In Memory of John R. W. Stott 1921-2011

      John Stott passed away on July 27^th of this year. He was one of the brightest Christians of his generation—so much so that in 2005, Time Magazine included him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

My first awareness of John Stott came in the 70’s, when I bought his Basic Introduction to the New Testament (1964). Eight years ago, I bought Why I am a Christian (2003) in audio format, and listened to it countless times on drives all over the continent. In June, at his home church, I purchased his last book, The Radical Disciple (2010).

This is just a sampling of his literary output— he produced over fifty books during his career. But writing was only part of his story— Stott was born in London in 1921 and attended Rugby School, then Trinity College, Cambridge. In February, 1938, Eric Nash presented the Christian Union at Rugby School with the question, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ?” Stott says, “…that night at my bedside I made the experiment of faith, and ‘opened the door’ to Christ.”

Stott attended his local church, All Souls, Langham Place, from childhood. Working with such an inner city church, he took as his model these five criteria (says his online biography): the priority of prayer, expository preaching, regular evangelism, careful follow-up of enquirers and converts, and the systematic training of helpers and leaders.

A few other details of his life are worth noting:

·         “He once disguised himself as homeless and slept on the streets in order to find out what it was like.”

·         He “turned down opportunities for advancement in the church hierarchy,” even a bishopric.

·         He “served as a chaplain to the queen from 1959 to 1991.”

·         He never married, though “he came close to it on two occasions.”

·         “He has been a keen bird watcher and photographer” and published The Birds Our Teachers, illustrated with his own photographs, in 1999.

To give the flavour of Stott’s writing and to let him have the last word, here is a quotation from Your Mind Matters (1972):

“…readings from the Old and New Testament together with a Scripture exposition are an indispensable part of public worship today. Only as we hear again what God has done are we ready to respond in praise and worship..”

And from The Authority of the Bible (1974): “The overriding reason for accepting the divine inspiration and authority of Scripture is plain loyalty to Jesus.”Ì