Missed It By That Much

Last week, as you may know, TIME magazine printed its list of the 25 most influential evangelicals.

Like all such lists, there were some obvious choices, some not-so-obvious choices, some good choices, and more than a few plainly bizarre choices.

Interestingly, one name that almost made the list but didn't was that of John Piper. According to Piper's friend Sam Storms, in an article to be published shortly at Storms' website, TIME contacted him a few weeks ago:

The reason they contacted me was to ask questions about John Piper, whom they seriously considered listing but eventually chose not to. They had gotten in touch with Christianity Today and spoke with one of their editors who was a student of mine in the graduate program at Wheaton College. He knew of my friendship with John and thus directed them to me.

...The reporter spoke with me for about twenty minutes concerning John Piper. I told her that I couldn't think of another person in America whose impact was as widespread, substantive, life-changing, and Christ-exalting as John's. I guess that didn't count for much. I spoke of his many books, his expository preaching (in which he refuses to "dumb down" or cater to so-called "felt needs"), the God-centeredness of his theology, his passion for world missions, and the sin-killing message of Christian Hedonism. When I said he was, like his mentor Jonathan Edwards, a "God-intoxicated man," she immediately asked me why Edwards was having such a profound impact on the church today.

It's unfortunate that Piper didn't make the list while goofballs like T.D. Jakes and Joyce Meyer did. But it's at least encouraging to know that they picked up the scent of Piper's trail (and by extention that of Jonathan Edwards) at some point.