Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Tim Keller on Freedom

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Keller Walking with God“Luther preached that there was nothing more important for a person than to see that he or she could contribute nothing whatsoever to one’s own salvation. We can be fully accepted and counted legally righteous in God’s sight through faith in Christ, solely by free grace. To understand and grasp this is to finally know freedom from the crushing burden of proving yourself – to society, family, other people, or even to yourself. It means freedom from fear of the future, from any anxiety about your eternal destiny. It is the most liberating idea possible and it ultimately enables you to face all suffering, knowing that because of the cross, God is absolutely for you and that because of the resurrection, everything will be all right in the end.

The belief that we are saved by our virtue, the state of our hearts, or our good works injects a heavy layer of uncertainty and insecurity in our lives. If God’s treatment of us is conditioned by the quality of our lives, and the quality of our lives is always far from perfect, then we can never be sure he is completely for us, loving us. To escape this uncertainty requires that you dispel any illusion that through your wisdom and strength you can either create a safe and good life for yourself or put God in the position of owing you such a life.”

Tim Keller in Walking with God through Pain and Suffering

Tim Keller on joy in suffering

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Keller Walking with GodThe grief and sorrow drive you more into God. It is just as when it gets colder outside, the temperature kicks the furnace higher though the thermostat. Similarly, the sorrow and the grief drive you into God and show you the resources you never had. Yes, feel the grief. There is a tendency for us to say, “I am afraid of the grief, I am afraid of the sorrow. I don’t want to feel that way. I want to rejoice in the Lord.” But look at Jesus. He was perfect, right? And yet he goes around crying all the time. He is always weeping, a man of sorrows. Do you know why? Because he is perfect. Because when you are not all absorbed in yourself, you can feel the sadness of the world. And therefore, what you actually have is that the joy of the Lord happens inside the sorrow. It doesn’t come after the sorrow. It doesn’t come after the uncontrollable weeping. The weeping drives you into the joy, it enhances the joy, and then the joy enables you to actually feel your grief without its sinking you. In other words, you are finally emotionally healthy.

Tim Keller in Walking with God through Pain and Suffering

Tim Keller on Marriage

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Keller Marriage“The Bible’s teaching on marriage does not merely reflect the perspective of any one culture or time. The teachings of Scripture challenge our contemporary Western culture’s narrative of individual freedom as the only way to be happy. At the same time, it critiques how traditional cultures perceive the unmarried adult to be less than a fully formed human being. The book of Genesis radically critiques the institution of polygamy, even though it was the accepted cultural practice of the time, by vividly depicting the misery and havoc it plays in family relationships, and the pain it caused, especially for women. The New Testament writers, in a way that startled the pagan world, lifted up long-term singleness as a legitimate way to live. In other words, the Biblical authors’ teaching constantly challenged their own cultures’ beliefs – they were not simply a product of ancient mores and practices. We cannot, therefore, write off the Biblical view of marriage as one-dimensionally regressive or culturally obsolete. On the contrary, it is bristling with both practical, realistic insights and breathtaking promises about marriage.”

Tim Keller in The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God

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