Contrary to what some people have claimed in recent years, the late Dr. Tim Keller did not avoid difficult topics for the sake of being “winsome,” said Keller’s widow, Kathy Keller. Speaking to Collin Hansen on the “Gospelbound” podcast April 20, Kathy said that from the beginning of her husband’s ministry in New York City, he graciously faced challenging questions and a hostile environment head on.
“There’s a whole mythology that’s grown up around Tim saying, ‘Oh, yes, he’s winsome. He’s nice, etc., but the world has changed and Tim’s approach is just no longer valid anymore,’” Kathy said. “‘We’ve got to fight fire with fire. We’ve got to man up and, you know, no more Mr. Nice Guy.’”
“I’m afraid I got fed up with that,” said Kathy, explaining that she wrote an article for Gospel in Life responding to that perspective titled “Major in the Majors (but get to everything).” Gospel in Life is the website containing all of Tim Keller’s resources, such as his books, sermons, and articles. “Gospelbound” is one of the podcasts from The Gospel Coalition, which Tim Keller cofounded with D.A. Carson.
“The news is, folks, that New York City when we got here in 1989 was not a nice place,” Kathy Keller said. “It wasn’t a place where Mr. Nice Guy survived. It was in the middle of the Jimmy Swaggart and Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker scandals. And to use the word ‘evangelist’ was like death.”
Kathy Keller: Tim Keller Tackled Hot-Button Issues Directly
Dr. Tim Keller was the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and the author of numerous books. He passed away on May 19, 2023, at age 72 after three years of battling pancreatic cancer. Keller was a pastor highly respected by many but nevertheless came under criticism both before and after his death over how he engaged with culture.
Kathy mentioned the “winsome” debate in response to Hansen asking, “I’m wondering what are some of the most common ways you think Tim is misunderstood today?”
She explained that part of why people believe Keller avoided difficult topics is that when they listen to his sermons, “they hear Tim preaching the gospel, and he talks about wrath, he talks about hell, but nowhere near to the percentage that would have satisfied them.”
“And they think he was sidestepping the hot-button issues in order to avoid being vilified in New York City,” she said.
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