John Stott and Chris Wright on Mission

I wrote the following mini review for EG, the quarterly magazine produced by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. 

John Stott and Christopher J.H. Wright, Christian Mission in the Modern World – updated and expanded edition (Nottingham: IVP, 2016).

First published in 1975, John Stott’s Christian Mission in the Modern World consisted of five concise and eminently readable chapters which sought to provide a biblical definition of five words – mission, evangelism, dialogue, salvation, and conversion.

Forty years later comes this new version, updated and expanded by Chris Wright, a close friend and colleague of Stott. The book includes the original chapters, lightly revised, still packing clarity and clout. The additional bonus is that each chapter is followed by one from Chris Wright, in which he shows how Stott continued to reflect and write on the topic covered, how discussions have moved on since 1975, but also sharing his own reflections, sometimes developing what Stott said, sometimes respectfully diverging from it.

The book allows us to eavesdrop on the two voices, but also invites us to the table, encouraging us to reflect on our own understanding and practice of mission.