In 2011 IVP published what was intended by the author to be his final book – summing up decades of prayer, study and ministry. John Stott’s The Radical Disciple, ten years on, continues to provoke, encourage and inspire.
Stott’s own purpose in that book was ‘to consider eight characteristics of Christian discipleship which are often neglected and yet deserve to be taken seriously’. One of these was ‘creation care’, an issue which is increasingly coming to our attention and the focus of the world. With the Stott centenary running from April 2021 to April 2022, IVP took the decision to publish John Stott on Creation Care, a definitive collection of Stott’s writings on the topic, carefully compiled from throughout his ministry. Sam Berry and Laura Yoder, in their own way, have carefully curated tens of thousands of Stott’s own words, adding interpretation and context, to produce a vital new book.
In God’s providence, Laura will be giving the John Stott London Lecture on the topic of creation care on 11 November – which falls on the penultimate evening of the UN Climate Change Conference UK 2021, running 31 October to 12 November. That report is dedicated to Sir John Houghton, an evangelical Christian of Strict Baptist origins, who was a friend of John Stott.
Houghton’s granddaughter, Hannah Malcolm, an Anglican Ordinand working on a PhD on climate grief, notes the way that the personal aspect of this issue is intertwined with the bigger picture: ‘This book offers a thoughtfully assembled account of Stott’s decades-long commitment to restoring the doctrine of creation to evangelicalism. His wry and searching observation that “human beings find it easier to subdue the earth than they do to subdue themselves” runs like a faithful thread through his consistent scriptural engagement with growing environmental crises. The collection carefully frames Stott’s writing with accounts of a man who was willing to change his mind, who pursued self-restraint, and who sincerely loved the diversity and beauty of the life he encountered, both human and non-human. In an era where the toxic culture around many evangelical leaders has rightly been exposed, this tribute to a leader of real integrity and vision is welcome and timely.’
Our personal discipleship has bigger impact and wider implications than we think. Stott begins his chapter in The Radical Disciple thus: ‘The Bible tells us that in creation God established for human beings three fundamental relationships: first to Himself, for He made them in His own image; second to each other, for the human race was plural from the beginning; and third, to the good earth and its creatures over which He set them. Moreover, all three relationships were skewed by the Fall. Adam and Eve were banished from the presence of the Lord God in the garden, they blamed each other for what had happened, and the good earth was cursed on account of their disobedience.
Liberating the groaning creation
‘It stands to reason therefore that God’s plan of restoration includes not only our reconciliation to God and to each other, but in some way the liberation of the groaning creation as well. We can certainly affirm that one day there will be a new heaven and a new earth (e.g. 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1), for this is an essential part of our hope for the perfect future that awaits us at the end of time. But meanwhile the whole creation is groaning, experiencing the birth pains of the new creation (Rom. 8:18–23). How much of the earth’s ultimate destiny can be experienced now is a matter for debate. But we can surely say that just as our understanding of the final destiny of our resurrection bodies should affect how we think of and treat the bodies we have at present, so our knowledge of the new heaven and earth should affect and increase the respect with which we treat it now.’
One of Stott’s great gifts and convictions was to root all that we believe in Scripture. As the Revd Canon Emily McGowin, Assistant Professor of Theology at Wheaton College, writes: ‘His is not a secular environmentalism with a little God-talk added on, but a distinctly Christian environmentalism born of faith in the Triune Creator God whom we know and worship by caring for His creation.’ This can be seen from these clear words in The Radical Disciple, and it is a theme that Berry and Yoder have created space to sing out in John Stott on Creation Care. Indeed, more than 40 of the 66 books of Scripture are expounded from or referenced to a smaller or larger extent. The history of Stott’s involvement with a number of creation-care oriented charities and initiatives are recounted in detail – with Ruth Padilla De Borst noting just a few in her Foreword: ‘Local expressions of global Christian organisations, such as A Rocha, Tearfund, World Renew, World Vision and Lausanne, engage in conservation, environmental education, advocacy, reducing vulnerability and addressing climate change in different ways. Among Micah Global members, a network of grassroots non-profits around the world, several include creation care as a core dimension of their work.’ Indeed, the royalties from this volume will go towards A Rocha, as they seek to ‘do’ what Stott invites and encourages us all to participate in.
What will you do?
The final chapter of John Stott on Creation Care takes the legacy of rich Biblical exposition that Stott has left us and asks: what next? The impact of this message is one that demands both personal response and corporate action. In a time when there is increasing cultural scepticism about the power of ‘old white men’ (and the author/ compiler of this article is two of those things, with aspirations towards the first!) it is telling and inspiring that people who did not look like Stott were moved and inspired by his opening up of what the Bible says.
Kuki Rokhum, the Director of Training and Mobilization for EFICOR in India, writes: ‘I listened to John Stott’s presentation of the Snowy Owl while doing a course at the LICC. I never labelled him as an environmentalist, and he wasn’t – he was a Christian whose life was so rooted in Scripture that his love for and stewardship of the rest of creation was part of his daily life.’
Those who knew Stott, or heard him speak on a number of passages, will know that he was a keen birdwatcher, which led to him publishing The Birds Our Teachers. Here he ‘has chapters on shelter, drawing on verses referring to the protective wings of a hen (Ruth 2:12; Matt. 23:37), and joy as heard in the song of the lark (Ps 96:1, 2; Ps. 148:7, 10 and 13). He writes of the beak-lifted drinking of most birds as illustrating gratitude.’ Ruth 2:12 alludes to Ruth’s gratitude for Boaz’s care, with the allusion to the wings under which the faithful can take refuge.
In a rather nice example of the legacy of Stott, the Forewords and Afterword to this book come from Ruth Valerio and Ruth Padilla De Borst. Padilla De Borst invites us out of our study and into the world in her Afterword on the theme of ‘planetary gardening’, echoing the deep Scriptural resonance of agriculture and stewardship, whilst Valerio introduces the book in a way that ties some of the threads we have explored in this piece together: ‘I grew up familiar with John Stott’s love for the Bible and his writings on the cross. As a keen evangelical and a theology student at university, I read several of Stott’s best-known books, including The Cross of Christ and Issues Facing Christians Today, but I knew little of his love for the wider natural world. It amazed me to learn that he had such a powerful message concerning caring for God’s world, holistic mission and simple living. I wondered, how did the church miss his messages on these things that clearly mattered so much to him?
Standing on Stott’s shoulders
‘I knew that Stott was an avid birdwatcher and was on the original board for A Rocha (alongside my father), but I also didn’t realise, until seeing this collection, how integral the wider natural world was to him. As I read, I considered how my interest in and passion for caring for the environment has developed through my own observations and reading, and was not aware of a direct connection with John Stott. Now I see that some people who have influenced me were themselves very influenced by Stott, and I have a new appreciation for how my own work stands on his amazing shoulders. It has been really interesting to discover just how much and how early he was preaching and writing on the issues that I care so passionately about – John Stott was talking about Christian care for God’s world before I was born! I found the timeline of his involvement on this quite fascinating.
‘It is clear to me that two particular sources lie behind Stott’s love of the wider natural world and his environmental interest: his time spent in the natural world and his love of the Scriptures.’
Double listening
Throughout this book – and the responses of early readers to it – Stott’s great theme of double listening is very evident. As this piece comes to a close, let’s consider Stott’s words in a harvest sermon preached at All Souls Langham Place:
‘I remember many years ago, while I was still, I think, a theological student, that I was introduced to a very fascinating book by a man called Bernard Manning (1942), called The Hymns of Wesley and Watts, that is, Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts. Both those men, I’m sure all of you know, were very great evangelical hymn writers at the beginning of the 18th century and both of them sang the praises of Jesus, with this interesting difference: now Charles Wesley focused exclusively on the redeemer, almost exclusively, for example, “And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Saviour’s blood.” Or again, “Jesus lover of my soul let me to thy bosom fly.” Or again, “Oh for a thousand tongues to sing thy great redeemer’s praise.” It’s all about the redeemer.
Redeemer and creator
‘Now Isaac Watts also sang the praises of the redeemer, but always set his redemption in the wider context of creation. So he is the one who composed “I praise my maker while I’ve breath,” and “Oh God, our help in ages past.” And even when he’s celebrating the redemption of Jesus Christ, he does not forget the cosmic context of the redemption.
‘Let me give you two examples. I wonder if you have ever noticed these. We sing “Jesus shall reign where’er the sun,” and so on. And you know its last verse: “Let all creation join in singing His praises.” Well, take that greatest of all hymns, “When I survey the wondrous cross upon which the prince of glory died.” You know the last verse? “Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small.”
‘Do you think about that sometimes while you’re singing hymns, how many of our hymns are Jesus hymns, forgetting the cosmic context of the creation of the universe? Well, I want to plead today for a more Biblical perspective, so that when we come to worship God, we worship Him both as our creator and as our redeemer.
‘The Bible is very clear about it. Have you ever thought of Psalm 103 and 104 as a neat couple? Both begin “Bless the lord, O my soul.” But Psalm 103 goes on: “forget not his benefits, who forgives all your sins, heals all your diseases, et cetera.” [He is] the God of salvation. Psalm 104 begins with the same words – “Bless the lord, O my soul” – but it goes on “O Lord, O my God, you are very great. You cover yourself with light as with a garment.” Psalm 103 is about the God of redemption; Psalm 104 is the God of creation.
Songs of the heavenly host
‘And you have the same balance in Revelation 4 and 5. When in Revelation 4, the whole company of heaven sing, “You are worthy, O Lord God, to receive honour and glory and majesty, because you have created all things, and by your will all things were created.” But in Revelation 5, the heavenly company change their tune, and sing a different hymn. They sing, “Worthy is the lamb who is slain to receive honour and glory and might and majesty and dominion, for by your blood you have ransomed man for God.” So, you see, if the songs of the heavenly host focus both upon the creator and upon the redeemer, we need to get used to it on earth. If we’re going to have to sing praises to the creator/redeemer in heaven, I think we need to do it more often on earth’
