When someone like Tim Keller passes away we get a glimpse into the current state of public discourse and the way social media reveals our country’s deep differences. Here are some representative tweets and links.
Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman:
Live in the light of the resurrection and renewal of this world, and of yourself, in a glorious, never-ending, joyful dance of grace.
— Steven Curtis Chapman (@StevenCurtis) May 19, 2023
Tim Keller
Today, while so many grieve the loss of this incredibly brilliant teacher and faithful shepherd and pastor, please join me in praying… pic.twitter.com/S0N7eWx0n5
The New Yorker:
The Far-Seeing Faith of Tim Keller https://t.co/xlJm4vtIbI
— Farooq Shahzad (@Farooq_Shahzad2) May 20, 2023
More:
If I comment on this tweet, I’d amplify its nonsense.
— Obanijesu 📌 (@bheyeh_) May 20, 2023
Sigh, please allow Tim Keller rest in peace 🙏.
Thank you for articulating what I’ve been feeling since I learned of Tim Keller’s death
— Dan Butcher 🏳️🌈 (@danbutcher) May 20, 2023
An obvious subtweet. If a church leader who you've disagreed with theologically, maybe you even think they've done damage (not abuse, just damage), passes away, what should that complex grief process look like?
— Traci Rhoades (@tracesoffaith) May 20, 2023
Exactly right.
— Griffin Gulledge (@griffingulledge) May 20, 2023
When someone dies, I don’t care if it’s a Tim Keller, or John MacArthur, or Barbara Brown Taylor, if you can’t simply offer condolences and a kind word, then don’t say anything.
Nobody needs your qualifications, disagreements, or legacy assessments. https://t.co/sqazOgBi7q
Pastor friends, please don’t quote Tim Keller on Sunday. His bigotry stands in the way of a message of Christ’s love for all of us, no matter how nice he seemed *to you*. I pray for his family’s loss, but I pray harder for those harmed by his misunderstanding of the Gospel.
— Margaret Thornton, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) (@MaggieEThornton) May 20, 2023
This is what I remember about Tim Keller. He was an unrepentant antisemite. https://t.co/BaackywUTA
— Emily J (@EmExAstris) May 20, 2023
Unless you have been asking Christians to not celebrate the horrors that come from their abuse, and they do celebrate… please don’t ask me to do anything about Tim Keller. I don’t owe that man a thing, I am alive in spite of him. https://t.co/KsMloEJ8Ql
— Jo Luehmann (@JoLuehmann) May 20, 2023
Tim Keller died. I'm sure there will be many people paying tribute to him. Mine is this: just because you can't taste the poison I'm your food, doesn't mean it isn't there. Look for the effects. https://t.co/Duce6h9Bbh
— 5th century guinea pig lover (@escaped_ferret) May 20, 2023
In good humor and for a man I truly admired and learned a lot from, this illustrates my one and only personal interaction with Tim Keller (at GA a number of years ago). pic.twitter.com/MA26bvVdAe
— Wayne Larson (@carrifex) May 20, 2023
This is in bad taste. The man just died. Give it some time.
— MLR (@MattLeeRocks) May 20, 2023
Not resting is what makes them the bad guys. If you join them in that, you become a bad guy too.
— Stuart Klenk (@KlenkStuart) May 20, 2023
Some repeated themes I've seen in our tributes about Tim Keller are that he was approachable, humble, kind, gentle, and genuinely interested in others. He was eager to listen. He wasn't entitled, haughty, or proud. I pray we imitate him as he imitated Jesus.
— Trillia Newbell (@trillianewbell) May 20, 2023
Reminder Tim Keller was a Marxist political activist masquerading as a Christian. Progressive Christianity is heresy. https://t.co/n2emQN33uw
— Amber W (@sunkissed1221) May 20, 2023
Excellent article pointing out Timothy Keller's problematic social justice "gospel". He wasn't preaching the true gospel for years; hopefully he repented before standing before God. #timothykeller #socialjustice #badtheology #crt #marxism https://t.co/D06S3NoAum
— Jung Sun 2x (@2x_jung) May 20, 2023
D.A. Carson: “A giant has left us.”
A sad day for the Presbyterian Church in America:
The passing of Harry Reeder and Tim Keller over the past two days has been a great reminder of the beauty of the gospel. I might be a Baptist and had differences with them. Yet, they were faithful preachers of the gospel who did much for the church of Christ. Rest, dear brothers! pic.twitter.com/thm6pnsrmj
— Jake Stone (@jake_stone89) May 19, 2023
shared identity as a people, and of course in Tim who clearly knew how to treat his neighbors.
— Dr. Laura Robinson (@LauraRbnsn) May 19, 2023
More:
There’s a lot I disagree with Tim Keller on.
— Brandan J. Robertson (@BrandanJR) May 19, 2023
But the fact that early on in my faith, he showed that one could be evangelical and thoughtful, intellectual, and kind helped me tremendously on my journey of faith.
May God be with Tim Keller in his final moments of life. https://t.co/6G26EbkLql
Four days after my husband died of cancer in March, Tim Keller sent a kind note from the hospital, and four days after that Steve Smallman gave the benediction at my husband’s service, and now all three are gone and the world feels tilted and strange, the compass points missing.
— Mindy Belz (@MindyBelz) May 19, 2023
The Ideas editor at The Atlantic:
Tim Keller counseled countless people whose lives had been touched by death. Two years ago, when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he wrestled himself with the most profound questions.
— Yoni Appelbaum (@YAppelbaum) May 19, 2023
Today, we lost him.https://t.co/KKomXbYGJl
Former Southern Baptist president J.D. Greear reflects on Keller’s life here.
Keller’s sympathetic biographer:
I suspect, if the Holy Spirit blesses us with another awakening, our churches will look more like what Tim Keller envisioned—where grace will once more find a way through the tangles of intolerant secularism and tribalistic religion. https://t.co/SHzjXNO71V
— Collin Hansen (@collinhansen) May 19, 2023
David French:
As I read the tributes to Tim Keller, I’m convicted of the necessity to never be too busy to engage with people, and never be too prideful to engage with good faith critique. It can even form the foundation of friendship. His words were so full of grace and truth.
— David French (@DavidAFrench) May 20, 2023
Karen Swallow Prior:
I was blessed to get to know Tim a little in recent months. He went out of his way to be kind to me when I needed kindness. I want to be like Tim.
— The Evangelical Imagination by Karen Swallow Prior (@KSPrior) May 19, 2023
Tim Keller, retired New York megachurch pastor and bestselling author, dies at 72 https://t.co/EWhAIf01DL
I am sure we will read many more stories like this in the coming days:
That’s my favourite memory. I was a young curate from a small town in Sussex. “I want to understand” should have been my line to him (and it was). But without any pretence and with a studied curiosity, “I want to understand” was his line to me. He spent all coffee time with me.
— Glen Scrivener ن (@glenscrivener) May 19, 2023
Lecrae:
True story I’ve only been star struck by Michael Jordan, Jay-Z, and Tim Keller. There are things he’s shared that have changed me forever. https://t.co/5X5TxiXK1L
— Lecrae (@lecrae) May 18, 2023
Wow:
Seems an appropriate moment to remind everyone that Tim Keller was never of this world. 🤯 https://t.co/YPllC0bRSs
— Jason Hague (@haguejason) May 19, 2023
Marvin Olasky:
Tim Keller: "It’s in death that God says, 'If I’m not your security, then you’ve got no security, because I’m the only thing that can’t be taken away from you. I will hold you in my everlasting arms. Every other set of arms will fail you, but I will never fail you.'”
— Marvin Olasky (@MarvinOlasky) May 19, 2023
Ross Douthat:
Among many other achievements, Tim Keller spent an entire career in Christian ministry without having his public theological identity captured or subsumed by his partisan or ideological identity. An incredibly rare feat. RIP.https://t.co/gkLGOPlIZo
— Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT) May 20, 2023
Mike Pence:
Please join @KarenPence and I in praying for Pastor Tim Keller, his family and all those who cherish his ministry for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This faithful servant is loved and admired by so many families, including ours. God bless Tim Keller. https://t.co/p9nEd46eaw
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) May 19, 2023
President Emeritus of World Vision:
Tim Keller was a modern day C.S. Lewis whose preaching and writing have helped millions find or deepen their faith in Christ. His preaching at Redeemer in NYC drew thousands of young professionals to church including two of my own children. Grateful. https://t.co/5Q2zt9bdNG
— Rich Stearns (@RichStearns) May 19, 2023
Folks critiqued Keller from both sides:
I hope Tim Keller's woke behavior was not reflective of something he was letting fester because he presumed. The damage he did to the American church was great. I hope he is one of those who simply will have his works burned up but barely be saved himself.
— John Machen (@cpa_dallas) May 19, 2023
A thread from a PCA pastor:
He wanted to talk about a tweet I'd made, briefly.
— Chris Hutchinson 🇺🇦 🕊️ (@CAHutch1990) May 20, 2023
We talked for 90 minutes.
I won't share specifics, and this is not a thread about my importance – Twitter today is filled with similar anecdotes of how Tim reached out to so many folks across so many lines.
3/
He told me about some of the Zoom groups he was involved with. He still met with many unbelievers and skeptics. Tim was an evangelist to the end.
— Chris Hutchinson 🇺🇦 🕊️ (@CAHutch1990) May 20, 2023
He met with many well known figures. But he also called people like me.
He wanted to encourage me, whom he barely knew.
5/
But that's the kind of conversation it was. Trying to brainstorm together what was best for the kingdom. And he listened to me.
— Chris Hutchinson 🇺🇦 🕊️ (@CAHutch1990) May 20, 2023
He did not want to talk about his own condition, other than that he coveted prayer. Instead, Tim focused on what we could do for Christ's kingdom.
7/
To hear that from someone struggling with stage 4 cancer, and still doing all he could for the kingdom, well, I won't lie – that felt like a commissioning.
— Chris Hutchinson 🇺🇦 🕊️ (@CAHutch1990) May 20, 2023
And make no mistake, Presbyterians do have bishops of sorts. And Tim was one of them.
9/
At the end, he asked me about my book and said he would be happy to take a look. He brought it up. Then later kindly tweeted @ it – which got it into the hands of many who would've not otherwise known about it, including Brazilians, Methodists & other folk far-flung from me.
— Chris Hutchinson 🇺🇦 🕊️ (@CAHutch1990) May 20, 2023
11/
Here's the thing. Dr. Keller was singularly gifted in his intellect, productivity & capacity to engage w/ literally thousands of writers & ordinary people like me.
— Chris Hutchinson 🇺🇦 🕊️ (@CAHutch1990) May 20, 2023
He was first & foremost a pastor, caring for individuals. Most of us can't come close to his capabilities.
13/
And in that, Tim did set for us an example, making the most of the time and numbering our days that we may be wise.
— Chris Hutchinson 🇺🇦 🕊️ (@CAHutch1990) May 20, 2023
To die is gain, but until then – to live is Christ.
May our brother rest in peace and rise in glory.
FIN
Actually, this guy just did comment on Keller. So much for waiting until the funeral:
I won't be talking about Tim Keller until after his funeral. I had been planning on discussing how his work fits into a larger discussion of harmful theologies of sex.
— Aaron Huggins is ✏️ a 📖 (@AaronHugginsDev) May 20, 2023
Out of respect for those who mourn and the fact his legacy is a mix of outsized good and bad, I'll be waiting.
John Piper:
A word for young Pastors…. take a listen. Tim Keller’s Last Email to John Piper https://t.co/gkowdpy0XD via @YouTube
— Juan Carlos Marquez (@jcmarquez2) May 20, 2023
We have all been there when encountering people we admire:
I stood waiting for a few moments, nervously looked at my phone, but didn’t want to bother the guy and didn’t want to make a crowd so I wondered off.
— David McNee (@dgmcnee) May 20, 2023
Today I found out that someone took a photo of that moment – and it got used in the @TGC tribute video to Keller. Strange feeling – haven’t thought about that moment at all for 10 years, only remembered it happened yesterday. pic.twitter.com/Sfpm04leJe
— David McNee (@dgmcnee) May 20, 2023
A Gospel Coalition video tribute:
Trump court evangelical Jack Graham:
I did not know Tim Keller but it is so good to see the many tributes to his faithful life and devotion to Christ. He finished well and lives in the Presence of the One He served https://t.co/M1VaDmmHV0
— Jack Graham (@jackngraham) May 20, 2023
This guy’s studying for the ministry. Imagine what it will be like to attend his church one day:
Obligatory: Tim Keller won’t see your posts praising him despite his homophobia, transphobia, and his extremely low theological anthropology.
— Seth Roseman (@RosemanSeth) May 20, 2023
But your LGBTQIA* siblings and those who have been consistently denigrated, disparaged, and dehumanized by religion will see them.
Franklin Graham:
My condolences to the family & loved ones of Dr. Tim Keller, author & pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, who passed away today at the age of 72. The announcement from the church said he was, “trusting in the sure & certain hope of the resurrection.” https://t.co/yRmWcGMT5w
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) May 19, 2023
Russell Moore:
From a conversation we had in, I think, 2020. I still remembering fighting tears in the moment when @timkellernyc said this. I really do now. He was right. The stories are true. https://t.co/TF6Zkw6sbC
— Russell Moore (@drmoore) May 20, 2023
Jemar Tisby:
A somber and significant day in the history of U.S church. https://t.co/jrGEqdDiUC
— JemarTisby.Substack.com. (@JemarTisby) May 19, 2023
Kristin Du Mez:
Grieved to hear this news. Lifting up Pastor Keller and his family in prayer. https://t.co/oYyCIXq6GP
— Kristin Du Mez (@kkdumez) May 18, 2023
John Inazu:
Same. https://t.co/f984AYALAp
— John Inazu (@JohnInazu) May 18, 2023
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