Tim Keller PRAISES Stephen Colbert!

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Hey guys, Colin here, and welcome back to the channel where the Bible and critical thinking meet to give you real

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Christian commentary about the things that matter. Thanks so much for watching, let's get into the video. So Tim Keller is one of the biggest pastoral influences in America today, but he's also been very compromised doctrinally as of late.

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Case in point, recently he praised late night host Stephen Colbert for an amazing example of Christianity on the

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Late Night Show. So, this was, according to Tim, quote, a brilliant example of how to be a Christian in the public square, end quote.

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Tim also said, quote, notice the witness, but in a form the culture can handle. We should desire to have more

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Christians in these spaces and give them grace as they operate, end quote. Oh how lovely, he said the word grace, therefore he must be correct.

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So there are three clear points made by Keller that you need to know before I show you the video. One, Tim said that this was a brilliant example of Christianity.

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Two, this was a great witness to the culture. And three, that we need more Christians acting like this.

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Now with that being said, would you guys like to see this amazing example of Christianity that Stephen Colbert offered?

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Watch this. Is there any, you know, does your faith and your comedy ever overlap?

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And does one ever win out? No. I think ultimately, us all being mortal, the faith will win out at the end, but I certainly hope when

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I get to heaven, Jesus has a sense of humor, but I will say this, someone was asking me earlier about what

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I, this relates to faith, because my faith is involved with, I'm a Christian and a

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Catholic, and that's always connected to the idea of love and sacrifice being somehow related and giving yourself to other people, and that death is not defeat.

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If you can see where I'm getting at there. Someone was asking me earlier, what movie did I really enjoy this year?

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And I said, well, I really liked Belfast, which is Kenneth Burana's story of his childhood. And one of the reasons

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I love it is that I'm Irish and Irish -American, and it's such an Irish movie, and I think this is also a

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Catholic thing, because it's funny and it's sad, and it's funny about being sad, in the same way that sadness is like a little bit of an emotional death, but not a defeat if you can find a way to laugh about it, because that laughter keeps you from having fear of it, and fear is the thing that keeps you from turning to evil devices to save you from the sadness.

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As Robert Hayden said, we must not be frightened or cajoled into accepting evil as our deliverance from evil.

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We must keep struggling to maintain our humanity, though monsters of abstraction threaten and police us.

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So if there's some relationship between my faith and my comedy, it's that no matter what happens you are never defeated.

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You must understand and see this in the light of eternity and find some way to love and laugh with each other. Hi everybody!

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In case you're wondering, yes, that's it. That is the entire video. That was the amazing and brilliant example of Christianity that Tim Keller thought was a great witness to the culture and that he even thinks more

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Christians should try to emulate. So let's go through each point made by Tim and see if they measure up to Scripture, shall we?

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Tim says that this was a brilliant example of Christianity in action. And to that, I would simply ask the question, how?

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Stephen Colbert, at the beginning of the clip, was asked if his faith, quote, wins out over his comedy in practical ways.

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When the artist Dua Lipa, who's asking the question, asks if either his faith or his comedy wins out, she's specifically asking which one supersedes and dominates the other.

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There's overlap between these two things, she says, your comedy and your faith. But which one, quote unquote, wins out?

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The question is great, and it's very clear. Which one gets to be victorious and dominate the other?

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She literally uses the word win. So with that in mind, watch this response to this specific question once more offered by Stephen Colbert.

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Check this out. I think ultimately, us all being mortal, the faith will win out at the end.

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But I certainly hope when I get to heaven, Jesus has a sense of humor. So to make sure you don't miss this,

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I'm going to read it again because it's very important. Colbert's response was that, quote, ultimately, all of us being mortal, the faith will win out in the end.

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But I certainly hope when I get to heaven, Jesus has a sense of humor, end quote. Again, the question effectively was, does your faith supersede and control your comedy?

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Does your faith come before your jokes? A very easy question to answer if you're an honest person. His response, though, was a vague and general answer about how because everyone is mortal, meaning everyone will die someday, that means the faith will eventually win out for everyone

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I have no idea what that means. But notice how this does not actually answer the question at hand whatsoever.

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He did not say that his comedy is in submission to his faith or vice versa. No, he merely says that everyone's going to die someday, and that he hopes when he dies,

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Jesus has a sense of humor. Again, what does that even mean? In other words, there's absolutely no assurance here that his

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Christianity comes before his comedy, which was the question that was actually asked. In fact, there seems to be a very deliberate and intentional effort here to avoid that conclusion entirely.

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So how on earth can Tim Keller say that this was a brilliant example of Christianity in action?

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Let me offer you an alternative response, the response that a Christian really should be giving. When a Christian is asked about their comedy and their faith, and which one wins out against the other, a

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Christian should boldly and clearly tell their audience that their faith supersedes their comedy at all times.

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And even when they violate their faith by making a joke that's not acceptable within their faith, they strive to repent and change that behavior because, again, they have a strong conviction that their faith is above their comedy.

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He didn't need to say that exactly as I did, but a really brilliant Christian answer would have included some of what

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I just said as the main sentiment. But it's not true because I said it, it's true because the Bible says it. Second Corinthians 10 .5

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says that Christians should quote, take every thought captive to obey Christ. And as you may have guessed, when the

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Bible says every thought, it really means every thought. That includes your comedic thoughts. Ephesians 5 .4,

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for instance, says, quote, let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place.

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But instead, let there be thanksgiving, end quote. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a practical example of what it looks like for your comedy to be superseded and dominated by your faith as a

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Christian. You are commanded to refrain from making a joke if it violates your faith, if it's crude or profane.

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That is the testimony of Scripture with regards to faith and comedy. Stephen Colbert did not have to flesh this out in any kind of detail.

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He didn't have to quote a single Bible verse. I'm a pretty reasonable guy. When he was asked about whether or not his comedy or his faith win out, all he had to do was say, my faith wins out, or something of that nature.

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How hard is that? Instead, he made some spiritual and intellectually vague comments about the fact that we are all mortal, and he tried to cover up for his complete lack of substance by saying that he hopes

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Jesus has a sense of humor when he gets to heaven. This answer effectively says, well, I'm not really sure if I'm pleasing

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Jesus in what I'm doing, but I certainly hope we can have a good laugh about it together in heaven. There is nothing explicitly

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Christian or explicitly Biblical about any of this. In fact, there's a really good case to be made that this misses the

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Biblical mark by a country mile. And yet Tim Keller, one of the most popular evangelicals in America, has praised this as a, quote, brilliant example of the

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Christian faith in action. If you can't see what's wrong with that, I'm not sure you have your eyes open. The next thing that Tim says is that this comment was a great witness to the culture.

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Tim's actual words were, quote, notice the witness, but in a form the culture can handle, end quote.

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I suppose the implication here is that the culture cannot handle anything other than a sugar -coated, vaguely spiritual message that says nothing about Christ other than that he has a sense of humor.

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And I would agree with that. The culture is chocked full of blasphemous, God -hating, idolatrous pagans who are living in complete rebellion to their

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Creator. Of course they can't handle the true Gospel. They hate it. 1 Corinthians 1 .23 -25 says, quote,

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We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both

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Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men, end quote.

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The Bible makes it very clear that the unbelieving world cannot stand the Gospel for one reason or another.

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They either think it's a stumbling block, or foolishness, or some other negative thing. But the solution to this problem is not to preach a different Gospel, or to preach a vague

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Gospel, or to preach no Gospel at all. It is rather to preach the real Gospel of Jesus Christ anyway, and pray that God would use that Gospel to draw people to himself.

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That is what true witness for Jesus looks like. But Tim Keller seems to be so confused that he thinks this video shows a great example of how to witness to the culture.

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It's absolutely baffling. Watch this again. Well, I really like Belfast, which is

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Kenneth Burana's story of his childhood. And one of the reasons I love it is that I'm Irish, and Irish -American, and it's such an

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Irish movie, and I think this is also a Catholic thing, because it's funny, and it's sad, and it's funny about being sad.

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In the same way that sadness is like a little bit of an emotional death, but not a defeat if you can find a way to laugh about it.

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Because that laughter keeps you from having fear of it. And fear is the thing that keeps you from turning to evil devices to save you from the sadness.

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As Robert Hayden said, we must not be frightened or cajoled into accepting evil as our deliverance from evil.

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We must keep struggling to maintain our humanity, though monsters of abstraction threaten and police us.

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So if there's some relationship between my faith and my comedy, it's that no matter what happens you are never defeated. You must understand and see this in the light of eternity and find some way to love and laugh with each other.

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So you see, there is not an ounce of gospel witness in here, guys. So what on earth is Tim Keller talking about when he says, notice the witness here?

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I tried, Tim. I really did. And quite frankly, there's nothing here to notice. Let me recite what Colbert said again.

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He talked about the idea that death is not defeat, or death is not the end, effectively. And he follows up this idea of death not being the end or not being defeat by saying, if you see what

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I'm saying here. No, Colbert, the non -believing world does not know what you're implying. Are you saying that certain people will spend eternity in heaven and others in hell?

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Do you mean to say that we all have souls and those souls will be judged in the last days? No, he's just saying death isn't the end, and I'm sure the world can figure out the rest for themselves, right?

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As the great apostle Paul once said, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the, well, you see what

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I'm saying. Then Colbert also talks about generally loving and sacrificing for others. Those are related to the gospel, but even pagans can love and sacrifice for each other in some ways.

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Even pagans value love and sacrifice. There's no mention at all of Christ's love or Christ's sacrifice, explicit or implied.

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Then he talks about giving yourself to other people. No gospel here either. Not even a passing comment about how

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Christ gives himself up for his people, which would have been a great segue. Then he talked about being Irish.

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Again, certainly no gospel there. Then he talks about, I like the movie Belfast because it's sad and funny.

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No gospel there either. Then he talks about laughing through hard times in life. Big whoop. I'm pretty sure

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Oprah Winfrey says something to that effect every time she speaks. There's still no gospel here. And then he talks about, we need to have good rather than evil.

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But which good and which evil? Well, those aren't mentioned. Pretty much every atheist believes in good over evil in some way.

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What does that mean? Well, I'm sure they can figure out the specifics for themselves, right? If your witness goes about as deep as a

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Disney movie, then your witness is pathetic, and it's certainly not a witness to anyone. And then, of course, at the end of this video, at the end of this witness, the secular

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New York crowd goes crazy for what he just said. That's a pretty good sign that no actual witness occurred here, ladies and gentlemen.

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First John 15, 9 says, quote, If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own.

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But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

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End quote. So the question I have for Tim is, if Stephen Colbert is not of the world, if he's been saved, then why does the world claim him as their own?

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The Scripture explicitly says that they won't. If he is a Christian who has been chosen out of the world, then why does the pagan world approve of and agree with pretty much everything he says?

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Answer me that. The fact is, if the average audience member of a late night show claps for your gospel witness thunderously, there's a really good chance you didn't witness at all.

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Yet despite all of this, Tim Keller says that this is a great way to witness to the culture. He says that all

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Christians can learn from this. But let me tell you something, guys. This is not witnessing at all. So with that said,

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I'm not sure what Tim Keller's standard for a good witness for the Lord is, but my standard is the word given to us by the

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Lord who we are witnesses of. What is the Bible's standard for a good witness? That seems to have gone out the window here.

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Well, in the city of Lystra, Paul and his companion Barnabas offer a Christian witness to the people of the town who are not believers.

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Here's how it goes. In Acts 14 -15, they say, This, ladies and gentlemen, is an example of witnessing for the

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Lord. There is a God. You are rebelling against Him. Now repent and serve Him. You are enslaved to your sin.

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Repent and find freedom that comes with being a servant of Christ. If Stephen Colbert had said that,

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I would have been impressed. In fact, if he had said 1 % of that, I would have been impressed. But no, Stephen Colbert made vague references to love, eternity, enjoying movies, and being

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Irish. And according to evangelical pastor Tim Keller, this is what passes as a great Christian witness to the culture.

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What a stalwart Christian, standing up for the truth of our faith. Absolutely abysmal. Also, just to be clear, there's nothing wrong with being

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Irish or liking movies or talking vaguely about eternity because you think it's an interesting concept. The problem is when those things are being called a strong witness to the culture of the truth of Christ, because they're not.

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That is where the problem is. By the way, so far in this video, if you've noticed, we've only talked about what

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Tim Keller said in comparison to the actual content of the video and what Stephen Colbert said. We haven't even talked about the implications of approving of Catholicism.

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We haven't even talked about the implications of Stephen Colbert's extremely inappropriate comedy in conjunction with Tim Keller's approval here.

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We haven't even talked about the fact that Stephen Colbert is a raging leftist who consistently approves of killing millions of infants.

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All of these things cast even more doubt on Tim's comments here, but we haven't even touched them.

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Because I am convinced that that is not the central reason that his comments are dangerous and inaccurate. Put simply, the reason

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Tim's comments here are dangerous and unbiblical is that they are encouraging Christians to see their public conduct and their public witness in the light of a video that misrepresents how

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Christians should go about doing both of those things. That is the problem. And let me repeat this again because I want you to understand this.

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Once again, put simply, the reason Tim's comments here are dangerous and unbiblical is that they are encouraging

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Christians to see their public conduct and their public witness in the light of a video that misrepresents how

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Christians should do both of those things. Christians should be clear about the fact that their faith comes before their comedy.

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It shouldn't even be a difficult question. Colbert was not clear at all. Christians should witness clearly about the truth of God's Word.

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Colbert did not do that in any way. So if Tim had called this video a fun anecdote or simply an interesting video about Stephen Colbert, I wouldn't be making my video right now.

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There's nothing sinful about watching that video and being entertained by it. Nothing at all. The problem is that Tim called it a great example to all

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Christians to emulate and a great witness for the Christian faith. To say that from his massive platform as a pastor is inaccurate, unbiblical, and misrepresents the goals and methods of the

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Bible in a serious way. In short, I'm saying that if Tim's statement here is allowed to either rise or fall based on its own merits and how it compares to the video at hand, it falls.

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It's that simple. And in a follow -up video, I plan on tackling the defense that Tim offered for his actions here.

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The defense is, in many ways, even more unbiblical and telling than the statement being defended.

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So make sure you stay tuned for that video. And with all that said, let's pray sincerely for Tim Keller that he would stop this compromise and turn to the truth of God's Word.

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And until next time, fight for truth, never surrender, and keep your eyes open. Thank you and God bless.