Our Fave Tim Keller Quotes from the Past 25 Years

This weekend, Redeemer Presbyterian Church is celebrating its 25th Anniversary... and we've been partnering with Redeemer to love and serve the poor of NYC for 22 out of those 25 years! 

In 1994, a small group of staff and congregants started Hope for New York as a separate non-profit, and many of them were inspired by Rev. Tim Keller's teaching on serving the poor and marginalized. 

We wanted to share a few of our fave Tim Keller quotes on mercy and justice from the past 25 years that have continued to inspire us in our work. 

God's grace makes us just

If a person has grasped the meaning of God's grace in his heart, he will do justice. If he doesn't live justly, then he may say with his lips that he is grateful for God's grace, but in his heart he is far from him. If he doesn't care about the poor, it reveals that at best he doesn't understand the grace he has experienced, and at worst he has not really encountered the saving mercy of God. Grace should make you just. (from Generous Justice) 

Who is my neighbor? 

We instinctively tend to limit for whom we exert ourselves. We do it for people like us, and for people whom we like. Jesus will have none of that. By depicting a Samaritan helping a Jew, Jesus could not have found a more forceful way to say that anyone at all in need - regardless of race, politics, class, and religion - is your neighbour. Not everyone is your brother or sister in faith, but everyone is your neighbor, and you must love your neighbor. (from Generous Justice)

Christians & Mercy

The clear directive of scripture that all Christians must have their own ministry of mercy. We must each be actively engaged in it ourselves. (from Ministries of Mercy)

HOW JESUS' LOVE CHANGES US

Christ literally walked in our shoes and entered into our affliction. Those who will not help others until they are destitute reveal that Christ's love has not yet turned them into the sympathetic persons the gospel should make them. (from Generous Justice)

Word & deed

If [our neighbors] see us loving the poor and loving our cities and adding value to our neighborhoods, so that the non-Christians in those neighborhoods say, "You know, I don’t believe what those people believe, but I’m glad they’re here because they’re making this city a better place to live." (from The Gospel & The Poor talk)