Baptism and Fullness

This book by John Stott I admittedly mostly speed-read, as it was about as intellectually challenging as a typical Christianity Today article scaled up to a full book - that's not meant to sound disparaging, it's a signifier of how accessibly and readably Stott writes, while never losing the merit of soundness and authority with which he can dispense such rich theological wisdom. The core topic covered in this book is the "fillingness" by which Christ bestows the Holy Spirit on his adopted brethren; how by the sign of the water we open ourselves to spiritual baptism from heaven that sanctifies us in the sight of God and helps us on our walk in space-time by grounding us in the light of eternity. A profoundly encouraging book and one I would highly recommend to new Christians, or the friends of these, to dig out the vibrant and heartwarming truths Stott so deftly lays out about our newfound identity and flourishing through Jesus.

the Radical Disciple

This book, the last written by John Stott before he passed away in 2011, is a distillation of some of his key realised wisdoms. His life was one of relentless ministry, having a profound influence on global evangelical movements through his writing and speaking, and always noted by those who met him* as having cultivated a set of characteristics that made him arrestingly Christian. Here was a man who truly understood the gospel's power and what it should mean for the way we are as persons, and this book is an explanation of how some of those characteristics should work themselves out, from their roots in the Bible to practice in our lives.

   These characteristics are: non-conformity (we should eschew worldly socio-cultural pressures to be like other people), Christlikeness (we should instead create and realise a spiritual pressure to be like Jesus), maturity (being individually secure in our living faith so we can grow, plant and spread it better), creation care (concern for environmental justice should be a big part of Christian thinking and lifestyles), simplicity (we should reject consumerist drives for more and better and be content with lifestyles that look comparatively spartan, for our joy is in Christ; this is not puritanical but allows us to free up resources to better serve the poor and the lost), balance (there are many facets to a Christian identity and we should seek to emulate them all in a way that doesn't unhealthily prioritise or neglect some aspects), dependence (we should be fully trusting ourselves and the world to Christ's good will), and death (and how the gospel completely upends our perspective on it in our own lives, hopes and service).

   Stott's decades of wisdom and trust in God show through in his elucidation of each of these, as do a strong moral compass that I think is wholly complementary, if not indispensable, to the consistency of a Christian life such as espoused by these. His points about lifestyle particularly I find very powerful; they strike right to the heart of contemporary western materialism, which has deep footholds even in the church, and he makes excellent points in rooting out and rejecting it. I strongly admire his perspective on creation care as well; humanity's rampant abuse of the biosphere has left us teetering on the brink of various social and ecological catastrophes, and it is depressing that more Christians are being strongly outspoken about this - because if one believes that according to the Bible, humans were put on earth to work and keep it well - we are not doing that, and so creation care is a vital part of returning to a clearer vision of God's intent.

   As the title suggests, this is an outline of Christian lifestyle and character that cuts right to the bone, but it does so with the full weight of the Bible behind it, and in a consistently readable and humble tone, never smacking of superiority or moralism but of brotherly recommendations given in love. 'Radical' means rejecting huge swathes of status quo norms because of one's convictions; 'disciple' means a loyal follower learning from their leader; this combination of things a Christian should be, called to walk in the way of Jesus, a way that fundamentally challenged the expectations of his contemporary world and of ours too. A challenging but encouraging book that I would recommend anyone read to lay out some guidelines on your Christian life.

* The following mild anecdote from my church leader Tim Chester serves to show Stott's automatic inclusive humility. At an evangelical conference several decades ago, where Stott was the main speaker and Tim but a self-describedly nerdy young Christian excited to finally see in the flesh this legend of Christendom of whom he had read so many books and articles. While waiting for a friend outside the toilets, Tim was approached by an elderly gentleman who engaged him in conversation - a wholesome, encouraging, interesting conversation that was largely about Tim and his faith and his enjoyment of the conference - at no point did the gentleman make any claims about himself, until eventually apologetically looking at his watch, thanking Tim for the chat, and saying that he needed to head off as he was speaking shortly, at which point a starstruck and embarassed Tim realised that he'd been talking to John Stott.