If we’ve studied together or if you’ve interacted with some of my material it will come as no surprise that Tim Keller has mentored me in the area of reading and preaching the Bible. Over the next few posts I intend to summarize my best takeaways from his book, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism.

First, let me tell you what I believe Keller’s best contributions have been. Keller is a master of Christ-centered preaching that is not afraid of making creative connections to the Cross. This separates him from well-known proponents of the method such as Sidney Greidanus and Bryan Chapell. Keller is also a master critic of the human condition (both the Christian and non-Christian).

On page 110 Keller writes,

“The Christian preacher must be a critic of nonbelievers….Christian communicators must show that they remember (or at least understand) very well what it is like not to believe.”

If you’re like me and have been a Christian since your youth, this is not easy to do. Another thing that makes this difficult is, due to the nature of most pastorates, we spend virtually all of our time with Christians. Add to that what we constantly read–Christian material.

But I’ve listened to Keller for almost as long as he’s been at Redeemer in NYC. He knows the human condition very well. Therefore, he is in a position every weekend to critique the human heart. And it adds quality and depth to his sermons.

So, here’s what I try to do in order to become more skillful in this area.

First, I try hard to pay attention to my own thinking, the struggles that go on in my head as I fight temptation. I will sometimes say to folks on Sunday, “I know you because I’m like you.”

Second, I try hard to listen carefully to what Christians say to me when they are honest enough to let things slip out (they say things when their guard was down and they were very exercised about something).

Those two cover the Christian condition.

Finally, and this comes harder for me, I try to read reputable blogs such as Church & Culture, and scan media coverage to become familiar with how people think about themselves and their world.

Then it’s a matter of learning how to strategically place those insights into the exposition of Scripture.

Long before Sunday I am trying to see how my preaching portion contains theology that includes some look into our human condition. That requires me to be a critic of Christians and non-Christians.

Preaching well so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal