The Debt I Owe to John Stott

By Charles Gardner
Special to ASSIST News Service

DONCASTER, UK (ANS) -- News of the death aged 90 of legendary evangelical John R. W. Stott has inspired me to join in tributes to the man through whom I heard the call of God into journalism.

John Stott at Keswick, where he spoke many times at the annual convention there.

A prolific writer himself, John was preaching at All Soul's Church in central London when he challenged members of the congregation to get involved in the world - and he particularly mentioned the need for journalists.

At the time - 1973 - I had been seriously considering the pulpit ministry following a profound conversion the previous year. The discovery of Christ's reality was such that I felt compelled to tell the whole world about it, and naturally thought preaching would be the best means of doing so. I had already been accepted for the Anglican ministry and was searching for the right course and place of study.

Then John made it clear that there were other, sometimes more effective, ways to communicate the gospel - and I never looked back.

I enrolled on a journalism course in Fleet Street and, although I have worked mainly with the secular press in the intervening 38 years, I have had many wonderful opportunities to share the gospel in ways that are meaningful to the man in the street. I have worked for daily and weekly papers, and in the meantime have launched several Christian publications including an evangelistic tabloid called New Life which, after nearly 30 years, is still in circulation around the country conveying the good news in down-to-earth language.

All Soul's Church in Langham Place at the north end of Regent's Street in London's Marylebone was designed by the famous architect John Nash and completed in 1823. This is where John Stott ministered for many years.

I was privileged to have come under John Stott's ministry throughout most of the seventies as a dedicated member of the 1,500-strong All Souls congregation at the time. He wrote many books - some of them best-sellers - which have proved tremendously helpful to millions around the world. But it was his expository preaching that meant most to me. He was a brilliant and anointed communicator who would take Bible passages, verse by verse, and simply thrill your soul as he unearthed gold nuggets from the rich treasure of the scriptures with his amazing insight and vast knowledge.

You always felt you were being fed with immensely satisfying spiritual food, and I never forget how deeply I was stirred when he expounded the truths of the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5.22 - "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Through all the years since I have endeavored, with varying degrees of success, to bear the natural fruit that comes from such supernatural grace.

John also devised a "nursery class" for new Christians or those still seeking for answers - something of a forerunner of the Alpha course - and I was privileged to help lead such classes. It took you through 14 weekly Bible studies on major Christian themes, but I kept going back for more and must have completed the course several times, which is why I became an assistant leader for a while.

John never married, much to the disappointment of some perfectly eligible ladies, as he was convinced he had a calling to be single so he could concentrate on the gospel.

At All Souls we knew we had to share John with Christians around the world as he travelled the globe preaching and, although something of an intellectual with a pastor's heart, he was in my opinion essentially an evangelist. He just loved to introduce people to Jesus!

---

Charles Gardner is a 62-year-old journalist working in Yorkshire with a vision to launch a national daily newspaper in Britain bringing worldwide news from a biblical perspective and thus filling the vacuum created by the expected ongoing collapse of the secular media world. He is married to Linda, 54, who takes Christianity into the schools of Doncaster, Yorkshire, UK, through assemblies, RE lessons and other creative means. He can be contacted by e-mail at:chazgardner@btinternet.com 


 

Goodbye 'Uncle John'

By J.John
Special to ASSIST News Service

CHORLEYWOOD, UK (ANS) -- On the 26th of July, after some years of failing health, John Stott finally slipped quietly away to glory. I was one of many people blessed by his ministry and to me he was - and always will be - "Uncle John."

John Stott preaching

In days, months and years ahead there will be many careful and insight-filled evaluations of John Stott's importance. They will no doubt focus on such big aspects of life such as his role as a wide-ranging theologian, how he made evangelicalism intellectually respectable and how he restored a vision for social involvement to evangelicals. I look forward to them but here I simply want to mention some aspects of John Stott that impressed me.

Some of the titles given to John by the media (the "Prince of Evangelicals" and even "The Pope of Protestants!") were not just ridiculous but also misleading: they gave the impression of a mighty, aloof figure preoccupied with programs and power.

So the first characteristic that I want to mention was his humanity. John was loved and lovable and that title "Uncle John" reflects that. He was warm, friendly and concerned, not just for a small circle of contacts but for a great range of people from across the world. He prayed for vast numbers of people. A single man, he acquired an enormous "family" of those who were loved by him and loved him back. Few great men are nice men; John was an exception.

A recent picture of John Stott

A second and related characteristic of John Stott was his humility. This showed itself in many ways. He had time for everybody: pastors from remote African villages, struggling curates, Christian Union leaders from tiny colleges, children; all were important to him. He lived modestly; so, for instance the wise host always gave John a full plate as, in a world of hunger, he felt it wrong to take seconds. Despite his learning and his wisdom he never made anyone feel inferior.

His humility comes over in his numerous books. Although he was perfectly capable of engaging with the finest minds of his age and often did so, he never flaunted his learning or felt the need to use pretentious complexities when plain simplicity would suffice. Almost every Bible-believing Christian with any sort of library has had a moment when after being confused by a hard text made harder by commentators they have "turned to Stott" and found relief.

John Stott with Billy Graham. The two were close friends

A third characteristic of John Stott was his helpfulness. In the days to come it will be fascinating how many people will say of this or that project that it only ever got going because of John Stott's quiet encouragement or wise guidance. When it came to initiatives John Stott was an extraordinarily gifted obstetrician! Significantly, his help always came without the expectation that you would back him on some other issue in return. By offering help without attaching strings he modeled God's grace.

The final characteristic of John Stott was his holiness.

 Those who hosted John on his travels soon realized that as unobtrusively as possible their guest was up and engaged in prayer and bible study long before anyone else was even awake. John was a man richly blessed by natural talents and education, but he knew that he needed to bring all that he was to God for him to be effective in his ministry. John's dedication to the Lord's work was costly and he set aside much that he could have enjoyed as a right. He set a challenging example.

"Uncle John," we thank God for all you were to us and all you taught us. May we, in some way, become something of what you were!

---

J.John, who is a Canon in the Church of England, lives in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire in England. He is married to Killy and they have three sons, Michael, Simeon and Benjamin. J.John is a speaker with an appeal that transcends gender, age, race, culture and occupation. To date, he has completed thousands of speaking engagements in 69 countries on 6 continents. J.John has also authored several titles. For further information about J.John please visitwww.philotrust.com and to follow him on Twitter: Canonjjohn (http://twitter.com/#!/Canonjjohn)