Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today by John Stott

Stott, John R. W. Between Two Worlds. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982. 351 pp. $14.96.

Author Information

John Stott was born in London in 1921 to Sir Arnold and Lady Stott. Educated at Rugby School, he became head boy at Trinity College Cambridge. Here he earned a double first in French and theology, and was elected a senior scholar. Furthermore, he trained for the pastorate at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He was awarded a Lambeth doctorate in divinity in 1983 and has honorary doctorates from schools in America, Britain and Canada.

Stott, 88, has been at the heart of evangelical renewal in the U.K. His books and biblical sermons have transfixed millions throughout the world. He has been involved in many important world councils and dialogues, not least as chair of the committees that drafted the Lausanne Covenant (1974) and the Manila Manifesto (1989)-two defining statements for evangelicals. For more than 35 years, he has devoted three months of every year to traveling the globe, with a particular emphasis on churches in the majority world.

Summary

John Stott in Between Two Worlds seeks to show his readers that preaching is necessary in order for true evangelism and growth to take place in Christ's church. He agrees that the culture makes preaching and application difficult, but this does not eliminate its relevance. In order to accomplish his goal, Stott details the glory of preaching, contemporary objections to preaching, theological foundations for preaching, building bridges through preaching, a call to study, preparing sermons, and the various attributes preachers must possess in order to faithfully present their messages.

Stott begins his work unveiling the glory of preaching found in the historical record of the preaching act. From the beginning, preaching has been central and distinctive to Christianity (16). Stott spends the rest of this section proving this truth, from the beginning of the First Century church to the church in the Twentieth Century.

He then proceeds to detail contemporary objections to preaching. These objections are rooted in a contemporary disdain due to doubting the authority of preaching, succumbing to the influence of technological media, and the church's loss of confidence in the gospel. Thus, both the preacher and the hearer are impaired because the speaker doubts the message and the means, and the hearer longs to be entertained.

To answer the above objections, Stott offers theological foundations for preaching that must be adopted. He argues that the answer to the objections is not better technique, but more conviction (92). Christians must be convicted about God, Scripture, the church, the pastorate, and preaching if they are to answer the various contemporary objections.

This conviction then should lead to preaching as bridge-building. In order to help his readers build bridges between the Scriptures and contemporary society, Stott details the various biblical terminology for preachers, further admitting the gulf between the hearer and the text. He argues that there is a danger for conservatives, an irrelevancy that comes by emphasizing mysterious doctrines of God from the pulpit; and a danger with liberals who try to stay on the relevant side, but actually show they are irrelevant, for they lose the gospel in the process of preaching. Stott concludes this section suggesting areas and subjects pastors should preach to bridge this gap.

Furthermore, he argues that if pastors are to bridge this admitted gap, they must study both the Scriptures and contemporary society until they have a clear understanding of both. Only then can they bring the Scripture to bear on the contemporary situation. Concerning bible study, Stott argues that it must be comprehensive, open-minded, and expectant. He concludes this section suggesting how pastors can study the contemporary situation.

In combining the Scriptures and the contemporary situation, Stott then answers how pastors should go about preparing sermons. He details six steps. Preachers must 1) choose their text, 2) meditate on it, 3) isolate the dominant thought, 4) arrange their material to serve the dominant thought, 5) add the Introduction and Conclusion, and 6) write down and pray over their message.

Stott concludes this book detailing how pastors must be sincere, earnest, courageous, and humble. If preachers lack any of these attributes, then their message will fall on deaf ears. Though the Word is powerful alone, God has sought largely to use those that have been changed by His Word to convey His Word to others. He expects this task to be carried out by sincere, earnest, courageous, and humble heralds.

Critical Evaluation

Stott's desire to redeem the sermon is clear throughout this well-argued work. This writer believes he achieved his goal, at least from the perspective of a high view of Scripture. Thus, those who possess a high view of Scripture and a respectful view of the evangelical heritage will receive the most benefit from this book. It must be noted though that Stott even references some Catholic writers to communicate their disdain with ill applied preaching spewing from their pulpits (44-45). Catholics are therefore capable of benefiting from this work as well.

By this writer's estimation, Stott succeeds in his goal to help readers make preaching relevant again by bringing the Scripture to bear on the contemporary situation. This writer was impressed with his emphasis on the Scriptures. Christianity is quickly leaving the Scriptures in favor of entertainment, moralism, and decisionism; so, this emphasis on the Scriptures is refreshing. Furthermore, there are many preachers who preach the Word, but have little clue how to apply it to the contemporary situation. It is difficult to preach to people that have largely been raised by TV sets, but this does not change the fact that preaching is relevant; and the preacher must bring the text to bear on the contemporary situation.

Stott is also spot-on in his detailing of technological advances and the withdrawal of society from face to face contact. The church will become increasingly important as a result, for there will be few places where adults will find the face to face contact they need. God indeed has created humanity for community; and the church is His overall answer for all ages and ethnicities (69). Though this withdrawal will increase the need for the church in society, it will also provide another obstacle society tries to use to make corporate worship and the church irrelevant.

Furthermore, Stott's emphasis upon conviction instead of technique is much needed in evangelicalism (92). The mega church mentality has caught on, though most churches are not anywhere near having the numbers to be a mega church, this does not keep them from trying their techniques. The problem is that they cannot afford to offer what these mega churches offer; and when they try, they simply show their irrelevance, for it is half-done, out-dated, etc. Modernity has caught on to the point that many churches, regardless of size, believe that without mega church technique the church cannot be relevant. This cannot be further from the truth; for technique is irrelevant; the gospel however brought to bear on contemporary society is relevant. The emphasis on technique is suicide, for technique cannot redeem sinners. Eventually, the lost will understand that emphasizing technique is irrelevant, for any group whether Christian or not can use these techniques. Stott rightly emphasizes the gospel, arguing that the church is irrelevant without it, regardless the techniques used.

Finally, Stott supports all his arguments well for he quotes many reputable sources; not to mention his own authority based on education and ministry experience. There are no factual errors to this writer's knowledge. His strengths are his ties with evangelical orthodoxy; and his weaknesses are a few of his quotes of Catholics as authorities on preaching the gospel, as well as, some of his observations of contemporary society being a little dated.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Stott succeeds in his purported goal. Though there are weaknesses, he has arguably written one of the best one volume homiletic works in existence. This is a work that will effect this writer's ministry, his children, wife, parishioners, etc. In affecting this writer, and also affecting his hearers, Stott's work may be effectual for many generations to come. Furthermore, he has encouraged this writer to pursue producing excellent sermons by submitting to Scriptural theology and bringing it to bear on the contemporary situations my people are facing. Losing the gospel and losing contemporary application must be answered, and Stott has the answer. His answer is to redeem the sermon and the pastor for God's glory alone.