Tony Campolo

“Mixing the church and the state is like mixing ice cream and manure. It doesn't do much to the manure, but it sure messes up the ice cream.”

“I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I just said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.”

“Jesus is not a Republican. Jesus is not a Democrat. Jesus is not an American. Jesus is not a capitalist.”

“There are 2,000 verses of Scripture that tell us we must be committed to protecting the poor and the oppressed.”

“The kingdom of God is a party.”

“A party is a good way to say I love you to Jesus.”

“The Bible is not a book for the faint of heart -- it is a book full of all the greed and glory and violence and tenderness and sex and betrayal that befits mankind.”

“If we were to set out to establish a religion in polar opposition to the Beatitudes, it would look strikingly like the pop Christianity that has taken over the airwaves of North America.”

“The gospel is not about getting people into heaven. The gospel is about getting heaven into people.”

“Your tragedy is that you don't know that you are living in a tragedy.”

“Following Jesus is a verb.”

“The most important thing a sociologist can do is to show people how much of their lives is not of their own making.”

“People are never more sincere than when they assume their vices are virtues.”

“When we do for those who are helpless, we do for Christ.”

“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.”

“What you do in the present determines your future. The future is not something that just happens to you. It's something you create.”