Tim Keller on Contextualization

From Dan Gouge:

Tim Keller fits into this template arguably better than most well-known Reformed voices in North America today. He doesn’t try to act like he is a young man, he wears a suit and speaks like adult. But in doing so, does he not take on the aspect of a professor or some other serious professional, the sort of person you would ask for financial advice or some such thing. He speaks in what I’d call news anchor-English, i.e.: there isn’t much of a discernible regional accent to his words. His delivery is calm and thoughtful, at least in the clips I’ve seen of him. I don’t know if Keller tries to act this way or if this is just Tim Keller being Tim Keller, but it strikes me that, despite his “aw shucks, what do I know about contextualization?” demeanour, the man does owe his success to the fact that he fits with a lot of social expectations about the serious, sober adult. As much as this figure might get ridiculed in popular culture (much like the philosophers were mocked by the Greeks), he’s still the type we’d like advising us on finance, teaching university classes, helping us chart our careers and so on. In other words, Keller is the master contextualizer. Don’t worry, Tim, your secret is safe with us.