Loving the City: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City

by Timothy Keller, Daniel Strange (Contribution by), Gabriel Salguero (Contribution by), Andy Crouch (Contribution by)

Overview

Even if you don’t go to the city to minister, make no mistake—the city is coming to you. Regardless of your particular cultural or geographical context, you will need to consider the city when forming a theological vision that engages the people you are trying to reach.

In Loving the City, bestselling author and pastor Timothy Keller looks at the biblical foundations for contextualizing the gospel as we communicate to the culture in a way that is both respectful and challenging. He articulates the key characteristics of a city vision, showing how the city develops as a theme throughout Scripture, from its anti-God origins, to its strategic importance for mission, to its culmination and redemption in glory.

Finally, he examines the need for thoughtful cultural engagement, unpacking four models for engaging culture, showing the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and emphasizing a blended approach that balances the key insights of each. Loving the City will help you to minister to your cultural context in a way that is biblically faithful and fruitful.

This new edition contains the second section of Center Church in an easy-to-read format with new reflections and additional essays from Timothy Keller and several other contributors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310514084
Publisher:	Zondervan
Publication date:	03/15/2016
Series:	Center Church
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	694,262
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Timothy J. Keller (1950–2023) was the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, cofounder of Redeemer City to City, and the author of numerous books, including The Reason for God, The Prodigal God, and The Meaning of Marriage. His thirty-one books have sold over six million copies and have been translated into twenty-nine languages.

Andy Crouch is editorial director for The Christian Vision Project at Christianity Today International and executive producer of Where Faith and Culture Meet, a series of short documentary films on Christians creating "a counterculture for the common good." He is a member of the editorial board of Books & Culture, and a senior fellow of the International Justice Mission's IJM Institute. His writing has appeared in several editions of Best Christian Writing and Best Spiritual Writing. He lives with his family in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Gospel Contextualization 1. Intentional Contextualization 2. Balanced Contextualization 3. Biblical Contextualization 4. Active Contextualization Reflection: A Cultural Gospel Dan Strange Part 2: City Vision 5. The Tension of the City 6. Redemption and the City 7. The Call to the City 8. The Gospel for the City Reflection: Loving Your City Jon Tyson Part 3: Cultural Engagement 9. The Cultural Crisis of the Church 10. The Cultural Responses of the Church 11. Why All the Models are Right…and Wrong 12. Cultural Engagement Through Blended Insights Reflection: Engaging Culture Andy Crouch Responses and Conclusion Timothy Keller