Chris Wright on John Stott’s Legacy

On a long car journey recently, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to a lecture by Chris Wright on John Stott – ‘John Stott’s Legacy and the Mission of the Global Church’ – which was The Alfred Stanway Lecture in Global Mission for 2016, given at Ridley College, Melbourne.

The audio for the lecture is available here or here, and Chris’ handout is available here.

He covered the below points, with most of the time spent on the first section, the five components of John Stott’s legacy and their impact on global mission. This section in particular is fascinating not only on Stott, but on evangelicalism more generally in the latter part of the 20th century.

A. Five components of John Stott’s legacy and their impact on global mission

1. Two organizations he founded

• Langham Partnership

• London Institute for Contemporary Christianity

2.Two movements he fostered

• IFES

•The Lausanne Movement

3. The books he wrote

• Evangelistic

• Teaching

• Mission

• Society and culture

4. The church he shaped – All Souls, Langham Place

5. The people he loved

B. The ‘Five Marks of Mission’ 

1. Evangelism

2. Teaching and Discipling

3. Compassion

4. Justice

5. Creation-care

C. Four biblical and missional models reflected by John Stott 

1. Abraham 

• Blessing the nations
• ‘The obedience of faith’

2. Moses 

• Leadership
• Humility

3. Paul 

• Evangelist and theologian of mission
• Teacher of the churches
• ‘Remember the poor’

4. Jesus 

• Prayer
• Simplicity