MacArthur Rebukes Tim Keller’s ‘Urban Mandate’
Leave it to Pastor John MacArthur to clear up the murky mess of modern evangelical platitudes. This past Wednesday, MacArthur spoke at the Grace To You Truth Matters conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. At the tail end of his sermon concerning separation from the world, he rebuked the entire concept of Tim Keller’s widely promoted “Urban Mandate”:
“You know, I’ve heard frequently over the last few years that the church has an ‘Urban Mandate’. An Urban Mandate to redeem the cities…it’s very popular. And we are to engage in social causes. Yes, we are to love people, yes we are to be charitable, yes we are to be kind. But what is the ‘Urban Mandate’, what is the message we should have to the cities? Let me tell you what it is, it’s in Matthew 11. Here’s Matthew 11:20, speaking of Jesus: “Then He began to denounce the cities.” Did you hear that? “Then He began to denounce the cities.” In which most of His miracles were done because they didn’t repent. That is the ‘Urban Mandate’. Tell them if they don’t repent they’re going to be under judgment. That is the message.
‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.’”
This is in stark contrast to Keller’s rosy view of cities. In A Theology of Cities, Tim Keller gave a glowing assessment of cities, stating:
“The city is not to be regarded as an evil invention of ungodly fallen man… The ultimate goal set before humanity at the very beginning was that humanculture should take city-form… there should be an urban structuring of human historical existence… The cultural mandate given at creation was a mandate to build the city. Now, after the fall, the city is still a benefit, serving humankind as refuge from the howling wilderness condition into which the fallen human race, exiled from paradise, has been driven… The common grace city has remedial benefits even in a fallen world.”
Funny that he harkens back to early Genesis yet fails to see that God’s Word paints a low view of cities. God rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah for their abominable sin. In fact, the word “Sodomy” originates from Sodom. While Tim Keller states that “the city is not to be regarded as an evil invention of ungodly fallen man,” one doesn’t need to look any further than the fruits of cities both in the Bible (Babel, Corinth, Egypt, etc) and in modern society.
Today, cities are still the epicenter of sinful practices. They are dominated by the Democratic Party, which is the promoter of every kind of evil: sodomy, abortion (murder), transgenderism, theft, dishonoring of parents, and rioting, amongst others. In fact, some American cities are so notoriously wicked that many are now fleeing them due to totalitarian mandates, rampant drug problems, shootings, and human waste routinely deposited on sidewalks.
Keller has long been the hemming and hawwing, faux intellectual, deconstructing-darling of modern Evangelicals. Protestia, Pulpit & Pen, and plenty of other discernment ministries have long warned of the falsehoods he promotes. It’s great to see Pastor MacArthur address this from the pulpit and provide clarity to believers based in the Truth.
Editor’s Note. This article is a guest post by Brad Schoolfield for Protestia
For more critique of Keller’s Theology of the City and a vicious takedown of it, click here
About Author
The earliest cities mentioned in the Bible were those built by men who were not approved by God. Cain built the city of Enoch (Genesis 4:17) after murdering Abel and being expelled from Eden. Nimrod built the city Rehoboth (Genesis 10:11), and of course, the ungodly world said, “Let us build us a city and a tower” (Genesis 11:4).
“Faux intellectual” is right. I’ve always maintained that people think Tim “The Great Nuancer” Keller is intelligent because he’s bald, wears glasses, and looks and sounds the way most people think a professor should look and sound. Relatively few people pay serious attention to what he says, which is increasingly nonsensical.
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When the angel of God told Lott to flee to the wilderness before he destroyed Sodom, Lott talked him into letting him instead go to a town specifically because it was small. He reiterated the smallness of it as a way to convince the angel. Very much taken for granted that worldliness expands with size.
Very interesting, Paul. 🤔 Didn’t know this.
Genesis 19:20. Lot asks of the angels of the LORD.