Comments on: Tim Keller on Luke 15

By: Rob Crandall

Rob Crandall — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:24:08 +0000

If anyone can help me, and especially Pastor Keller, I would greatly appreciate it. Our church is in the process of searching for a Lead Pastor. We have a candidate who came in last week and essentially delivered this Prodigal Son message with what amounts to in my opinion – after listening againg to both sermons – an uncanny resemblance to Tim Keller’s message. The trouble is that he did not credit Tim Keller for the work. He has admitted/confessed this was a lapse and he had intended to credit Tim, even going so far as to apologize to the congregation in a subsequent serveice, and we believe him to be a godly man based on his strong references and history of service.

What continues to trouble me is that this Pastor candidate’s delivery, just prior to using certain exact phrases that Tim uses such as “melted and moved by what it cost to bring us home” or “through this story Jesus is redefining God, redefining sin, redefining salvation” uses a lot of “I think” and “I believe” statements which would seem to be very inconsistent if he had intended to fully credit Tim Keller as he says he meant to.

Can you share some thoughts and guidelines on what are the ethical boundaries we should expect when it comes to borrowing from other’s sermons. Many on our search team think I’m being harsh and perhaps even judgmental but I don’t know this man very well and I am supposed to be discerning whether God is calling him to be our Lead Pastor…and I can’t help but think integrity counts for a lot!

For His glory and Honor,

Rob C. – Washington State

By: Tim Keller

Tim Keller — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 11:10:26 +0000

Colin–Yes and no. I agree that a preacher should try to do some adaptation. You can see Paul doing that in Acts. He most definitely changes his approach when speaking on Mars Hill rather than in a synagogue. But there’s a limit to how much you can adapt–at some point it becomes inauthentic, a kind of acting. So you may want to seek out people that you know God has gifted you to reach better than others. It’s a balance.

By: Colin Adams

Colin Adams — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 06:48:41 +0000

Tim, I appreciate your taking the time (and having the grace) to comment on this post – especially when it’s looking at one of your sermons. May God continue to bless your preaching of the gospel.

As to your point, I think you have one insofar as I wonder how John Piper might be received in downtown Manhattan! No doubt God grants us different temperaments for different situations and audiences.

One question I do have though – if every congregation has a range of temperaments, do preachers at times need to adapt? Put another way: does every Keller need a bit of Piper in them (I’m stereotyping!), and every Piper a bit of Keller if they will reach the whole congregation?

By: Tim Keller

Tim Keller — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 05:04:33 +0000

I’m a little worried about the ‘passion’ statements. I don’t take them personally at all–not at all. But they may be a bit short-sighted. We all have different temperments and Rev A can feel something just as strongly as Rev B and yet not be as intense and dramatic in his outward expression of it. But keep in mind that a lot of secular people simply can’t hear the gospel very well when the speaker gets highly emotional. There’s room for a great range of temperments in preachers because there is such a great range of temperments in the listeners.

By: Sunday Sermon « Seeking Him

Sunday Sermon « Seeking Him — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 16:07:31 +0000

[...] on the parables of Jesus with a message on the parable of the prodigal son. I was reminded of a sermon that was posted recently by Tim Keller preached on the same text. I’ve never heard Keller, but I plan to listen to this one some [...]

By: J. Gary Ellison

J. Gary Ellison — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 09:29:03 +0000

Thanks for the response, Colin. (And I am sure your read pathos where I unthinkingly wrote ethos.) Keep up the good work. Blessings!

By: Colin Adams

Colin Adams — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 08:29:57 +0000

Gary, that’s why I (personally) have an ever so slight preference for listening to the likes of Piper/MacArthur than Keller. For me, the former ‘convey’ a greater sense of passion as they deliver the solid content. That said, I’m always careful about this because preaching is ‘truth through personality.’ My impression is that Keller is a laid back kind of guy and therefore its no surprise that this translates into his preaching. Moreover, sometimes when I’ve heard Keller speak I’ve detected that he is excited about what he’s talking about. Of course, Keller’s passion won’t ‘look’ the same as Piper’s!

By: J. Gary Ellison

J. Gary Ellison — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 07:56:41 +0000

I am glad to have found your site. I believe that “Between Two Worlds” sent me this way. Keller’s message had a lot of good insight. Last year he spoke on the Gospel and Postmodernism at John Piper’s conference. His analysis was very good and Haddon Robinson speaks highly of him as being in touch and able to speak to contemporaries, so I wanted to hear him preach when I saw your analysis of his sermon. What I found difficult was the _apparent_ (underline apparent) lack of passion. His message was excellent, but there was a great difference in his level of ethos and that of David Martyn Lloyd-Jones whom he quotes in is lecture on postmodernism. I once heard Leo Buscaglia, a secular professor, speak with great passion and conviction that gripped me. Have I missed something here? Do we have to speak calmly to get a hearing with contemporaries?

By: William

William — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 20:07:41 +0000

Good work. Thanks for the analysis. I think we don’t do enough serious work on preaching after we leave seminary. This will help us do it. Thanks, I’ll continue to follow the blog.

By: Justin Buzzard

Justin Buzzard — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:51:31 +0000

I like this blog.
Great format/blogging schedule.

Keller is great on Luke 15. Listening to Keller on Luke 15, but also and especially reading Kenneth Bailey’s books on Luke 15, has significantly shaped my preaching. When I began a new preaching position 6 months ago I decided to begin with two sermons/Sundays on Luke 15 in light of how foundational Keller and Bailey showed this chapter of Scripture to be.

One place where I disagree with Keller here is how he takes Jesus to be “the true elder brother.” I think Bailey’s work shows that this line of thinking (elder brother was the one who should’ve significantly aided in reconciling his younger brother) was not an emphasis in 1st century Palestine. Also, with the original verses in mind that kick off the set of 3 parables (vv.1-3), it’s pretty clear that point is that the symbol of the father in the parable gradually evolves into a symbol for Jesus, as just like the Father, Jesus runs out to meet and reconcile both younger brother types (“tax collectors and sinners” of v.1) and elder brother types (“Pharisees and scribes” of v. 1).

I hope to preach or teach this text on an annual basis as Luke 15 has been so helpful to me and to my church in clearly laying out and showing off the gospel (Note: I’ve got a link to these two sermons on my blog if anyone is curious).