This weekend the evangelical world mourns the loss of one of its greatest leaders and statesmen, John Stott, who died on Wednesday aged 90.
John Stott has been described as “a renaissance man with a reformation theology,” intelligent and humble, with a passion for evangelism, Christian unity, and social justice – including care for the world’s poor and the environment.
He was not a great orator, but as Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen put it, “he spoke with such a spiritual vibrancy [in preaching] that you could immediately tell that the biblical text was shaping … his walk with God.”
John Stott was also the author of some 50 books, among them Basic Christianity, The Cross of Christ, and Issues Facing Christians Today (now in its fourth edition). Chris Wright, Director of Langham Partnership International, which Stott founded to assist Christians in the developing world, said “his books have challenged and nourished millions of Christians into a balanced and thinking biblical faith.”
If anyone consistently modelled what it means to “advance a Christian perspective” in the world today (the mission statement of the NSW Council of Churches), it was John Stott.
Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 31 July 2011.
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I’ll never forget hearing him in person for the first time as an 18 year-old 40 years ago when attending my first Urbana Conference – Intervarsity Christian Fellowships International Student Missions Conference in Illinois. His plenary session Bible studies were riveting and I have always since held him in high esteem. I was struggling at the time in formulating a personal theology about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and he directly addressed that issue. At the time the charismatic movement was sweeping North American evangelical colleges and universities. His wise expositions laid a foundation for my own spiritual journey. -Clair