The journalist who famously described John Stott as the presumptive “pope” of the evangelicals also complained that the world knew so little about the man who had won exceptional honors and was celibate, humble, articulate, and once even controversial.
“The evangelical world has lost one of its greatest spokesmen, and I have lost one of my close personal friends and advisors,” said Billy Graham, paying tribute to the Rev. John Robert Walmsley Stott, who died at the age of 90 Wednesday.
A year before Time magazine ranked John Stott among the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005, Jewish journalist David Brooks from The New York Times said the reason “why so many people are so misinformed about evangelical Christians” in America is that their critics, namely the media and the Democrats, could not identify “authentic representatives” of the global evangelical movement, pointing to Stott.
“It could be that you have never heard of John Stott,” Brooks wrote. “I don’t blame you. As far as I can tell, Stott has never appeared on an important American news program.”
Brooks commented that Stott’s writing had a voice, “friendly, courteous and natural.” “It is humble and self-critical, but also confident, joyful and optimistic. Stott’s mission is to pierce through all the encrustations and share direct contact with Jesus. Stott says that the central message of the gospel is not the teachings of Jesus, but Jesus himself, the human/divine figure. He is always bringing people back to the concrete reality of Jesus’ life and sacrifice.”
If evangelicals could elect a pope, Brooks added, “Stott is the person they would likely choose.”
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