Tim Keller warns against divisions in the Church for the sake of politics

Timothy Keller, senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, spoke about the challenges that Christians face in evangelizing to the post-Christian culture and warned against the division of the Church for the sake of politics.

Keller delivered his message on Thursday, the last day of the Movement Day Global Cities conference at the Jacob Javits Center in New York. He expressed his concern that Christians might be caught up in the political fragmentation that is happening across the world.

"We might start getting divided politically instead of remembering that you're Christian first and you're white, black, Asian, Hispanic, second. You're a Christian first and you're American, or you're British and you're African second," he said. 

The pastor acknowledged that there are growing challenges in evangelizing to the post-Christian culture. He perceived that secularism and individualism, which were once believed to be confined to the West, are now spreading globally.

"The reason why it presents a particular problem for evangelism is because this is the first non-Christian culture that is based on the rejection of Christianity," he said.

The pastor noted that churches are having difficulties with navigating the post-Christian culture and will continue to do so until they find better ways to move forward.

He urged Christians to pursue righteousness instead of blessedness. He said that aiming for righteousness would lead to blessings.

Keller saw the excessive use of social media and technological devices as another challenge to the church.

"The shaping and forming impact of social media, for example, is far, far greater than television ever was. Churches have got their kids a couple hours a week if they're lucky, and therefore we have not figured out how to form Christians in the culture," the pastor warned.

Keller is still optimistic despite the challenges, adding that Christianity is spreading across the world. He highlighted the importance of evangelizing in cities and encouraged the formation of multi-ethnic leadership in churches.