{"id":1935165,"date":"2023-05-21T12:48:27","date_gmt":"2023-05-21T16:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gospel-giant-tim-keller-leaves-a-profound-legacy-worthy-of-high-praise-and-fair-critique\/"},"modified":"2023-05-21T12:51:15","modified_gmt":"2023-05-21T16:51:15","slug":"gospel-giant-tim-keller-leaves-a-profound-legacy-worthy-of-high-praise-and-fair-critique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gospel-giant-tim-keller-leaves-a-profound-legacy-worthy-of-high-praise-and-fair-critique\/","title":{"rendered":"Tim Keller, a Gospel icon, leaves a remarkable legacy open to both praise and critique."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgospel-giant-tim-keller-leaves-a-profound-legacy-worthy-of-high-praise-and-fair-critique%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1935165&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Remembering Tim Keller: A Legacy of Gospel Influence<\/h2>\n<h3>Two Temptations<\/h3>\n<p>Whenever a giant of the faith passes into glory, there are two equal and opposite temptations: to deny his strengths, or deny his weaknesses. The passing of Tim Keller is no exception. In life, perhaps no single little \u201co\u201d orthodox Protestant Christian figure inspired more vigorous reactions from defenders and detractors. In the wake of his death, warm eulogies have proliferated around social media, while even people who had strong critiques of his methodology have added their respectful appreciation for the man who defined a generation of evangelism and church-planting.<\/p>\n<h3>Criticism and Appreciation<\/h3>\n<p>Still, there will be those who, quietly or openly, declare in sweeping tones that there\u2019s nothing good in Keller\u2019s legacy. Some are leftists who resent the fact that he never made a radical departure from sexual orthodoxy, or that he wasn\u2019t vocal enough in campaigning against church abuse. Others have harshly criticized his so-called \u201cthird-way\u201d approach to politics and evangelism from the right. <\/p>\n<p>In his last years, he drew particularly intense criticism for various much-discussed \u201cTwitter moments,\u201d where he would double down on a tweet or thread in response to conservative backlash. Most notably, he argued that disagreements on abortion policy, among other \u201cdebatable political differences,\u201d shouldn\u2019t create \u201cdisunity\u201d among Christians. He then linked a New York Times article briefly outlining his philosophy of how Christians should transcend the two-party system.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, Christians needn\u2019t insist that they are bound to a two-party system in order to take issue with Keller\u2019s proposal that abortion policy is \u201cdebatable\u201d among mature Christian believers. On this and many other points of missiology, theology, and cultural analysis, many conservative Christians understandably parted ways with Keller. <\/p>\n<h3>Gospel Influence<\/h3>\n<p>Despite this, it would be foolish to deny the combinatorial explosion of gospel influence that traces directly to Keller\u2019s ministry. It\u2019s impossible to number the souls who would never have so much as heard Christ preached were it not for his drive to reach them. And more, it\u2019s impossible to number the souls reached through the ministry of the countless other churches he planted and younger leaders he mentored. Many are alive in Christ today who have good reason to thank God for Tim Keller. <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve now lost count of the eulogies I\u2019ve seen which describe certain books and sermons of his as nothing less than life-changing. Naturally, someone could point out that this doesn\u2019t make the sermons or books good in themselves. But in Keller\u2019s case, much of it was in fact good, substantive, and full of the gospel.<\/p>\n<h3>A Gift of Friendship<\/h3>\n<p>Like C. S. Lewis, whom Keller claimed as an influence while modestly refusing to put himself on a comparable pedestal (though some fans might try), he was also blessed with the gift of friendship. Much more than a celebrity pastor, he was a down-to-earth man who frequently went out of his way to engage with people who had no platform, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gospel-giant-tim-keller-leaves-a-profound-legacy-worthy-of-high-praise-and-fair-critique\/\" title=\"Tim Keller, a Gospel icon, leaves a remarkable legacy open to both praise and critique.\">paying genuine attention<\/a> to their needs and questions. Even while undergoing treatments for pancreatic cancer, he continued to give generously of time and energy he didn\u2019t have. We can only aspire to this sort of generosity in our everyday, cancer-free lives.<\/p>\n<h3>Honest Assessment<\/h3>\n<p>All of this should be fair game for honest, measured assessment as people survey Keller\u2019s legacy. To insist otherwise is to place him on an unhealthy pedestal. He was at times a flawed and misguided thinker, no different from numerous other zealous, prolific men whose memories we still honor in the church. <\/p>\n<p>Yet, to remember him solely as a flawed thinker is to trivialize the sum total of a man who loved his family and friends faithfully, who never brought the shame of scandal to the bride of Christ, and who in his final days modeled how every Christian should face death \u2014 calmly, courageously, with eyes fixed firmly on the joy set before him.<\/p>\n<h3>A Legacy of Gospel Influence<\/h3>\n<p>Benedict XVI\u2019s last words, reportedly, were \u201cJesus, I love you.\u201d Tim Keller, in his final hours of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jimmy-carter-enters-hospice-care\/\" title=\"Jimmy Carter Enters Hospice Care\">home hospice care<\/a>, said \u201cI can\u2019t wait to see Jesus.\u201d May we all be so eager and ready to meet our maker, when our time comes.<\/p>\n<p>Bethel McGrew is a teacher and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/japan-and-new-zealand-boost-defense-cooperation\/\" title=\"Japan and New Zealand Boost Defense Cooperation\">freelance writer based<\/a> in Michigan. Her bylines include National Review, World, The Spectator, First Things, Plough, and many other outlets. Follow her on Twitter @bmcgrewvy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tim Keller&#8217;s passing, there is a temptation to either deny his strengths or weaknesses. He was a prominent figure in the orthodox Protestant Christian community, inspiring both defenders and detractors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2049,"featured_media":1935166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[16793,27281,13674,15247,18447,7028,4185,8705,8301],"class_list":["post-1935165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-remarkable","tag-critique","tag-gospel","tag-icon","tag-keller","tag-leaves","tag-legacy","tag-praise","tag-tim"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2049"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1935165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1935166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1935165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1935165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1935165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}