March 9, 2010A Serious Act of SolidarityWorking at InterVarsity Press, you can't help but be into John Stott. The history of IVP is incomplete without his Basic Christianity, The Cross of Christ and countless other titles, and his approach to writing has shaped the approach of countless other of our writers. So yeah, I dig John Stott. But I always thought of him as a "scholar-pastor," not as a punk--until I read this, from Roger Steer's biography Basic Christian:
Hard-core, no? This wasn't urban tourism or reconnaissance for gentrification; this was frontline missiological research, a serious act of solidarity.
When nobody took pity on him, he began to feel rejected. He walked into the East End of London and, since he had had little sleep, lay down in the sunshine on one of the many bomb sites. Rosebay willow herb was growing in profusion, making a reasonably soft bed, and he fell asleep. When evening came, he made his way to the Whitechapel Salvation Army hostel for the homeless and queued for a bed. When he got to the window where you booked, the officer in charge was brusque with the man in front of him. Momentarily, John forgot who he was meant to be that day. 'As a Salvation Army officer,' he burst out, 'you ought to try to win that man for Christ and not treat him like that!' The officer looked at him sharply, wondering who he was, but said nothing. No wonder Stott has become so influential the world over. No wonder his readers and students and congregants and biographers alike hold him in such high regard. For John Stott, the gospel isn't something to be merely appreciated; it's to be embraced and embodied. Likewise, the world isn't something to be dissected; it's a place to be loved and served.
I think you've hit the nail on the head Dave. Ever since his conversion to Christ in February 1938 John Stott has demonstrated the truth of Paul's words 'The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love' (Galatians 5:6 NIV). I hope that my biography has helped to bring this out. Comment by: Roger Steer at March 11, 2010 4:56 AMComments are closed for this entry. |
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