A group of British evangelicals gathered in London on July 4, 2023, to remember the life and ministry of Tim Keller.
The London Project, an initiative of Redeemer City to City, hosted a “Tim Keller Appreciation Evening” in Mayfair. The evening began with various evangelical leaders in London sharing testimonies of Keller’s influence on their lives and ministries. The main feature was the U.K. book launch of Collin Hansen’s recent biography on Keller. Ben Virgo, director of Christian Heritage London, interviewed Hansen.
Hansen’s work explores the formative figures behind Keller’s life and work, including many well-known British evangelicals. But what’s striking is how, during his life and now after it, Keller’s ministerial influence travels in the opposite direction across the Atlantic.
Anglophile Affinities
While much of the midcentury British evangelical program pervaded American evangelical life, Tim Keller was specifically influenced by it. British evangelicals provided Keller with a model for balancing erudite orthodoxy with warm piety and a culturally sensitive approach.
J. I. Packer, John Stott, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and C. S. Lewis are frequently referenced in his sermons and books. Dick Lucas of St. Helen’s Bishopsgate and John Stott of All Souls Langham Place showed Keller models for fruitful city-center ministries that were faithful to historic Christian orthodoxy. Meanwhile, John Newton provided Keller with his foundational paradigm for pastoral counseling.
But I was curious to find a few of the ways Keller benefited the very group of people who taught him so much. So, as an American in London, I reached out to some fellow ministers to learn more about what he meant to them. Here are five ways I learned Keller influenced British evangelicals.
1. Persuasive Preaching for a Skeptical Age
Keller’s sermon “Counterfeit Gods” at Cambridge is a fine example of preaching the gospel to the heart. One of the distinctive features of Keller’s ministry was how he preached the gospel to address the idols of the culture. As Trevor Archer notes, “Tim influenced and inspired two generations of British preachers by modeling how to engage with contemporary culture in a warm, penetrating manner by recapturing and expounding the biblical theme of sin as idolatry.”
Matt Fuller recognizes how Keller’s preaching was persuasive, modeling a way of addressing a skeptical generation of listeners: “In the center of a world city like London, he was ahead of the game in realizing that declaring truth was good and faithful. But given the skeptical waters Christians and non-Christians swim in, it was also necessary to persuade people of the truth.”
The majority of Christians—whether in America or Europe—struggle to talk about their faith in a way that applies the power of the gospel to the idols of the culture. Keller remains an invaluable guide for navigating this complexity. Thankfully, resources are available to help us follow his example. I find that Keller’s insights, and particularly his book Preaching, continue to be highly relevant today.
2. Theological Vision for a City Movement
While Word ministry is the heart of evangelical ministry, it’s not the whole. Keller gave British evangelicals an integrated theological vision for ministry that led to confidence and collaboration. According to Andy Mason, “Tim made you feel like it was possible to reach the post-Christian secular city again. He gave us hope that the gospel connected with the hearts of Londoners and really was powerful and transformative.”
Tim made you feel like it was possible to reach the post-Christian secular city again.
Keller’s insistence on collaboration for a city movement is a hallmark of his theological vision. Neil Powell explains, “Inspired by this profound belief, many individuals, including me, have recognized the power of working together across evangelical denominations. It’s a radical departure from the status quo, and for many, a breath of fresh air.”
People are moving to cities faster than the church is. Keller modeled an attitude toward both the city and collaboration that was rooted in the love and compassion of God.
3. Connecting with the Culture
It was clear from Keller’s life that he not only owed a great debt to British evangelical pastors and theologians but also enjoyed their culture and lands. James Eglinton, one of the leaders looking to build on the good foundation Keller established, offers insights for Keller’s influence on British leadership: “It’s hard to think of another Christian leader whose works are as widely influential amongst British evangelicals in the present day. The fact that Tim was not British, and never lived or studied here, makes that all the more remarkable.”
Keller’s ministry in New York City helped him become attuned to a range of people and cultures. This cultural sensitivity no doubt enhanced his appeal to the British. Eglinton concludes, “He knew how to imagine their hinterland, and used that to connect with British Christians compellingly.”
4. Emphasis on Beautiful Grace
Cultural apologetics is concerned with helping unbelievers want the gospel to be true even before they completely understand the good news in all its fullness. Keller accentuated this approach by focusing on grace, not just as a theoretical or propositional concept but as a deeply affective and living reality that’s beautiful to behold.
Here’s how Mason describes it: “He showed us how grace applied to a whole range of personal and pastoral situations—and how that changed the way we think about God, ourselves and other people. We’re deeply indebted to him for that.”
It’s hard to think of another Christian leader whose works are as widely influential amongst British evangelicals in the present day.
Fuller traces out the effects of God’s grace even further. “Keller was a helpful corrective in his irenic tone. To British evangelicals, who often feel they are a beleaguered minority holding back a liberal tide, he was a great model of holding firmly to confessional truths of the Scriptures with generosity and with grace.”
Keller helped British people see that the God-satisfied center of Reformed theology had implications for all of life and ministry.
5. Commitment to Church Planting
While the church planting scene across the U.K. has many influences, Keller is no doubt one of them. According to Powell, “Keller’s commitment to urban church planting has sparked inspiration across the board. His work in New York has become a blueprint for urban ministry in the UK, guiding and empowering countless individuals to embark on their own ambitious endeavors.” Powell continues, “The impact of his vision resonates far beyond the geographical confines of New York, permeating the very fabric of urban ministry in the UK.”
Keller’s influence can be seen in the work of major British church planting efforts, including Co-Mission, New Frontiers, and the FIEC.
Lasting Impressions
In Center Church, Keller explains the goal of preaching: making the truth more real to the hearts of listeners than it has been before. Keller quotes Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who said, “The first and primary object of preaching . . . is to produce an impression. It is the impression at the time that matters, even more than what you can remember subsequently.”
I believe Keller’s life and ministry epitomize this. Through his lifelong focus on Jesus Christ, Keller not only conveyed the truth but made it something to be joyfully received and celebrated. In so doing, he left a lasting impression on those he reached, including many across the pond.
The Gospel Coalition