One hundred years ago, on April 27, 1921 John Stott was born in London, England to Sir Arnold and Lily Stott. His father was a physician to the Royal Household and they lived on Harley Street, the medical district of the West End of London. They attended All Souls Church, Langham Place, a few blocks from their house. After education at Rugby School, Trinity College and Ridley Hall, Cambridge, he was ordained and served in that church as assistant and later Rector (Pastor) from 1945 until his retirement in 1975. He was appointed Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II in 1959 and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2006. He received numerous honorary doctorates. He turned down many offers of academic and ecclesiastical advancement preferring instead to minister to the worldwide public. He died in 2011.
He became known for the clarity of his preaching and the popularity of his writing. He authored nearly sixty books during his lifetime (see the complete list at www.langham.org or www.johnstott100.org) which were translated into many languages and influenced thousands or millions of Christians.
He took his authority from the Bible and focused on the centrality of Christ. He founded many Christian organizations worldwide including the Lausanne Movement for Worldwide Evangelism and the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity.
I first met him in 1964 when I was invited to spend a week with him in his Rectory during my theological training at Cranmer Hall, Durham University. Subsequently and unexpectedly he wrote to ask me to become an assistant on his staff in 1967. I lived in the Rectory with him and others until I was married in 1970. He shared his files with me, supervised my pastoral visiting and delegated to me the responsibility of ministry to young business and professional people, students, the poor, the elderly, nursing home residents, and other church members. It was to be the beginning of a lifelong mentoring which informed and inspired me over the years. When I moved to the United States he asked me to establish and chair the American branch of the Langham Foundation, and he continued to visit and preach for me in Massachusetts at Gordon College, and in my churches in Florida and Texas. I cherish my library of his published works, many of whom he sent me inscribed as gifts.
Since my theology was heavily influenced by his I thought that I should compile my understanding of his teaching so that others could benefit as I have over the years. Over the past year I have tried to read everything that he wrote and to summarize his teaching in a volume soon to be published.
He preferred to focus on the chief doctrines of the faith rather than be led into idle speculation about things he felt were peripheral and open to disagreement. He would often quote Richard Baxter:
In essentials unity;
in non-essentials liberty;
in all things charity.
It is not surprising, therefore, that his best-selling book, Basic Christianity, has been translated into 50 languages (22 more are in progress) and has sold 2.5 million copies. His success may be attributed to his clarity of communication, his disciplined mind, his passion for mission, his balanced approach, his faithfulness to the Scriptures, his rational persuasiveness and his sympathetic humanity in his relationships with a world-wide public. His was not an ivory tower ministry, closeted in his study, confined to his culture of origin but a risk-taking leadership that ventured beyond the comfort zone of his home church in the center of London to engage the contemporary world, to travel to the ends of the earth, and to enter into the lives of countless Christians of diverse ethnic groups facing unique challenges. His theology proved to be relevant to believers in every continent who cherished his books and assimilated the Gospel he taught. Just yesterday a friend told me that he heard John Stott quoted twice in a sermon.
After a lifetime of public ministry I find that his words still instruct and inspire me. I have not attempted to systematize his theology but to give ‘a full and balanced exposition of his thought and teaching.’ While many preachers, teachers and mature disciples may have read one or two of his books, not everyone has the time and ability to read them all and to grasp the extent of what he believed and taught over his lifetime. By categorizing his thoughts under separate subjects my hope is that they will provide resources that are accessible to busy pastors and teachers to use for themselves to enrich their communication of the Gospel. It is my desire that it will enrich the relevant departments of theological seminaries and Bible and missionary training colleges.
The wisdom that Stott supplies is clear, balanced, reasonable, knowledgeable, practical, compassionate, realistic and persuasive. He is not just intellectual (although he is intelligent, highly educated and opposes anti-intellectualism), but also has an understanding of the heart and the experience of ordinary human beings. His output over his life was prodigious and covered most aspects of the Christian life and the needs of the world. I hope that this summary of his work will encourage the readers to find nourishment for their souls, their minds, their hearts, their relationships and fodder for their witness and work in the world.
In 1996, evangelical historian Mark Noll considered ‘John Stott the sanest, clearest and most solidly biblical living writer on theological topics in the English language.’ Others have considered him one of the most influential Christian figures of the last 100 years. His work endures and he is read with profit throughout the world.
John Stott’s conviction was that the Gospel of Christ was the only remedy for the ills of civilization. Never has this remedy been needed more as the world battles fear, pandemics, economic challenges and the ultimate enemy – death. His message is sorely needed in every church today as people are hungry for the bread of life and desperate for meaning and purpose. For example, he wrote about Paul’s Letter to the Romans as the fullest and grandest statement of the gospel in the New Testament.
It proclaims freedom from the wrath of God revealed against all ungodliness, freedom from “the dark little dungeon of our own ego” (Malcolm Muggeridge), freedom from ethnic conflict, freedom from death and the fear of death, freedom from pain and decay in the future redeemed universe, and freedom to live in love for God and our neighbor.
His centenary gives us the opportunity to remember and cherish his life and ministry.
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