John Stott - one of three mighty men of God

I see that John Stott died two days ago, on Wednesday the 27th. Last year I wrote a review for Evangelical Times of Roger Steer's book on Stott entitled Inside Story. I am putting it here as a tribute to a man of God.

The historian Adrian Hastings described John Stott as ‘one of the most influential figures in the Christian world’ and ‘the recognized senior theologian and thinker of world evangelicalism’, and in 2005 Time magazine named him as among the 100 most influential people in the world. In this book Roger Steer has provided a popular and extremely readable biography. John Stott, of course, is still alive, approaching his ninetieth birthday next year, and a new book of his has just appeared. so there is more biography yet to come! Nevertheless, many will be glad to read the story so far.

Inside Story is popular in style, very well-written and full of interest as well as touches of humour. The fact that there are 31 chapters in under 300 pages indicates that chapters are short and can be read easily at one sitting. The Contents pages have a useful timeline giving important dates to which you can easily refer as you proceed. The author gains a sense of immediacy by using direct speech: John said, ‘This,’ he said, ‘That,’ but on occasions this left me wondering how the rest of the conversation went! In reading the story of John Stott we are also learning a great deal about the history of evangelicalism over the last 80 years.

The overwhelming impression one is left with is that the consuming passion of John Stott is the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing else can explain his complete dedication and prodigious labours. From the time of his conversion not long before his seventeenth birthday right up to the present, his love for Jesus Christ and his faithful service for him are a consistent testimony to the life-changing and life-directing power of the gospel of Christ. Granted that he had exceptional abilities and a privileged start in life and recognizing that very few could ever live and serve quite as he has done, that life is nonetheless a constant inspiration and challenge and this is by far the most important value of this book.

Those who cannot remember back before the 60’s are likely to be surprised at the rather superficial understanding of conversion amongst evangelicals in earlier days, and probably even more surprised at the elitism of ‘Bash’, whose success was nonetheless remarkable and highly significant. The chapter on Stott’s disagreement with Dr Lloyd-Jones in 1966 really needs some background as it has to be understood in the light of the ecumenism of that period and in view of the turn of evangelical Anglicans ‘out of the ghetto’ and into a new commitment to the Church of England which took place at Keele the next year, and was already being prepared for. I do not think the issues underlying that disagreement have disappeared and the way things are going in the Church of England at present they may yet prove to be very important. Other controversial areas are Stott’s insistence that social action is ‘part of evangelism’ and his equivocation over eternal punishment or eventual annihilation. Mention needs to be made of these, for they are serious matters, but they must not be allowed to obscure the overwhelmingly positive contribution he has made to world evangelicalism.

John Stott belongs to the Church of England – indeed he must be almost unique in that All Souls, Langham Place in London, has been his church throughout his life – but a great deal of his ministry has been both inter-denominational and international. The range of his ministries and the extent of his worldwide travel are breath-taking, and he has been a major influence in the lives of many others who are now Christian leaders around the world. His numerous books are referred to and listed; some have brief résumés, Issues Facing Christians Today and The Cross of Christ for example, two of his most significant. In future days his influence and legacy will be better able to be evaluated, but there can be no doubt that it has been immense.

However, the book is entitled Inside Story, and it is the portrait of Stott himself, built up from those who worked with him and knew him well, which is so fascinating. In him there is a rare combination of natural ability and grace, of humility and conviction, and of discipline and forbearance. One of his great strengths is that his mind controls his emotions, but it is a mind that seeks always to be submissive to his Lord speaking through Scripture. It would not, I think, be unfair to describe him as quintessentially English, but it is the best qualities of the English, softened and moulded by grace, that have made him so remarkably effective. For over fifty years his secretary was Frances Whitehead; this must be something of a record, and his work surely owes an incalculable debt to her ability and diligence. She also must know this bachelor better than anyone else, so what she says about him counts more than that of any other: ‘He is what he professes. He wants to please God and that’s all he cares about – doing God’s will, living for his glory, being faithful.’

The funeral of Geoff Richardson

Yesterday my wife and I went to the village of Ingleton in North Yorkshire for the funeral of Geoff Richardson, a deacon at Ingleton Evangelical Church who died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 47. As we walked along the street towards the parish church of St Mary we understood why this church building was being used instead of his home church. Ahead of us was a line of people obviously going to the funeral too. Arriving with more than 20 minutes to spare we found every seat already taken. We turned into a room immediately under the tower, but there were no vacant seats there either and we prepared to sit on some tables at the back when some younger people kindly vacated their seats for us. I suppose there were some 60 people sitting and standing in that room with the doors open into the nave.
The service was moving, appropriate, both solemn and joyful, conducted by the pastor Jim Day. The main address was by the retired pastor, John Mollitt, who knew Geoff in his unconverted days, and saw the wonderful transformation which Christ brought about in his life and his growth in grace and Christian service. His thoughtful words, spoken clearly and with conviction, skilfully linked Geoff's life with four phrases from the writings of the apostle Paul: without Christ; in Christ; for Christ; and with Christ. The gospel was clearly and powerfully presented. Geoff himself was first brought to consider his need by the funeral of his grandmother. Who can tell what seeds were sown as his life and death were remembered yesterday?

One Master

My attention has been turned again to a verse which I have found to be important and helpful to me, Romans 14: 4: ‘Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.’ Early on in the pastorate I became conscious of other ministers who expected me to do this or that – or not to do this or that, and to join in with this or that – or not to join in with this or that. I felt a pressure, sometimes subtle, sometimes not so subtle. The same sort of pressure, of course, can be experienced by all Christians, from sources both within and without the local church. It is very valuable to have wise and trusted friends whose advice can be sought; and I believe we can learn from many others, both Christian and unbelievers. But in the last analysis we have one Master, Jesus Christ, and we stand or fall to him and to no other. This is part of the freedom of a Christian; we should value it highly.

Valkyrie, The Roaches

Recently I came across several photos on the web of Valkyrie, one of the best climbs on gritstone, so here is a short sequence. Once you reach the top, the view is tremendous.

More from Jonathan Edwards

Here is another extract from John Carrick's, 'The Preaching of Jonathan Edwards'. Once again it seems to have great practical relevance to preaching and ministry today.

‘The Yale co-editors point to “a series of seven special meetings at which Edwards preached from July 1740 to August 1741 to specific age cohorts within his congregation: three sermons for children (aged one to fourteen), two for young people (fifteen to twenty-five), and one each for middle-aged people (twenty-six to fifty) and elderly (over fifty). Edwards saw it as his ministerial duty to preach to the specific needs both of his congregation as a whole and of individual groups within it… He knew that different groups among his congregation required special and specific lessons.”
‘There is an obvious connection between Edwards’ tendency to hold special meetings for different categories of hearers and his tendency to address special categories of hearers in his sermons. It is precisely because “different groups among his congregation required special and specific lessons” that he also frequently addressed different categories of hearers in his Applications. In some sermons the different categories are based upon age, gender, and position; in other sermons they are based upon spiritual condition. Again, in certain sermons there is a cross-fertilization of these two broad categories. The clear, tacit supposition in his mind in such categorization of his hearers is that every congregation is a mixed auditory that consists of different groups which occupy different positions and sustain different relationships. As such they were vulnerable to different temptations, susceptible to different sins, and characterized by different duties. They needed, therefore, to be addressed with different admonitions and exhortations. Edwards thus demonstrates here a theory of discriminating application which recognized and addressed these different spiritual needs.’