A gem from John Stott on learning from the Cross

I’ve been re-reading parts of ‘The Cross of Christ’ by John Stott in preparation for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It really is a classic, a book I come back to again and again and cannot recommend highly enough. Here are his reflections suffering service, the topic of today’s lectionary reading John 12 v 23ff:

The place of suffering in service and of passion in mission is hardly ever taught today. But the greatest single secret of evangelistic or missionary effectiveness is the willingness to suffer and die. It may be death to popularity, (by faithfully preaching the biblical gospel), or to pride (by the use of modest methods in reliance on the Holy Spirit), or to racial and national prejudice (by identification with another culture), or to material comfort (by adopting a simple lifestyle). But the servant must die if he is to be a light to the nations, and the seed must die if it is to multiply.