I hate to break it to you, but Tim Keller is not your pastor … unless, of course, you actually go to his church. At least, that’s what the church’s website implies.
Keller, as you probably know, is a well-respected author and the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. The growth of the church has often piqued the interest of the church world — 5,000 attendees anywhere outside the Bible Belt, especially in NYC, is nothing to sneeze at — but the rest of the world is taking note, too. Recently, Redeemer was the subject of a New York Magazine profile that gets right to the point of things: “Why are so many New Yorkers flocking to evangelical Christian preacher Tim Keller?” It’s as though the implied follow-up question is, “Shouldn’t they know better?”
Anyway, the article mentions that 25,000 people download Keller’s sermons every week, which prompted me to check out Redeemer’s website. On the sermons page, I came across an interesting bit of text:
Redeemer’s primary method of evangelism has always been through the planting of gospel-centered churches. The Free Sermon Resource is not intended as a “broadcast ministry” which would create “virtual” members listening from home, rather than getting involved in their local congregations. Instead, we hope that this will serve as a “resource” for the broader movement of the gospel in the world: both as an evangelistic tool to share with our inquiring friends, neighbors and co-workers, and as a way of sharing our core principles, or “DNA,” to assist in the planting and nurturing of gospel-centered churches around the world – many of them in places difficult to reach via traditional means. Please enjoy listening and sharing the good news!
In that paragraph there’s an interesting (although somewhat indirect) statement about Redeemer’s view of the Internet and the local church. Redeemer invites you to download some of Keller’s sermons, but they don’t invite you to consider yourself a “virtual” member of their church. While most churches offer some or all of their sermon content without instruction or qualification, Redeemer has lightly stamped their content with a “How Not To Use This …” statement. Personally, I find it thought-provoking, and whether or not you agree with Redeemer’s stance on “virtual” issues, you might consider if there any qualifying statements you should make as you distribute media content through your website or other channels.
