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Indicating riches in store
Jeremy Crossley finds inspiration in John Stott’s vision of an authentic Church
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| The Living Church: Convictions of a lifelong pastor John Stott
IVP £8.99 (978-1-84474-183-0) Church Times Bookshop £8.10 I FIRST came across John Stott’s writings when I was an undergraduate, and started taking a serious interest in the Christian faith. He had a profound influence on me then, and in the years that have followed I have bought and read almost everything he has written. This book — which is subtitled “Convictions of a lifelong pastor” — is his contribution to what he calls the avalanche of books that have been precipitated by the “sense that the Church is increasingly out of tune with contemporary culture”. Although he is certainly no alarmist, Stott recognises the need to respond honestly and positively to the current situation, which is that the Church seems irrelevant to the lives of many. Having acknowledged and paid tribute in his preface to those involved in the Fresh Expressions movement, and to the Emerging Churches work being done by, for example, Eddie Gibbs, he sums up the purpose of his book as “bringing together a number of characteristics of what I will call an authentic or living Church”. His conviction is that, if the Church had reflected more faithfully Jesus’s blueprint, she would have made more of an impact. In the first section of the book, Stott writes about “God’s vision for his Church”, and outlines the characteristics that he sees as the biblical imperatives for a healthy Church: learning, caring, worshipping, and evangelising. Having thus set the scene, he develops these imperatives under seven headings — and this is vintage Stott. His careful scholarship and assiduous attention to the biblical text, his telling illustrations and his fearless application, ensure that one’s mind never strays. He has a natural and unselfconscious way of using and explaining the Greek text in a way that thrills the reader but demands no technical skill. His chapter on worship is typical of the book: he considers the subject under the sub-headings of the biblical, congregational, spiritual, and moral. The breadth of his sweep allows none of us to think we’ve got it right, and reveals our preferences for what they are. Stott highlights in this, and his other chapters, the way in which any of us can easily miss out on much of the richness of what God intends us to experience. Perhaps the most moving and stirring part of the book comes at the end, in his reflections on the call and character of Timothy, and in the three autobiographical articles. These deserve to be pondered carefully, particularly at this point in the Church’s history. This book is timely, but will undoubtedly stand the test of time. The Revd Jeremy Crossley is the Rector of St Margaret Lothbury, and Area Dean of the City of London. To order this book, email the details to Church Times Bookshop (please mention "Church Times Bookshop price") |
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