Balanced Christianity

by John R.W. Stott

Christians tend to polarize. Some have an intellectual faith, while others are more emotional. Some focus on structure while others focus on freedom. And some champion evangelism while others advocate for social action. John Stott's classic statement of balanced Christianity shows how we can hold these tensions together in biblical, faithful ways. Also includes an interview with John Stott with further reflections on the need for balance in contemporary evangelical Christianity.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Christian Living, Nonfiction, Christianity, Audiobook, Religion

Audio CD

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

John R. W. Stott is known worldwide as a preacher, evangelist, and communicator of Scripture. For many years he served as rector of All Souls Church in London, where he carried out an effective urban pastoral ministry. A leader among evangelicals in Britain, the United States and around the world, Stott was a principal framer of the landmark Lausanne Covenant (1974). His many books, including Why I Am a Christian and The Cross of Christ, have sold millions of copies around the world and in dozens of languages. Whether in the West or in the Two-Thirds World, a hallmark of Stott's ministry has been expository preaching that addresses the hearts and minds of contemporary men and women. Stott was honored by Time magazine in 2005 as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World."

Reviews

[Samuel Kassing · Rating 4 out of 5]

He wrote this is 1975. I dare you to read it today and see if anything has chanced

A strong Christianity rooted deeply in the scriptures that refuses to polarize. Yes please.

[Bill Forgeard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hang on a second, Tim Keller stole his Center Church stuff from John Stott :)

[Cale Manley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkably prophetic.

“The title of this book is Balanced Christianity, for one of the greatest weaknesses which we Christians (especially evangelical Christians) display is our tendency to extremism or imbalance. It seems that there is almost no pastime the devil enjoys more than tipping Christians off balance. Although I claim neither close acquaintance with his person nor inside information into his strategy, I guess that this is one of his favorite hobbies. My conviction is that we should love balance as much as the devil hates it and seek to promote it as vigorously as he seeks to destroy it.”

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Stott! Maybe a little dated now in its illustrations and application, but still a wonderful model of biblical balance that avoids polarizing extremes.

[Dominic Venuso · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is difficult to believe this was written in the 70s. Stott offers so much wisdom for our day. I would say the main difference between reading this in 2022 compared to when it was written is that it is clear that not enough people have heeded Stott's call for balanced Christianity. There was a kind of pain in, at first, rejoicing that a major evangelical figure was stepping up and saying these things, only to realize moments later that this was not the course that many followed.

I've sometimes thought that criticisms of white evangelicalism focus on the worst figures and so often neglect the Stott's of the movement. But, perhaps, that is because evangelicalism itself has failed to give his words the ear they deserve.

Still, it would do Christians well to listen now. We should seek balanced Christianity, not by being overcome by one cultural trend, and not by trying to find some middle ground. We should seek balanced Christianity on the extremes of both poles. We seek to go beyond the dim and corrupted and partial view of justice and calling envisioned by cultural forces. We long to see God's glory and to be caught up wholly in His mission.

[Cap · Rating 5 out of 5]

This concise book is packed with wisdom. It addresses a problem that, if anything, has only been exacerbated since Stott penned this volume: "[O]ne of the greatest weaknesses which we Christians (especially evangelical Christians) display is our tendency to extremism or imbalance. . . . I mean that we seem to enjoy inhabiting one or other of the polar regions of truth. If we could straddle both poles simultaneously, we would exhibit a healthy biblical balance." The solution Stott proposes, in the words of Charles Simeon (whom Stott quotes directly), is this: "The truth is not in the middle, and not in one extreme, but in both extremes."

Stott applies this biblical paradigm to four specific areas: 1) intellectualism vs. emotionalism in the Christian walk, 2) conservativism vs. radicalism in ecclesiastical, social, ethical, and political affairs, 3) traditional vs. untraditional forms of corporate worship, and 4) evangelism vs. social action.

The version of the book I read also includes a 1995 interview with Stott, conducted by a British magazine.

This will likely be required reading for our children in their teenage years. Stott has provided a wonderful resource to encourage and challenge Christians to demonstrate a robust faith, rooted in Scriptural truth rather than cultural whims.

[James Brixey]

Hard to review, in many ways. I wonder if the people who most need to read this book are at all likely to, and those who don't really need it will.
On the other hand, this is a VERY well balanced, carefully thought through and threading of what feels like the ideological needle. I think that everyone will benefit, if not from the specific applications that John Stott draws through this book, because he writes into his time very specifically, but rather from the _way_ he applies what he does. We could all use this as a case study for his approach. I think, of my recent reading, `perfect sinners' is a more important read for any of my friends, but this is a very helpful set of thoughts, and is very useful for a CU context. Plus the audiobook is less than 2 hours long, so you could get through it over a couple of runs or something, or an evening or twos dedicated reading.

[Chelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book is one I'm certain I will return to in the future. Stott's words echoed many of the tensions I've wrestled with in my own heart and mind concerning theology and the Christian life. His wise, winsome, and humble perspective offers me an example of convictional but careful engagement with God and neighbor (both believers and unbelievers alike) that I hope could one day be said of me.

Note: It is worthwhile to read the expanded edition. The interview added at the end of this edition is full of timely wisdom and is worth the price of the book.

[Kevin Weiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 starts simply for the chapter on Evangelism & Social Action alone. Such helpful insight - all the more encouraging because it speaks deeply into the woes of today while being written over 40 years ago. It shows the rootedness is not in societal examination but biblical truth.

[Hannah Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clarity and charity. Stott is calling Christians away from the easy way of polarization and to the generous way of Jesus that does not compromise on truth. Will read again!

[Evelyn Fonseca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in the 70s but it could've been written in 2021! Nothing has changed, the issues that plagued Christians then still plague Christians now.

[Patrick Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't really read anything of Stott's but I have heard him speak (on DVD) and have heard many other people talk about how impactful his writings are, so I figured when I saw this little book in the clearance section of the bookstore last December for a pretty low price, I figured what the heck (It also helps that Scot McKnight wrote something for the book on the back... I like McKnight so when he recommends something, I try to at it my list of things to check out). All in all, this book is pretty good. I really like and appreciate how Stott sought to take the seeming division in Christianity today between people who find themselves on one side of the issue and others on the other, and find the pros and cons from both sides and find a way to merge the two, finding a balance of faith to live out, and not be guilty of falling to the extreme of one of the sides. This is a very short book, and frankly it shouldn't have taken me as long as it did to finish reading (I took breaks, had another kid, worked, and my life just overall contributed to my lack of devotion to this book, haha). I have a feeling that if he were still alive today and I had the opportunity to meet him, we would have gotten along. I really appreciated his willingness to listen to both sides of the issue (even with the side he didn't agree with), and find a common ground on which to move forward. His devotion to a movement toward unity for Christians, regardless of denominational preference, is VERY appealing to me and truly speaks to my heart. Overall, this isn't the BEST book I've ever read, BUT it is worth reading nonetheless. It's short so it wouldn't take you much time at all. The recorded interview in the back of the book is interesting and most of it is worth the read as well.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent, short read. Stott is similar to Lewis in that he has an excellent grasp of the English language and excels at conveying his thoughts in a clear, concise way that is attainable by anyone. Here, he basically summarizes four different contrasts, or divides, in Christianity and why we ought not catch ourselves gravitating toward one polar or the other only. And yet, nor is it just a simple "balance" that we ought to maintain. Rather, it is balance created by living out both extremes throughout our lives, perhaps in different seasons or to varying degrees, but both nonetheless.

I wish I could recall the four areas. I feel like such a dumb dumb. I'll definitely have to read this again. Listening to it was a good primer, but it'd be a good one to read with a small group and really digest slowly.

And I can't say I'm well-read or much of a thinker, but I thought I was on board with everything he said. I appreciate the idea that balanced Christianity is not careful selection of one side or another, and instead an effusive living out of both sides in a thoughtful, considerate, intentional manner. Easier said than done, of course, but a worthy pursuit to be sure.

PS: It's awesome to have found a bunch of these old Christian books narrated by Simon Vance. Makes them so engaging to listen to! Sometimes it's almost like the religious musings are not from this world but a fantastical one that I might be discovering in a fantasy series at any given time. This provides a unique perspective, a sort of third-person one where I can look in on things as though with new eyes.

[Willow Grimaldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is more important: Upholding the tradition of the church fathers to keep church structure? Or moving with the change of culture to reach the new generation? This book argues that as a Christian, both are nessicary.

Two quotes I enjoyed from this book are:

"Through love, intellect grows acquainted with reality, and intellect gives stability to the work of love."

And...

"If Jesus so loved the world that he entered it through incarnation, how can his followers love it by seeking to escape from it? To try to improve society is not worldliness, but love. To wash your hands of society is not love, but worldliness."

Both were thoughts I haven't thought about before, and I think this book does a good job of questioning tradition while at the same time questioning change and how both are needed to be backed up in the scriptures. We can't just logic our way through problems and similarly we can't just feel our way through problems, they need to work in tandem. In doing so, it seems to be by working within the world God created instead of trying remove yourself from it. We are in this world but we are not of this world, so how do we work with that?

A good book in drawing out how to balance two seemingly opposing sides of Christians.

[Timothy Hoiland · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a rule of thumb, the Christians who make headlines tend to be those who go to extremes or who succumb to scandals. If you’re looking for notoriety, moderation, nuance, and quiet faithfulness will generally only get you so far. For precisely that reason it’s interesting to consider the enduring—and arguably increasing—influence of John Stott, more than 90 years after his birth and nearly three years since his death.

Over the course of half a century, John Stott wrote just about a book a year. He was the chief architect of the Lausanne Covenant, which remains unparalleled as a concise statement on evangelical world mission. He laid out a sane, biblical case for Christian social responsibility that is more relevant than ever before. As the founder of Langham Partnership, he designated his significant book royalties to pay for the equipping of Christian scholars and ministers from the Global South. Through the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity he cast a vision for whole-life discipleship for Christians in the UK and beyond. Billy Graham, another evangelical figure whose notoriety owes nothing to scandal, wrote a moving tribute to him when he was named to the Time 100 list in 2005. After his death, one obituary described him as “an architect of 20th-century evangelicalism.”

It’s not that Stott never ruffled feathers. It’s not that he wasn’t criticized. It’s not that he was perfect. But his brand of evangelicalism was winsome and charitable—and not, incidentally, because of a lack of conviction. (His final rallying cry, after all, was to “radical discipleship.”) It could be said that the winsome public expressions of his evangelical faith—his preaching, writing, and equipping—grew out of the soil of the Anglican tradition to which he belonged, which for centuries has valued pursuing the via media between extremes.

Forty years ago Stott published a slim book in keeping with the via media tradition, called Balanced Christianity, and it has just been reissued in an expanded edition by InterVarsity Press. On the opening page, Stott writes this:

"My concern is to draw attention to one of the great tragedies of contemporary Christendom, a tragedy which is especially apparent among those of us who are called (and indeed call ourselves) evangelical Christians. In a single word, this tragedy is polarization, but I shall need to spell out what I mean."

In the pages that follow, that’s precisely what he does, tackling four perennial polarizations. Christians, he writes, have a tendency to polarize on the basis of intellect and emotion. We fight culture wars over the labels conservative and radical (these days, conservatism is more often pitted against liberalism). We argue over form and freedom. And, as alluded to earlier, we can’t for the life of us seem to reconcile evangelism and social action.

In response to each of these polarizations, Stott calls for a nuanced, mature approach that’s much closer to a both-and than it is to an either-or, even if he does indicate his own leanings on each. Similar to the way Richard Foster treats the six different traditions or “streams” of Christianity in his timeless book Streams of Living Water, in this work Stott affirms the merit of different postures, stances, and emphases, while also pointing out the ways in which we are all at times prone to go to unhealthy extremes.

Helpfully, he makes the distinction between specialization and polarization. There’s room for specialization, he says, but polarization over secondary issues should always be resisted. To take but one example, some of us are primarily gifted as evangelists or preachers of the Word, while others are uniquely gifted to minister to the needs of the poor. Evangelism and social action are both essential parts of a fully orbed biblical faith, but some of us will specialize in one area more than another. And assuming we belong to a church that values some form of biblical balance, we’ll certainly be in fellowship with those gifted in ways we are not. That’s a good thing. What’s destructive is when we seek to discredit or minimize the importance of those with other areas of giftedness.

A related point that Stott makes is this: to be faithful to scripture can mean being agnostic on things the Bible leaves murky. Let’s face it: there are some things in scripture that simply aren’t all that clear. Because of that, it follows that being dogmatic about every theological point isn’t necessarily the same as faithfulness to scripture. In other words, it’s fine to speculate whether Adam and Eve had belly buttons (for the record, I come down firmly in the “no” camp), but we probably shouldn’t split churches over differences of opinion on the matter.

None of the reflections in Balanced Christianity are particularly headline-worthy. Few lines were even very tweetable, which was quite a disappointment. But what this book lacks in flash is more than made up for by good pastoral counsel on problematic areas from someone who followed Jesus faithfully for many, many years.

Normally, the formula for selling a lot of books is to take convenient, headlines-grabbing stances on polarizing issues. This way you rally your ideological tribe, and they buy books not just for themselves, but for family and friends (and perhaps for a few “enemies” as well). If you really do it right, your harshest critics buy the books in jaw-dropping numbers too.

I’m grateful John Stott had no interest in playing that game. And paradoxically or not, because he took the road less traveled—the path of prayerful, thoughtful discernment—his decades-old books are reissued, and a new generation has the chance to discover his accessible, patiently-acquired wisdom.

For all his important contributions, and all the notoriety that has followed, one of the greatest compliments I can think of to honor his memory is to say that John Stott wasn’t a theological stunt man.

- See more at: http://timhoiland.com/2014/02/balance...

[Glenn Crouch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this small book - which is an expanded edition to the original, with an extra chapter being an Interview with John Stott in 1995. This addition is worthwhile and does add well to this small book.

Stott argues for a Balanced Christianity, as he points out our tendency to go for extremes - and to go from one extreme, to the other. He covers quite a range of areas - including Intellect / Emotions and Conservatism / Radicalism, with this latter probably my favourite chapter.

You will probably be left wanting more, but there is great value in short books that give us a taste of big topics, or simply give us a nice kick in the butt and point us back to Scripture.

[Phil Cotnoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stott was truly an elder statesman of Evangelicalism. With decades of experience in not only evangelicalism but global Christianity as a whole, he brings a breadth of perspective that is helpful and needed. He seeks to learn from theological traditions not his own without capitulating doctrinal orthodoxy. In terms of temperament he reminds me of Tim Keller, although obviously the influence would have gone the other way around. There were many pointed insights in this short work, and it is well worth checking out. I listened to it on audiobook and it was great. This edition features an interview he did in the 90's (the book dates from the 70's but it holds up).

[Kasey Cazet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Balanced approach to Christianity. Important for us to be careful not to become so extreme in one way that we compromise on the Scriptures to affirm our points. TheScripture should also be paramount.
His views make a lot of sense, yet still some points I would differ on. Surprised to hear his opinion that headship means responsibility and not authority (don’t agree with that). Also surprised to hear that he affirms women to be pastors, but only if they have a man in a position over them. I found this a bit confusing because in this scenario he believes authority is important but teaching is not. His position on roles I do not agree with here.

[Nate Holdridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought-provoking and still relevant book that examines the importance of maintaining a balanced approach to Christian faith. The book is an example of how issues within the church tend to repeat themselves over time and how it is important for pastors to take a balanced approach to these issues in order to avoid extremism and division. One of the key themes is the idea that balanced pastors are often attacked from all sides. "Christ's miracles comes not so much from their supernatural character as from their spiritual significance. They were "signs" as well as "wonders."" (John Stott, Balanced Christianity)

[Danielw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid book by John Stott. I find that Stott has a unique voice. He’s firm, but not inflexible. He shows much charity to those he doesn’t agree with, something that is lacking in Christian circles these days. It’s a very quick read and if I’m being honest, I found the interview that’s included at the back of this particular version, an interview with Christianity Today from 1995, to be more profitable than the actual book. Not that the book is bad by any stretch. If you haven’t read Stott this would be a quick introduction.

[Timothy Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

So helpful! I think it’s so easy for us Christians to get caught up in the many small issues and miss the important cornerstones of our faith. John Stott does a brilliant and careful job of reminding his listeners about what truly matters in our faith. What particularly struck me is his view on being a Conservative Christian when it comes to Scripture and being a liberal Christian when it comes to relationship. While he certainly ruffled a whole lot of feathers with the teachings in this book, I think those feathers needed some ruffling.
I shall listen to this again now.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short book was refreshing, brilliant and relevent. I found myself being astonished that it was published in 1975 when most things Stott wrote were very pertinent to my life in 2018 and issues that I have been wrestling with! A really fair and enjoyable read that is inspiring and refreshing. My edition also included an amazing interview with Stott from 1999 which dealt with a lot of the themes of the book. Highly recommended book!

[Matt Daq · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I needed to read this book :) it was a really nice approach to the two extremes of Christian faith. Some are super intellectual while others are super spiritual. He offers some wisdom into how to balance both.

Another is worship, should it be loud and emotional? Or slow and reflective? Or why not both.

A good and applicable read considering of was written a long time ago.
Also the interview at the end was very informative too.

[Jeremiah Lorrig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet. I cannot believe this book was written in the 1970s. It seems like he is speaking to the news headlines of today. He talks about church polarization, how the church interacts with current cultural issues, and deeply practical ways for Christians to walk in deeply profound scriptural truth and also embracing ways to build unity with people who we disagree with.

[MG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Christian should read this. Even though Stott, one of my heroes, wrote this many years ago, it is more relevant today. He reminds us that Christians should be open to what is new while also checking everything by the test of Scripture, just as Jesus did. I feel a little sad that leaders like John Stott are so rare today. We could use more like him.

[Sam B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stott's book perfectly demonstrates volume does not equal quality. He packs more truth and insight into 50ish pages than many authors have been able to fit in books 4x, 5x that length. Absolutely worth your time to read and re-read.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful read - nice that it's also short.

I hope that one day, when I'm old enough and have matured and learned enough, that such wisdom will fall out of my mouth with such consistency and conciseness as it does out of John Stott's mouth (pen). may I never stop learning!

[Brandi VonBartheld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Needed

The concepts within are very much needed in the church and among Christians in general. The idea of polar balance and the swing between is of utmost importance . The actual application is not always simple.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, simple. Anyone could read it in one sitting (and I did). Amazingly culturally relevant, proving that there is "nothing new under the sun." A Grace-filled synopsis on some of the most divisive topics in Christian circles.

[Rodrigo Varoni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lido por teimosia minha. Muito ruim. Argumentos parecidos com os dos "isentões", do tipo: não sou de Calvino nem de Armínio.