Kathy Keller > Quotes

“Most people, when they are looking for a spouse, are looking for a finished statue when they should be looking for a wonderful block of marble. Not so you can create the kind of person you want, but rather because you see what kind of person Jesus is making.”
― Kathy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God

“We never know whom we marry; we just think we do. Or even if we first marry the right person, just give it a while and he or she will change. For marriage, being [the enormous thing it is] means we are not the same person after we have entered it. The primary problem is . . . learning how to love and care for the stranger to whom you find yourself married.”
― Kathy Keller

“Jesus called his disciples to be both “salt and light.” Each image depicts a perfect balance between difference and yet involvement. Salt only helps the meat if it is chemically different from the meat, yet is spread out into it. Light only pushes back the dark if it is both different from the dark, yet perceptible instead of being hidden under a basket (Matthew 5:15). So the Christian church must both keep its distinctiveness—not assimilating to the non-believing culture—and it MUST stay engaged and involved in that culture, rather than separated from it. We must remain in relationships and conversations with non-Christian people and secularized institutions and fields—not treating them simply as opponents. We must do so even when it costs us.”
― Kathy Keller

“It is in the great tradition of FALSE prophets who tell us to battle against earthly powers, when Scripture explicitly tells us that we are NOT fighting them, but spiritual powers and principalities (Ephesians 6:12). The only weapon that will avail is the Word of God, and that must be preached, taught, lived, and not exchanged for a mess of pottage (power). We are to serve, not to rule–to influence with our words and our lives rather than by force. As imitators of Christ, who came to serve rather than be served, we cannot hide and protect ourselves by living only among like-minded believers. We are to obey Jesus, who engaged sinners and tax collectors over meals.”
― Kathy Keller