Thanks to Willzhead the link to the NY times article Who Is John Stott? (The whole article is worth reading just to have a fresh take on the word “evangelical” again. Anyway, I was drawn to this because I just quoted Stott in last weeks sunday message *smile* and listened to a recent sermon downloaded from All Souls)
__________________________________________________________________
When you read Stott, you encounter first a tone of voice. Tom Wolfe once noticed that at a certain moment all airline pilots came to speak like Chuck Yeager. The parallel is inexact, but over the years I’ve heard hundreds of evangelicals who sound like Stott.
It is a voice that is friendly, courteous and natural. It is humble and self-critical, but also confident, joyful and optimistic. Stott’s mission is to pierce through all the encrustations and share direct contact with Jesus. Stott says that the central message of the gospel is not the teachings of Jesus, but Jesus himself, the human/divine figure. He is always bringing people back to the concrete reality of Jesus’ life and sacrifice.
__________________________________________________________________
Evangelicals are getting such a bad name now, this kindly reminder is good. IT’s always easy to demonise a group of people and blame them for not getting your way, isn’t it? 🙂