful little hands what you do\u201d recently in the Oval Office?<\/p>\n\n
\u201cEverybody wants to know what I say to the president and what the president says to me,\u201d said Campolo, who is both an ordained Baptist minister and a sociology professor at Eastern College in St. Davids, Pa. However, he has honored the confidentiality of this relationship, because \u201cI don\u2019t think that you can talk about the president and to the president at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
In the pulpit, Campolo\u2019s thundering voice and hot emotions often threaten the volume needles on tape recorders. He has admitted that the president often endsup shouting back at him, even though Campolo is an outspoken Democrat and a sworn foe of the Religious Right.<\/p>\n\n
While the preacher won\u2019t discuss these sessions with the press, his sermons frequently address issues that are at the heart of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. At Milligan College, for example, he noted that many believers forget that it\u2019s \u201cquite possible to be forgiven and not to be cleansed.\u201d Many also forget that, when they wallow in their sins, they bring pain to God.<\/p>\n\n
Christianity teaches that Jesus is truly divine and that his life and ministry \u2013 such as his sacrifice on the cross \u2014 transcend human time. Thus, Jesus is constantly carrying the sins of the world and of individual sinners. During a visit to another campus, Campolo said he met a young man who was a perfect example of those who fail to take this doctrine seriously.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018Yeah, I do a lot of things that are wrong, you know, a lot of stuff sexually. I\u2019m really into it. But, you know, I believe it\u2019s all taken care of on Calvary,\u2019 \u201d said Campolo. \u201cI was furious. I said, \u2018The next time you\u2019re screwing around, I hope you can hear Jesus screaming in pain! Because at that very moment, as he hangs on Calvary, he feels your sin and is absorbing it!\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s normal to hear preachers use this kind of language. But during the past year, it has become common to hear the likes of Geraldo Rivera and Larry King leading discussions of sin and grace, repentance and forgiveness. While this has been a troubling experience for many people, Campolo believes it has been good for the country.<\/p>\n\n
For one thing, people on both sides of the political aisle are being forced to seek common ground on moral issues.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cAll of a sudden we realize that no one sins to himself,\u201d said Campolo. \u201cWhen you commit a sinful act, it has a rippling effect that goes around the world and back. We recognize that there is no such thing as private sin, anymore. It\u2019s all connected. And what is more, we have this sense now that there are a set of absolutes out there. There is a right. There is a wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s amazing how Sunday school songs can stick with people for the rest of their lives. \u201cOh be careful little hands what you do! Oh be careful little hands what you do,\u201d sang social activist Tony Campolo, as he led a recent Milligan College (Tenn.) chapel audience in the hand motions that children have learned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n