Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. | Ephesians 4:25
In my sermon Sunday, I ended with a quote from Tim Keller, the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, who passed away on May 19. Over the last few weeks, it has been interesting to watch all of the tributes for him pour in, especially the ones from people who have spent the last few years critiquing him.
Since Keller stepped down from preaching duties in 2017, there have been a stream of voices wondering if his framework for ministry had passed. There have been a lot of articles about this, the most well known being James R. Woods: How I evolved on Tim Keller (not that I want to bring you into a year old blog argument, but…). The general idea is that because we live in a post-Christian culture, the attempt to influence through ‘winsomeness’ or ‘third-wayism’ no longer works. To quote Woods:
Now we live in the “negative world,” in which, according to Renn, Christian morality is expressly repudiated and traditional Christian views are perceived as undermining the social good. As I observed the attitude of our surrounding culture change, I was no longer so confident that the evangelistic framework I had gleaned from Keller would provide sufficient guidance for the cultural and political moment. A lot of former fanboys like me are coming to similar conclusions. The evangelistic desire to minimize offense to gain a hearing for the gospel can obscure what our political moment requires.
I am not sure ‘minimizing offense to gain a hearing for the gospel’ is a fair summary of Keller’s ministry. I feel like Woods is knocking down a bit of a straw man here. For a better summary of Keller’s approach watch his final message to Redeemer (recorded several weeks ago). In it he left three parting ideas:
- Live on a razor’s edge: participate in the culture while holding strong to the convictions of God.
- Invest don’t consume: pour your life into the work of God through the church.
- Forget about your reputation: live a life that seeks to make much of the name of Jesus.
Keller is primarily concerned with the people of God orienting their hearts, their work, and their worship toward God. He sees the work of God being done primarily through the church and individual Christians in the culture (and however much these individuals can play a role in the institutions that shape the culture). Woods is a political scientist, so it isn’t surprising that he is not satisfied with Keller’s answer; Keller does not see politics as the primary means by which the culture is shaped. Instead, God’s people acting as Salt and Light: preserving, bringing flavor and direction, is the way to living in a post-Christian world.
While Woods draws his conclusions from his political theory, Keller draws his from one of the OT prophets: Jeremiah. These words were written to the people of God after they had been taken from their homes and brought to an oppressing nation (definitely a negative culture). Much like Habakkuk, the prophet steers us to see God at work in the midst of our ups and downs. The message is: rather than focusing on changing our situation, our effort should be toward faithfulness. We must learn to rest in Him, as Habakkuk ended:
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places. | Habakkuk 3:18–19
It isn’t so much about what works, as much as what helps us to find joy in the God of our salvation. The measure of how to act in any specific time should not be determined by the age we live in, but by the God we serve.
One of the things that has come out since Keller’s death is how much of an influence he had on people, not because of his ‘framework,’ but because he cared. He encouraged, corrected, and even argued, not to win or be right, but to give people a clearer perspective of the Savior. He was confident that loving God and loving others was enough. All that he did building churches and networks, writing books, and speaking at seminars, was aimed at making it clear that Jesus was sufficient.
He did this by speaking the truth in love. He cared enough about people to treat them with kindness and respect, but also to share with them the hope of the gospel. It wasn’t a question about whether we live in an age of truth or an age of love, but how God’s truth could be applied in a loving way – flowing from an understanding of the gospel. This is how he explained this concept:
Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God’s saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God’s mercy and grace. | The Meaning of Marriage
To speak the truth in love will cause some to call you too harsh and others to accuse you of being soft on the facts. It is neither. It is caring about people enough to want them to meet your Savior. Tim Keller is with his Savior now resting in God’s mercy and grace. Well done, good and faithful servant.