A Sad Day For Western Christianity

Sadly for us religiously conservative Christians, Tim Keller passed away last week.  It is sad for us because of how Keller chose to defend and preach the Gospel. In contrast to authoritarian type speakers, Keller was the voice of Christian reason. Sometimes he would start disagreeing with a person by first agreeing with them on something else and thanking them for contributing to himself or others.

Why did Keller break the mold in terms of how he preached the Gospel and taught Biblical principles? Why did Keller speak softly, but logically, to unbelievers or those who disagreed with him? The answer to that question can depend on whom you ask. His critics would call Keller's soft and rational approach to teaching God's Word 'winsome.' Whatever they meant by that, that description usually preceded sharp disagreements with Keller on some point. But I don't think Keller thought of his approach as being winsome. Rather he seemed to believe that his way of sharing the Gospel or disagreeing with others provided an example of exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians 5. And in the light of Critical Theory's and Post Modernism's problems with a religion like Christianity which made exclusive truth claims about God, Keller's bearing the fruit of the Spirit while sharing the Gospel was what religiously conservative Christianity needed.

On a personal note, I need to better follow Keller's example of bearing the fruit of the Spirit way of responding to those who disagreed with him. I have strong disagreements with the Trump side of the Republican Party whom I find to be enraging with their antics and claims. I am not showing the anger toward them like I use to  and one of the reasons why that is the case is because I am older and have less energy than before. But another reason is because I am trying to show as much of the same grace as it is possible to those who enrage me as mentioned in. Psalms 103. For in the passage, we are told that God does not treat us as our sins deserve. And if that is the case, then how dare I not try to show some of the same leniency to others as God has shown me.

Keller's book, Center Church, should have won him the Nobel Prize in Church peace. It isn't that I agree with all of his points in that book, but it was a strong attempt to  explain how Christians differ on some points. And in explains that, he tried hard to fairly describe how other Christians would attempt to interact with culture.

Another one of Keller's strong points was his ability to read culture from an evangelical perspective. By that I mean that he could understand how people from different time periods in New York approach life and have an idea of how to share the Gospel with them. He perhaps did that better than anyone I came across.

Of course I had my disagreements with Keller. Those disagreements revolved around how Keller wanted to respond to people from different cultures. Like almost everyone else, I believe that Keller did not fully appreciate democracy and how Christians should respond to it. I remember some of his comments on same-sex marriage before and around the time of the Obergefell decision. If memory serves, Keller argued against the legalization of same-sex marriage because of how, in his view, it did not contribute to human flourishing. The trouble with that view is that democracy isn't about human flourishing or majority rule alone. Democracy is about also about limiting one's pursuit of self-interests in order to protect the equal rights and standing in society of others.

Keller's wanted to change our culture back to that of being a Christianish culture. If memory serves, his approach to doing that resembled a para church, high school ministry called Young Life. Back when I was involved with that ministry, Young Life sought to become influential in a high school by first focusing their efforts on recruiting and involving "key" kids--kids with influence. The belief of Young Life staffers and volunteers was that others would follow the lead of those key kids. Keller seem to have wanted to take that approach toward culture by moving Christians into important cultural positions in order to get others to follow.

I disagree with that approach to culture by Keller because I believe that we should rejoice and celebrate a multicultural society and look to protect the equality of those groups with whom we disagree. I believe that because that is what democracy demands of us.

Despite my disagreements, I count Keller's death as both a personal and Church loss. He has given us opportunities for changing how we share and defend the Gospel. It's time for us to seize those opportunities for the sake of the Gospel.

Below are links to some of the articles I have written that address and comment on what Keller has said or done.

Links to articles from this blog that address something that Keller said or did

1. How Can I Suffer, Let Me Count The Ways
2. Are We Christians Trying Too Hard To Fit A Stereotype? Part II
3. It Has Never Been Just Me, Myself, And I
4. Making American Christians Superstars
5. When Tribalism Becomes A Victim Of Collateral Damage
6. Does Occupy Hold The Secret To Keller's Plea?
7. Is This How Christianity Can Regain Its Cultural Groove?
8. Christianity And Social Justice
9. Will The Real Status Quo Please Stand Up
10. Keller Is Both Right And Wrong
11. How The Mighty Have Fallen
12. Welcome To Churchtopia
13. Whose Fault Is It?
14. What The Reformed Church Needs To Do To Be Heard Again
15. How Should We Now Do Christian Apologetics?
16. Unique Traits Of The Early Church?