Tim Keller, an evangelical of global significance, has died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Manhattan. His death was announced on Friday 19 May, nearly three years after his initial diagnosis.
In a Tweet, his son Michael Keller shared: ‘Dad waited until he was alone with Mom. She kissed him on the forehead and he breathed his last breath. We take comfort in some of his last words…“there is no downside for me leaving, not in the slightest”.’
Dr Keller was an internationally recognised speaker, writer, and leader. Following his death, there have been tributes paid from evangelicals across the world:
UK MP and en contributor Tim Farron said: ‘So very sad to hear of Tim Keller’s death… today, Tim is with the One who roars in visceral anger at death, and defeated it.’
Evangelist and en contributor Glen Scrivener said: ‘Our Father gives us a million gifts, but oh my goodness, what a gift Tim Keller has been to us.’
Nicky Gumbel, former pastor of Holy Trinity Brompton, said: ‘So thankful to God for Tim Keller’s life and ministry. Brilliant communicator, superb role model and wonderful friend. He will be missed greatly on earth but is now with the Lord for all eternity.’
And former US president George W Bush wrote: ‘I’m fortunate to have gotten to know him and I’m one of many who is blessed to have learned from Mr Keller’s teachings and benefitted from his compassion.’
'He will be remembered'
Born on 23 September 1950 in Pennsylvania, Tim Keller was raised in the Lutheran church. However, it was while studying at Bucknell University in the early 1970s that he finally, as a book about him put it, ‘came to experience his personal need for God’ and ‘found the love of God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ.’* He went on to receive a Master of Divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also met his future wife, Kathy Kristy. They married in 1975, and had three sons, Jonathan, Michael, and David.
Both his pastoral and preaching abilities were stretched immensely in his first job as a pastor, aged 24, at West Hopewell Presbyterian Church, Virginia.
It gave him a deep understanding of people and church life, which would serve him well as he went on to become a founding Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City in 1989. Starting a church in New York had been described to him as a ‘fool’s errand’, but Tim was a pastor there for almost three decades. In this time the congregation grew from 50 to nearly 5,000 – he faithfully held out the gospel to New York’s cultural elite during political upheaval, recession, and the attacks of 9/11.
His incisive application of the gospel message to culture became a hallmark of his preaching, and an example that countless others would follow. As did his heart for ministry in urban areas. When he stepped down from being a pastor aged 66 in 2017, he mentored other pastors to run urban church plants across the world, as a part of Redeemer City to City.
In 2006, Christianity Today reported: ‘Fifty years from now, if evangelical Christians are widely known for their love of cities, their commitment to mercy and justice, and their love of their neighbours, Tim Keller will be remembered as a pioneer of the new urban Christians.’
Character shaped by the gospel
Despite rising to international prominence following the publication of his bestseller ‘The Reason for God’ in 2008 (one of over 20 books he authored, and 25 million copies sold), one of Tim’s most defining characteristics seems to have been a deep humility. Author Rebecca McLaughlin reflected on Twitter:
‘In 2019, I had the privilege of speaking with Tim Keller at an equipping event for Christians in NYC…. What struck me most in each of our conversations was his genuine humility. He clearly cared first and foremost about people knowing Jesus, not about his own achievements. He also communicated the kind of respect for me as a woman that comes from years of actually respecting women.’
Similarly, in an article for The Gospel Coalition, Collin Hansen shared how he was unsure how he would respond to the unflattering stories and criticism of Tim’s ‘people-pleasing’ tendencies that he’d included in Tim’s biography. He shared: ‘I don’t know many pastors who allow such criticism to enter the public record, if they can help it. Tim allowed it. He even owned his responsibility for frustrating his staff.’
Ministry shaped by the gospel
This humility ran deep throughout his teaching and ministry, too. He preached Christ, never himself.
‘When I started listening to Tim preach the gospel as a total outlook, my piecemeal thinking gladly yielded to his grander vision.’ Stated pastor Ray Ortlund, in an article for The Gospel Coalition. ‘Familiar themes… finally converged on one focal point: the all sufficiency of Christ for me, for everyone in all our need… Tim Keller showed me a Christ bigger and better than I had been describing. And I was captivated.’
Following his diagnosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2020, Tim continued to teach and write and point to Christ. His insistence that we ‘look at what Jesus has done’ for us became a familiar refrain.
As evangelicals across the world now mourn his passing, the passing of a ‘giant’, a ‘leading example’, and a ‘good and faithful servant’, we can take comfort in knowing that he is with Jesus, who he loved so much.
We can remember the words he shared at his own brother’s funeral in the late 90’s:
‘Christians don’t fall asleep when they die. That’s when they finally wake up. [They go] into the warmth and life where [they] perceive God in all five senses, or maybe even a thousand or a million senses we can hardly fathom in the cold and dark of this fallen world.’
