Interview with GC President Ted Wilson

Interview with General Conference President Ted Wilson

I hope that in five years we are in heaven. I really hope that will be a reality. I certainly believe that the world is fast coming to that climactic event of Jesus’ imminent return. Until that time, we are to work in a dynamic way, through the power of the Holy Spirit, so that the Lord will use the church—and I believe this is God’s remnant church with a unique message and a unique opportunity— to share the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14. That is our mandate.

Nikolaus Satelmajer, DMin, at the time of this interview, was editor of Ministry.
Willie E. Hucks II, DMin, is associate editor of Ministry.

Editor’s note: Every five years the Seventh-day Adventist Church holds a worldwide convention called the General Conference session. This event lasts for ten days, at which time various church programs and policies are discussed and voted on. Also during the session, key leaders are elected. At the last session held in June–July 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, Ted N. C. Wilson was elected president. The editors recently interviewed Pastor Wilson and share the interview with the readers.

Nikolaus Satelmajer (NS): What are some things you envision for the church in the next five years?

Ted N. C. Wilson (TW): First of all, I hope that in five years we are in heaven. I really hope that will be a reality. I certainly believe that the world is fast coming to that climactic event of Jesus’ imminent return. Until that time, we are to work in a dynamic way, through the power of the Holy Spirit, so that the Lord will use the church—and I believe this is God’s remnant church with a unique message and a unique opportunity—to share the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14. That is our mandate. In order to do that in the most powerful way, our church has to be revived. We’re told that revival is our first work. Our church needs a revival of true godliness.1

That is not to say that people have not had a close walk with the Lord in the past. This is not to discount, in any way, any positive spiritual blessings that have been provided in the past. The simple fact is—we’re still here. And we know from scriptural references and the writings of Ellen G. White2 that the latter rain is to fall. How long must we wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? We are told that a revival should not be expected except in answer to prayer.3 So how we attempt to approach this great need is not to start a revival—because we can’t—only the Holy Spirit does that. But we can place ourselves [in] a setting so that the Holy Spirit can truly do what He wants to do.

We have formed a committee that is addressing the topic of revival and reformation. This committee is spending time praying, planning, thinking, allowing the Lord to lead them. It’s not something that will create another structure or level of bureaucracy. It is simply an effort to help us realize that we are Laodicea, as Revelation 3 tells us; we desperately need the Lord. We need to humbly approach this subject through prayer, the study of God’s Word, the study of the Spirit of Prophecy, and many other ways that will then create an environment where the Lord can use church members to share this precious message— through personal evangelism, public evangelism, the use of media, and very specific areas of Christian service. The aim is to help people find out what it means to be Christians. Christianity has to be worked out in a practical way. Christian service to neighbors, friends, and the public is vital to pointing people to Christ. He spent much time in practical Christian service to others (Luke 4:18, 19). Sharing Christ’s ministry of hope for physical, mental, social, and spiritual health is so vitally important. In terms of future activities the items mentioned will be some of our high priorities.

NS: What means do you plan to use to spread the gospel?

TW: There are many plans we are currently working on that have to do with large-scale evangelistic activity, a massive use of media integration, a convergence of every possible kind of media usage, including television, radio, Internet, publishing, and other media outlets within the church. Printed and electronic materials should continue to be a strong part of our outreach as part of the media outreach.

We are hoping to nurture a thoroughly integrated and coordinated effort for departments of the church so that all work in one direction. Obviously each department has its own area of concern. But they all should contribute to the evangelistic mission of the church. So we’re doing a lot of things to try to integrate the departments into this very mission-focused area—making the entire church feel as one rather than simply living in silos or in unique departmental activities. All departments should be strong participants in the evangelistic outreach of the church. All institutions must be strongly involved in the evangelistic and witnessing process of our last-day proclamation of the three angels’ messages. The health message must be a vital part of the presentation of the gospel since obeying God’s physical laws help allow a person to better be influenced by the tender impressions of the Holy Spirit on the brain, which is part of the body.

We are going to give heavy emphasis to Adventist education, making sure that Adventist education is truly Seventh-day Adventist, with the use of Seventh-day Adventist teachers providing quality education so that people will have a renewed respect for Adventist education.

In the area of missions, we plan to create a renaissance in mission, reaching unreached people-groups in unentered areas, enlisting the support of young people who are willing to give short-term or long-term mission service. Hopefully many more people will feel comfortable giving a number of years of their lives, or maybe an entire lifetime, to mission service. This would result in a renewed sense of understanding that we need to reach into every corner of the globe.

Willie Hucks (WH): You spoke in the beginning about hoping, praying, that we’re not here five years from now. You often and clearly speak of heaven as an imminent reality—yet we don’t hear as much about the Second Coming from our pulpits as we once did. Why do you think this is, and what do you think needs to be done to change that?

TW: In 2010, we celebrated the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of the name Seventh-day Adventist. Implied in that anniversary is the fact that one hundred fifty years creates a certain amount of skepticism and uneasiness with preaching the message. But we know that Scripture says that time, humanly speaking, has no relation to God’s time—in terms of His eternal existence (cf. 2 Pet. 3:8). So, we have to remember that even though we think one hundred fifty years is a long time, it really isn’t. Personally, as I look around at the world situation—politically, economically, ecumenically, and socially—all of these areas point toward a disintegration of what we have known as a normal world setting. People are unsure as to what is going to happen. These things very definitely tell me that the Lord’s coming is soon. None of us should ever predict the date, and Seventh-day Adventists do not. But we’ve been given signs, and those signs are pointing more and more to the Lord’s imminent return. In fact, if you are a Seventh-day Adventist, you’ll believe i n the Second Advent and will not spiritualize it away as being something symbolic , or some kind of far, future event. We recognize that the timing of prophecy points to Christ’s soon return. For me, that is one of the most exciting things about being a Seventh-day Adventist. That’s why I speak about it a lot. I am very focused on it, I appreciate it, I like it, and I think all of us should try to focus more on that wonderful, climactic event when we will see our Savior.

NS: Ours has become an urban world in which half the population lives in cities. In the past we have, at times, made efforts to evangelize. Yet it appears that for the most part, our work in cities happens predominantly by social events, not so much by our planning. What are some things that come to your mind that will be different, that will indeed have a staying power—that we’re not just going to do a few programs and say, “Look what we have done”?

TW: Cities are made up of many communities. It is imperative [that] we develop plans that are going to reach the peculiar needs of those communities. We also need to recognize that many times our plans for large cities seem to sink into the sand and disappear because we think the challenges are too big to really do anything about. We need to redouble our efforts and realize the Lord really wants us to focus on where people are. We’re going to have to pray much so the Lord can help us focus on exactly what plans we ought to develop. Now definitely, when it comes to reaching large cities, we will need to use every possible media format and outlet we can, including the Internet. But that only goes so far—you’ve got to make contact with each person.

And in cities where we have large Adventist populations, we have a better chance of doing that. In some places where our representation is very small, we’ll just have to start where we can. But we’re going to have to develop ways in which church members can touch the lives of others. We are told that one of the best ways to reach these large cities is through medical missionary work. That is a rather old term for practical Christianity worked out in helping to serve people who have needs—whether they be health related, social, financial, or family. It is about helping people live productive lives in terms of their own well-being.

Each one needs to look at their community and determine how they can start penetrating those particular communities. I don’t have all the answers, but I do know that the Lord is extremely interested in the people of the cities. He looked over Jerusalem, and He wept. Jerusalem was rather small at that time, but it’s symbolic of the large cities because people are in the cities. The Spirit of Prophecy has much counsel for God’s remnant church in how to reach the people of the cities. When that counsel is implemented, the Holy Spirit will bless.

NS: Are you suggesting a willingness to not only look at what numbers we could get but to look at people-groups that are untouched and invest in necessary human and financial resources because we have many cities where certain groups are simply not touched anymore?

TW: Exactly. Administrators, pastors, and churches need to focus on how to best reach any number of peoplegroups within their communities and cities. As the Spirit of Prophecy indicates, we need to have centers of influence in the city—churches, Bible schools, literature centers, bookstores, vegetarian restaurants, and other centers where you can make contact with people. Outside the cities, we are to have “outpost centers” where city workers can be refreshed in a natural setting, provide for a school on urban evangelism training, and have a healthy lifestyle center to assist people from the city. But regardless of whether you’re in the middle of the city or outside the city, Christ must become the focal point. So those are some of the important things we need to do in trying to focus on these large cities.

WH: What else would you like to say to pastors and other ministers who read this interview? Just imagine that you’re looking at all the pastors of the Adventist Church, all gathered in one place. What would you say to them? What’s on your heart?

TW: That’s a humbling thought, to think of speaking to all the pastors in the world. Indeed, the strongest foundation of the church is the local church. That is where we—whether we are i n administration, departmental work, or any kind of institutional work—all meet as members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

If we don’t understand the incredible love God has for each of us and that we are here only by His grace, then there’s no use in having a local church. So that has to be first and foremost. As you uplift Christ and His unique calling to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in proclaiming the three angels’ messages, you can be sure that there may be times you may get discouraged, you may get frustrated, and you may think your efforts are not appreciated or are not producing results. But you have to remember that if you are placing yourself completely in the hands of the Lord, and if you are asking the Lord to direct you as to how to feed your congregation from the Word of God, the Lord is going to help you be a much stronger presenter of lifting up Christ and His truth. Make the Word of God central in your presentations. Strongly utilize the Spirit of Prophecy. Emphasize the need to focus on revival and reformation, leading to the latter rain of the Holy Spirit. Present the powerful and clear sanctuary message from Scripture showing God’s great plan of salvation. Proclaim the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14, which point to Christ and His righteousness and the true worship of God. We have an incredible Advent message to present to the world. Proclaim the twenty-eight fundamental beliefs of the Seventhday Adventist Church, showing that every doctrine and belief has as its center Jesus Christ. God has a great plan for His remnant church—never lose confidence in the fact that God will guide His people even in the most difficult of times. In an ever increasing manner, proclaim the soon return of Jesus Christ.

I would focus again on the fact that sermons and other presentations should be so Bible based that people—when they leave churches, prayer meetings, or small groups— have been nourished because the authoritative Word of God has been the central part of what has been presented. When that happens, people will naturally understand better their own relationship with the Lord. As pastors present sermons, they need to remember that our church members are hungering for the Word of God. When the Bible and its prophetic messages are presented, members’ hearts will be stirred with the truth for these end times. As revival, reformation, evangelism, and discipleship are proclaimed, God’s power will help us, as is indicated in 2 Chronicles 7:14, to humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our own selfish desires. God will then heal us and provide us with the latter rain promises of Joel 2, Hosea 6, and Acts 2. What a privilege to be part of the great Advent movement looking with great hope for the second coming of our Lord!

WH: Thank you, Pastor Wilson.

Notes:

1. See Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, vol. 1 (Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1958), 121.

2. Scripture provides the foundation for Seventh-day Adventist beliefs and practices. Ellen G. White, along with Joseph Bates and James White, is one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Seventh-day Adventists consider her writings (also referred to as the Spirit of Prophecy) to be the result of a prophetic gift.

3. White, Selected Messages, vol. 1, 121.

 


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Nikolaus Satelmajer, DMin, at the time of this interview, was editor of Ministry.
Willie E. Hucks II, DMin, is associate editor of Ministry.

January 2011

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