This sponsored post is written by Collin Hansen of The Gospel Coalition and is meant to let you know about an important new curriculum titled “Making Sense of Us.”
Our culture lacks any coherent, unifying worldview. We’ve moved on from post-truth postmodernism to “Live your truth” metamodernism, where good vibes matter more than consistent ideas. In this world, few see the conflict between “trans-affirming” and “pro-woman.” And the same person using mushrooms to aid spiritual “connection” tells us to “trust the science” about human origins.
How do church leaders evangelize and make disciples in this confusing, late-modern context? The key is what Tim Keller called “cultural narratives.”
Keller’s Insight
The month before Tim Keller’s death in 2023, he met via video with staff and fellows of The Gospel Coalition’s new Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. He expressed concern that much evangelism training had become obsolete and ineffective with people who have no ties to a religious tradition, or allegiance to any historic philosophical system.
In his 2018 Oxford lectures, Tim explored the concept of cultural narratives—the stories we tell each other, and ourselves, that help us make sense of the world and our place in it. Spoken and unspoken, assumed and promoted, they’re the scripts we live by. We hear them—and speak them—to each other every day.
Want to understand yourself? “Listen to your heart.” Looking for hope? “The past is dark, but we will make the future better!” Need to separate fact from fiction? “Trust the science.” And, yes, if you want to be free, then throw off all those oppressive standards from your parents and “Live your truth.”
Tim recognized that these narratives promise happiness, justice, freedom, and belonging. But he also saw how they’ve caused anxiety and confusion because they compete with and contradict each other. Ultimately, they fail to fulfill their promises.
Better Story
For the last two years, Keller Center fellows, TGC staff, and a roving film crew have gathered during springtime in Manhattan to shoot a new video group study, Making Sense of Us. Building on Keller’s insights, fellows including Rebecca McLaughlin, Sam Chan, Trevin Wax, and Glen Scrivener teach about the scripts behind modern Western culture—our stories about self, happiness, science, justice, liberty, and progress.
We filmed each study on location at Times Square, the United Nations Headquarters, Central Park, Grand Central Terminal, the American Museum of Natural History, and on a boat in New York Harbor in front of the Statue of Liberty.
The video lessons show how our cultural stories reflect true longings from God. Then, they reveal how apart from God these stories fall short. Finally, they share how the one true story of the gospel fulfills our deepest hopes.
After months of editing the videos and workbook, we’re thrilled with how this new 7-week study has turned out. Making Sense of Us is designed especially for young and newer Christians, and even non-Christians. It’s suitable for individuals, groups, or church-wide study. Learn more and download a sample lesson at makingsenseofus.com.
