The last 35 years have seen the Christian church change dramatically. By “Christian” I mean those who profess salvation through Christ alone, by faith alone. Today there is almost no line of separation between the Christian and the world, far less emphasis on traditional missions and outreach, and little knowledge of what the Scripture says on the issues of our day.

In the last 35 years there has also been a dramatic increase in the influence of one man, John Piper, and a concurrent rise (a little later) of a movement largely inspired by him: New Calvinism. Piper was born in 1946; by the late 1990s his books had sold over a quarter of a million volumes. His subsequent rise to a commanding leadership of much of evangelicalism could be described as meteoric, and he has been described by fellow New Calvinists as the Reformed “rock star”.

In 1980, Piper became pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Since then, he has written over 50 books, started Desiring God ministries (the 9th most popular Christian website in the world), and opened, with his church, a new college and seminary. His influence stretches throughout the USA and around the world. Piper often speaks at conferences, including the annual Passion Conference in Atlanta, Georgia which has an estimated 50,000 young people in attendance. Piper also travels around the globe: in 2010, for example, he was a featured speaker at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation in Cape Town Africa.

Piper retired from the pastorate of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minnesota in 2013 after 33 years leading the church. During his tenure, the church grew to become a multi-campus church in downtown Minneapolis with thousands of congregants. The initial growth of the church in the 1980s has been credited to the attendance of young people whom Piper influenced while lecturer at Bethel Seminary in Minnesota (20 minutes’ drive from Bethlehem Baptist). Shortly after his arriving at the church, Piper declared “it is time for us at Bethlehem to clarify and make explicit our commitment to Christian Hedonism” (1983).

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