A conversation between father and son has become a new book carrying the late Tim Keller's ideas into a changed cultural moment. Michael Keller says The Stories We Live By: Seven Cultural Myths That Fail Us and the Story That Never Will began when he told his father that he wished Making Sense of God had a more accessible companion-one that brought the stories shaping people's lives to the forefront.
Tim's answer was simple: they could write it together.
The two began identifying those stories and outlining the chapters. But Tim died in May 2023 before the project was complete. Michael told ChurchLeaders that, before his death, his father urged him to take the material they had gathered, write the book, and publish it. What began as a shared idea became a task Michael would have to finish without him.
Michael is the lead pastor of Redeemer Lincoln Square in New York City, part of the church network associated with his father's ministry. Yet the new book asks a question that reaches beyond the Keller family or Redeemer's congregations: What stories do people rely on to explain who they are, what they need, and where they hope to find fulfillment?
For pastors, Michael believes the answer should change how they speak to people. He told ChurchLeaders that ministry leaders can be so eager to correct a mistaken belief that they fail to acknowledge the good desire behind it. "If you don't affirm, then you scold," he said. His approach is to recognize what a person is seeking, examine where the story they trust falls short, and show how the Christian message addresses that longing.
That can be difficult when disagreement feels personal. Michael raised a question many church leaders face: Can you love someone while telling them you disagree? He argues that pastors can affirm a person's worth and take their hopes seriously without agreeing with every conclusion they have reached. The order matters. People are less likely to listen to a critique if they have never heard that they have been understood.
The book draws on cultural analysis Michael developed with his father, while speaking to questions people are asking now. It is also a glimpse into their working relationship: a son gave his father frank feedback, a father invited his son to build on it, and the son carried the work forward after their time together ended.
Tim Keller left behind a substantial body of writing. This book has a more intimate origin than most: it began with Michael telling his dad what he thought was missing. Whether readers come to it for pastoral guidance, cultural analysis, or one more encounter with Tim's thinking, its central challenge is direct. Before trying to change someone's mind, have we understood the story by which they live?
