Timothy Keller, 1950-2023

Our culture keeps changing in ways we never see coming.

Most churches are in decline; many Christians show up for productions, weddings or funerals. There’s little social pressure to attend church.

Many Christians have basic religious beliefs:

• There is a god.
• There is moral truth.
• There is sin.
• There is an afterlife.

Churches take these generic beliefs and make them Christian beliefs. Some people don’t have these beliefs, so they never go to church.

So, how do we evangelize in this Western culture?

I heard Tim Keller say these things during a Gospel & Our Cities conference I attended with my campus pastor in October 2018 in Chicago.

Timothy Keller died today, May 19, 2023, at age 72 of cancer.

According to the biographical brochure we received at the conference, Tim was chairman of Redeemer City to City (sponsor of the conference) and the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, which he started in 1989 with his wife, Kathy, and three young sons. For more than 25 years he led a diverse congregation of urban professionals that had grown to weekly attendance of more than 5,000.

Tributes are pouring in for Tim, because he has influenced a myriad of people throughout the country and world with his talks, books, preaching and leadership. I will add my two cents by revisiting the notes I took from his keynote speech at the 2018 conference in Chicago.

How do we evangelize Western culture? Tim offered five ways.

Apologetics

We critique our culture, because culture’s standards don’t work.

Traditionally, we had the freedom to do what we ought to do. But today, we don’t answer to God or nature. We make nature do what we want it to. This doesn’t work.

All values are relative. Identities are hyper-sensitive. We still aren’t free.

How do we talk about justice when everything is relative?

Individualism is ruining families – I won’t have children, for example, because I can’t leave a 3-year-old to do whatever I want.

Post-Christian evangelism dynamic

The future of evangelism is not in programs; it’s in relationships. We have to talk to people.

• First, get their attention.
• Second, conviction. We have to wait for something to go wrong.
• Third, the attraction of Christ.

We all are looking for someone to affirm us. Only Jesus does this. Even our spouses don’t. We are built to need this.

Before we answer people’s questions, we need to question their answers. What is your meaning in life? If it’s your career, what happens when you lose it? If Christ is my center, losing my job can actually enhance my life.

The meaning of life is to be a good person. Bad news: You’re not good enough. Maybe you haven’t committed adultery, but do you lust? This is Jesus’ standard.

The meaning of life is to be free, to be myself. Bad news: You’re not. If you live for money, you’ll never have enough. If you want beauty, you’ll never feel beautiful. So, how’s that going?

Good news: If you serve one Master, you’ll get forgiveness when you fail.

Category-defying social project

Liberals: a) multi-ethnic, multi-racial

b) we will care for all poor

Neither: c) non-retaliatory and forgiving

Conservatives: d) against abortion and infanticide

e) sexual counter-culture

Christ, however, is radical! We no longer live only for self-gratification. It’s for self-giving. Radically, equally consensual.

Neither side is happy with all of this. It’s a vision of being like God – worship God and no other.

Counter-catechesis

Catechisms are good to consolidate beliefs, but they don’t talk much about Jesus.

Protestant catechisms deconstructed Catholic catechisms – that was their purpose.
Today’s catechism comes on social media. It’s a morality narrative: I define right and wrong. Or a happiness narrative. Et cetera.

We haven’t connected Christ’s catechisms with the world’s catechisms. We must re-direct the wrong.

Grace to the point

The world rejects the church when it goes after power and control.

The Bible is right about sin. All people are messed up.

There’s a difference between religion and grace. Grace is real and life-transforming.

God’s grace wins over self-righteousness.

Tim’s legacy will live on

I hadn’t reviewed my notes on that conference for a long time. Lots of good stuff in there.

The world’s values don’t work. Self-identity doesn’t work. Doing life my way doesn’t work. Liberals and conservatives both have partial truth, but not the whole truth – which is radical and angers people on both sides.

That, I think, is what Tim Keller was saying.

I agree with him wholeheartedly. It’s why I’ve followed him on social media. He knew social media is often mis-interpreted, so he was more likely to write one-line thoughts rather than lengthy statements explaining his faith.

I will miss his sound doctrine. I will miss his love of Jesus Christ and his Biblical knowledge.

There’s truth in culture and catechisms. But they don’t contain the whole truth. There’s a bigger picture, because the living God is much bigger than Western culture and Christian statements of faith.

I think Tim was saying that, too.

And he’s spot on.

Tim Keller’s legacy will live on in the lives of the untold number of people he has influenced over the years. Including me. Possibly including you.

Thank you, Tim, for not falling into the culture wars that so many Christian leaders lose themselves in. Thank you for keeping your reputation pure throughout your life, for finishing well, which some Christian leaders have had a hard time doing.

You led by words and by example.

I look forward to meeting you in person one day.

Cancer took you to your Savior a little sooner than you might have otherwise gone. It happens. We all will get there one day, into that afterlife.

The arms of Jesus are the place to be. You are there now. Part of me is jealous. The rest of me looks forward to being there with you.

Faith in the Jesus Christ of the Bible, not in any cultural Jesus, is the way to get there.

Well done, good and faithful servant. Many will join you in heaven because of your faithful witness.

See you soon.