We Need R&D

Welcome to everyone who’s recently joined this newsletter via the course on “Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World” by Tim Keller and Edmund Clowney. Though the faith of these men is now sight, they still speak to us through these landmark lectures delivered at Reformed Theological Seminary nearly 25 years ago.

Our culture has changed since Keller and Clowney commended Christ-centered preaching for the postmodern world. In the last 25 years, 40 million Americans have left the church. Over and over again Christians have been caught flat-footed with issues such as justice, sexuality, and politics. Algorithms have been designed to make us angry and afraid.

Sometimes I lay awake at night wondering and praying about what the church will look like in another 25 years. What will we leave behind for our children and grandchildren?

Amid this Great Dechurching, Christians haven’t prioritized enough research and development (R&D) for cultural change. Imagine a business that never invests in R&D. You end up like my friend who inherited the family typewriter business.

In our mission, we can’t afford to fail. The last 25 years show us the consequences for the church.

Think of The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics as R&D for Christians. We’re not just trying to catch up with the last 25 years. We’re trying to get ahead for the next 25 years. We’re convening leaders, as in our retreat late last month in New York. We’re hosting conferences and producing content on the cutting edge of culture. Through our online learning cohorts, we provide continuing education to everyone from pastors to professors to parents. We just opened registration for a cohort that helps you disciple the rising generation of teenagers.

I don’t want to leave my children unprepared for the next 25 years. I want them to know Christ and make him known. I want them to grow up among Christians known for faith and love and not fear and loathing.

I trust you share that same mission.

We need to invest in research and development to help them get ahead of the next cultural changes.

Last month in New York, we heard from Michael Keller about a new “cultural narratives” project. For additional context I recommend watching this presentation from Michael at TGC Netherlands last year. To kickstart this collaboration we recently filmed two sessions at Times Square and the United Nations. I think you’ll enjoy watching this brief trailer featuring Glen Scrivener and Sam Chan.

Eventually, we hope to produce curriculum with videos for all seven “cultural narratives.” We believe this approach can help stem the tide of dechurching and also evade the algorithm that makes evangelism so difficult. By God’s grace, we can get ahead of cultural change with the unchanging gospel.

Would you prayerfully consider joining us in this mission by contributing financial support? Over the next 3 years, we are seeking $2 million to fund The Keller Center’s R&D. To develop innovative ways to evangelize. And to research effective ways to thwart the algorithm and reverse the dechurching.

What will the church look like in the next 25 years? By God’s grace we’ll be rejoicing with a generation faithful and effective in sharing the truth, goodness, and beauty of the gospel as the only hope that fulfills our deepest longings.