Articles

John Stott, Tech Prophet

Beloved pastor predicted the local church’s essential role in the age of screens.

04/22/24

John Stonestreet

Jared Hayden

The beloved Anglican pastor and theologian John Stott is known more for books like The Cross of Christ than as a prophet on technology. However, in his 1982 book I Believe in Preaching he wrote: 

It is difficult to imagine the world in the year 2000, by which time versatile microprocessors are likely to be as common as simple calculators are today.  

[This will lead to] the probable reduction of human contact, as the new electronic network renders personal relationships ever less necessary.  

In such a dehumanized society, the fellowship of the local church will become increasingly important—whose members meet one another, and talk and listen to one another in person rather than on screen. In this human context of mutual love, the speaking and hearing is also likely to become more necessary for the preservation of our humanness, not less. 

Stott was right. Ours is an embodied faith, due to how God created the world and, of course, the centrality of the incarnation.  

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