Roger Steer, Basic Christian: The Inside Story of John Stott (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2010). $19.00, 288 pages.

In 2005, Time magazine named John Stott one of the 100 most influential people in the world. The profile of him was penned by none other than Billy Graham, arguably the most influential American Christian leader of the 20^th Century. Graham wrote: “I can’t think of anyone who has been more effective in introducing so many people to a biblical world view. He represents a touchstone of authentic biblical scholarship that, in my opinion, has scarcely been paralleled since the days of the 16th century European Reformers.”

My guess is that most of Time’s readers scratched their heads at the editors’ choice of Stott, not to mention Graham’s usage of the phrase, “biblical world view.” But to anyone cognizant of the growth and influence of international evangelicalism, the choice made perfect sense. Stott is indeed one of the most prolific writers and influential organizers of contemporary evangelical Christianity.

Stott was born on April 27, 1921, in the London parish of All Soul’s Church. He would be associated with this congregation of the Church of England his entire life, first as parishioner, then as curate, rector, and rector emeritus. At this church, he developed his expository style of preaching, characterized by the act of “double listening,” to the Word of God and to the contemporary world. And out of this church, he organized the Langham Partnership, which provides graduate scholarships and academic resources to Christian leaders in the developing world.

On the international scene, his greatest influence has been felt through his organizational influence on and intellectual leadership of the Lausanne movement, which was founded by none other than Billy Graham. (Their association extends across six decades.) This movement has for 40 years helped international evangelicalism clarify its theological understanding and practice of Christian mission, defined as evangelism and social concern.

Anglican. Evangelical. Missional leader. Those are three excellent descriptors of Stott, and they come across clearly in Roger Steer’s very readable biography. The title of the biography, Basic Christian, riffs off the title of one of Stott’s best-known books, Basic Christianity. It is subtitled, The Inside Story of John Stott, and it focuses on Stott’s personal life and associates.

Here we see Stott’s relationship with his parents, which was very conflictual during World War II because Stott considered himself a pacifist while his father rose to the position of major general in the Army’s medical corp. Indeed, his father didn’t want him to become a priest at all, but rather a diplomat, given Stott’s facility with languages. Here we see Stott’s conflict with other British evangelicals, such as D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who thought an Anglican evangelical was a contradiction in terms. Here we see Stott’s interaction with charismatic evangelicals, whose emotional excesses concerned him greatly, even though he maintained a generally open attitude toward them. And here we see especially Stott’s relationship with his staff, including longtime assistant Frances Whitehead, and his numerous (and often American) study assistants.

Steer also gives us insight into what Stott calls his “three renunciations”: of an academic career at Cambridge, where he did quite well; of marriage; and of ecclesiastical promotion. Stott chose the ministry of preaching and writing, didn’t marry, and didn’t seek an Anglican bishopric. These renunciations show both Stott’s character and his commitment to what he felt God had called him to do. Interestingly, he wasn’t necessarily joyful about the single state, being very mindful of its downsides. And he sometimes second-guessed his renunciation of ecclesiastical promotion, since a bishop had power to influence the church through appointments and whatnot.

But Stott has been influential nonetheless, through his writings, leadership, and organizational ability. Many leaders are great from a distance, but less attractive up close. The testimony of Stott’s closest associates—Whitehead, his study assistants, and countless evangelical leaders—is that Stott improves upon inspection. Perhaps his renunciations for the cause of Christ helped him become more Christlike in character.

Basic Christian reminds us that the Christlike life is possible in the lives of ordinary people who open their lives to the Lord’s use.

UPDATE: Roger Steer has kindly commented on my review in the comments below. The publishers cut his section on the difference between evangelicals and fundamentalists for reasons of space.  You can read a precis of that discussion here. And the British edition evidently had a bibliography. Good to know!

UPDATE #2: I have deleted the last paragraph of my review due to a factual error that Roger has pointed out. In fact, his biography does contain a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. The error was due to sloppy reading of the book’s end matter on my part, and I apologize to Roger for misrepresenting the academic resources that are in fact in his book.

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