Faith of Our Fathers: "A Window on the World" by John Stott
Date: February 6, 2026
Podcast: Faith of Our Fathers (WDAC Radio Company)
Guest Speaker: John Stott
Episode Overview & Detailed Summary

Main Theme & Purpose

In this episode, John Stott delivers a sermon titled "A Window on the World," focusing on the biblical concept of "the world" and examining the correct meaning and Christian attitude towards it. Drawing from John 17:14-18, Stott challenges common misconceptions and offers a nuanced, missional vision for Christians, advocating for engagement with the world without compromise or withdrawal.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Meaning of "the World" in Scripture

Reference: [00:58–09:23]

• Stott introduces the importance of correctly interpreting "world" as used in the Bible, particularly in Jesus’s prayer in John 17, where the word appears 15 times.
• Clarifies Misconceptions:
  • The "world" is commonly mischaracterized as faraway places or the mission field, often equated with the so-called Third World (“two-thirds world”).
  • Mission hymns and Christian circles often reinforce the idea that mission is only about distant cultures.
• Redefines ‘World’:
  • "The world means ungodly secularism. It means any community that is not under the rule of the living God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ..." ([09:04])
  • The world includes people “far, far away,” but also “our own country and our own city and our own neighborhood...friends...even our own family and our own home if they are not Christian.” ([09:53])
• Statistics on Mission:
  • Highlights the internationalization of missions: by 1988, non-Western missionaries were about 30% of Protestants in missions, predicted to be 55% by 2000.
  • Encourages a Copernican revolution in Christian thinking about mission’s scope and direction.

2. Christian Attitudes Toward the World

Reference: [10:08–27:24]
Stott outlines three possible attitudes:

• Isolation from the World

  • Some Christians choose to insulate themselves “from the godless world” to maintain holiness.
  • Stott critiques both monasticism and "evangelical ghettos": “There are many, many Christians who are living this insulated, isolated, escapist kind of life. But let’s be clear, friends. Jesus forbade it.” ([12:15])
  • Uses the example of Jesus, who “deliberately entered into our world...He never kept his distance...He was called...the friend of sinners.” ([13:07])
  • Memorable illustration: A story of a prostitute seeking acceptance at a Norwegian cathedral, received with compassion by the bishop—a modern example of incarnational welcome. ([15:26])

• Assimilation to the World

  • The opposite error: Christians go into the world but “lose their Christian distinctives...become indistinguishable from the world.”
  • “Jesus forbade that as well. We’ve already seen...that he prayed that they might be protected from the evil.” ([18:54])
  • Jesus remained “separate from sinners” in lifestyle, even as he engaged with them.

• The True Option: Identification with the World

  • Advocates for “identification,” entering the world authentically, without “compromising our Christian belief and behavior.”
  • “Identification is not the same as assimilation…It’s identification without any loss of Christian identity.” ([20:40])
  • Incarnation as the model: “By the Incarnation, he actually entered into our world...but in becoming one of us, he did not cease to be Himself.” ([21:07])
  • Mission is by nature “incarnational,” meaning “entering into other people’s worlds” for genuine connection and witness, whether cross-cultural or local.
  • Quotes Archbishop Michael Ramsey:

    “We state and commend the faith only insofar as we go out and put ourselves with loving sympathy inside the doubts of the doubter, inside the questions of the questioner, and the loneliness of those who have lost the way.” ([24:24])

3. Summary & Challenge to Listeners

Reference: [25:00–27:24]

• Restates the three options—Isolation (escape), Assimilation (compromise), and Identification (mission):

  “Jesus calls us neither to an unworldly holiness nor to an unholy worldliness, but to what Dr. Alec Vidler called a holy worldliness.” ([19:57])

• Warns against the barriers to mission: “Escape and compromise...make the Christian mission impossible.” ([25:53])
• Stresses that mission is core not just to Jesus but to the Christian’s identity:

  “We are not just people who have come to Jesus for salvation. We are also people who have been sent by Jesus on mission. Mission is an essential part of our identity.” ([26:43])

• Cautions against the rise of religious pluralism which rejects world evangelization, affirming the uniqueness of the Christian mission:

  “However great the opposition becomes...I hope we shall stand firm with Jesus Christ because ultimately there is only one reason...he has said, as you send me into the world...so I have sent them into the world.” ([27:09])

4. Closing Prayer

Reference: [27:24–28:41]

• Invites listeners to reflect:

  “Is that sense ness, that sense of mission, a profound part of our identity and our self-consciousness? It should be. Let’s pray that it may be.”

• Prayer for obedience and greater involvement “in the worldwide Christian mission.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Biblical "World":

  “The world means ungodly secularism...any community that is not under the rule of the living God...It includes our own country...our own home if they are not Christian.” — John Stott (09:04–09:53)

• On Isolation:

  “My prayer is not that you should take them out of the world. I don’t want them removed from the world. My prayer rather is that you will protect them from evil...” — John Stott, quoting Jesus (12:31)

• Modern Illustration:

  “She continued to walk up the aisle...she flung herself into his arms. And he did not reject her. He held her, he hugged her. He spoke to her of the Savior’s forgiving love. That’s it, friends. That’s what we’re called to, not insulation from the world.” — John Stott (15:50–16:23)

• On Incarnational Mission:

  “Identification is not the same as assimilation...It’s identification without any loss of Christian identity. And once more, Jesus beautifully exemplified his own principle by means of the Incarnation.” — John Stott (20:38–21:13)

• On Mission and Identity:

  “Mission was an essential part of his [Jesus’] identity. Now I venture to say that similarly it should be part of ours.” — John Stott (26:28)

• Archbishop Ramsey Quote:

  “We state and commend the faith only insofar as we go out and put ourselves with loving sympathy inside the doubts of the doubter, inside the questions of the questioner, and the loneliness of those who have lost the way.” ([24:24])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:58 — Introduction to John 17:14-18 and main questions
• 07:08 — Trends in international mission
• 09:04 — Biblical definition of "the world"
• 12:15 — Rejection of isolation, story of Jesus and the Pharisees
• 15:26 — Story of the Norwegian bishop and the prostitute
• 18:54 — Dangers of assimilation to the world
• 20:40 — Definition and call to identification (not assimilation)
• 24:24 — Archbishop Ramsey’s definition of mission
• 25:00 — Recap of three attitudes
• 26:28 — Mission as core to Christian identity
• 27:09 — Warning against pluralism
• 27:24 — Concluding prayer

Structure & Flow

Stott’s sermon proceeds logically:

• He first interrogates the text and context of John 17,
• Explains terminology and challenges misperceptions,
• Describes historic and current trends in world missions,
• Analyses common Christian attitudes (isolation, assimilation, identification),
• Supports his points with scripture, social trends, and a vivid, compassionate anecdote,
• Moves to a challenge and a call for prayer and renewed sense of mission.

Summary Takeaway:
John Stott’s “A Window on the World” challenges Christians to embrace their sent-ness—to enter the world (wherever they are) with distinct, uncompromised faith, exemplifying the incarnation. Mission isn’t for a few specialists or for faraway lands, but is fundamental to every Christian’s identity as modeled on Jesus himself. The temptation to withdraw or blend in must be resisted in favor of engaged, incarnational, loving presence.