When people think about great church leaders of the 20th Century, their first thought is almost always Billy Graham. With good reason. But if we really want to understand the underpinnings of conservative church theology, we need to look at the life of John Stott. Few leaders, if any, had a bigger impact on the intersection of academic rigor, conservative theology, global perspective, and pragmatic application.

Billy Graham was the Hollywood star, but John Stott was the Pope.

Godly Ambition: John Stott and the Evangelical Movement is an insightful look at the life of John Stott. The author, Alister Chapman, gave a presentation at Westmont College (where he teaches) and I was immediately hooked.  Chapman had unlimited access to Stott’s letters and notes accumulated over a lifetime of correspondence, meetings, presentations and papers.

The result is a unique look at a man who shaped a movement. Raised in an upper class English home, an exceptional student who attended the finest schools, Stott was a rising star from the beginning. And he fulfilled the promise of his youth by influencing not only the church in England but across the world.

I remember the first time I read a Stott sermon (which came in the form as a tract sold by a Bible bookstore). It took my teenage brain three tries to fully grasp what he was saying, and even then I’m not sure I fully understood the message. But it hooked me on his writings because they were so different. So intellectual. So brilliant. In some ways, so unAmerican!

So if you consider yourself an church leader today, you’d be well served to read this book. It will give you a different take on what church leadership should look like. Well worth reading.