Guide to the Gurus
“There was a man who had two sons.”
Luke 15:11 (NIV)
One of the greatest blessings of my current breast cancer journey is that I’ve been encouraged to rest more in the afternoons. That means more guilt-free time for reading, my favorite pastime!
I just finished reading Collin Hansen’s excellent book Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation. It’s not like any other biography that I’ve ever read. With this book, Hansen has “explored the influences on, more than the influence of, Tim Keller.” (p.269)
Three of those spiritual mentors were women: Barbara Boyd, Elisabeth Elliot, and Kathy Keller.
My first encounter with Tim Keller occurred in the late 1990s when he preached a sermon at Briarwood Presbyterian, our home church. This was before Keller achieved international renown. Keller was probably 10 years into his tenure as Senior Pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City. He was also about 10 years away from the publication of his first book, The Reason for God, a New York Times Best Seller.
Keller’s sermon text that Sunday was Luke 15:11-32, a passage commonly known as Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son. Growing up in a large Southern Baptist church, I had heard dozens of sermons preached from this familiar parable. At the end of almost every one of those Prodigal Son sermons, the choir would close our service with Softly and Tenderly singing: “ye who are weary come home.”
Tim Keller’s sermon was unlike any Prodigal sermon I had heard. Keller described Luke 15 as the Parable of Two Lost Sons. In Keller’s sermon, the two brothers represent two different ways to be alienated from God. The younger brother is lost in his destructive waywardness and self-centeredness; the elder brother is just as lost in his morality and good works. Both sons are lost in their sin and neither can save himself. Both sons are loved by the father. The younger son recognizes and confesses his sin and is restored to a right relationship with his father. The elder son angrily rejects a relationship with either his father or his brother.
In his 2008 book The Prodigal God Keller further explains his reasoning:
The gospel is distinct …In its view everyone is wrong, everyone is loved, and everyone is called to recognize this and change. By contrast, elder brothers divide the world in two; ‘The good people (like us) are in and the bad people, who are the real problem with the world are out.’ Younger brothers, even if they don’t believe in God at all, do the same thing, saying: “No, the open-minded and tolerant people are in and the bigoted, narrow-minded people, who are the real problem with the world, are out.” But Jesus says, “The humble are in and the proud are out” (Luke 18:14). p.45
Through the years, Keller’s numerous books have had a profound impact on my life and teaching ministry. He has written over twenty books on a range of topics that include marriage, prayer, forgiveness, suffering; apologetics; and justice, just to name a few. Three of my personal Keller favorites are King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus; Walking with God through Pain and Suffering; and Hope in Times of Fear. One of Tim Keller’s primary messages throughout his writings is the centrality of the gospel: "The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”
In 2007, Keller and theologian D.A. Carson formed The Gospel Coalition, a worldwide fellowship of evangelical churches in the Reformed tradition. Keller was at his best with TGC conferences. I was privileged to attend four TGC Women’s (TGCW) Conferences from 2012- 2018. Much like Keller’s books and footnotes, the early TGCW conferences introduced me to some excellent women Reformed Bible teachers such as Paige Brown, Nancy Guthrie, and Melissa Kruger.
One reviewer suggests that Hansen’s Keller biography is better described as a bibliography.. Collin Hansen summarizes Keller’s writing and ministry well when he writes, “He is the guide to the gurus.” I have found that to be true. Keller’s footnotes have led me to read the works of his own spiritual mentors: Elisabeth Elliot, John Stott, C.S. Lewis, Edmund Clowney, and more.
“Future generations will honor Keller better by reading his library than quoting him. How ironic if the pastor who gathered from such varied tributaries became a solitary river flowing down through the years.” (Collin Hansen)
To be clear, I haven’t read every book that Tim Keller has written, nor do I agree completely with some of his more progressive views, but I will always be grateful for his life and ministry. He was truly my guide to the gurus.