| WORLD VISTA

 

 

Is there a place for the Seventh-day Adventist Church on YouTube? Is this an environment in which we should even be present?  
 

Adventist World talks to Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist world church, about his new initiative that seeks to profile Adventist values and beliefs on YouTube.

 

 

The style of these YouTube clips is 
very different from the type of communication that usually comes from your office. And your messages are very short—each is less than a couple of minutes in length. You’re not making a complete statement on any of these topics. Is this a limitation of YouTube?  

I see it instead as one of the beauties of the medium. Conversation shouldn’t 
be just affirmation; it should also be 
provocative. It should make one stop 
and listen and think, and then perhaps come back to explore further. I had 
a teacher many years ago who used to 
say, “God speaks only when He provokes.” 
It’s an interesting thought—and one I may not fully agree with. But when all is said and done, God does provoke me, and in provoking me He engages 
me. He stops me in my tracks and draws 
my attention to that which is important.

 

I also see value in this medium be-
cause it reaches those who are younger. Now, I pray it will reach the 70-year-
olds as well! But I know it has a greater 
chance of reaching those in their teens, 
twenties, and thirties. I want to talk with them in a dialogue that’s open-ended—that may not result in a neatly packaged solution to every issue. For 
me, it’s OK to come away from a conversation and not be sure that you’ve solved everything. Succeeding in simply 
talking with each other, that to me is important. 

 

Learning "About Life"

“Is this important? It is to me, as a Seventh-day Adventist.”

These words have become Pastor Jan Paulsen’s signature sign-off in the series of video messages he has produced for the new YouTube channel, “About Life,” which launched in October 2009.

Among the topics he addresses are integrity, race relations, the Sabbath, poverty, and the second coming of Christ. His comments are personal, and the videos are fast-paced and tightly produced.

“The world of science and the world of faith—they’re two seemingly separate worlds,” says Paulsen in one clip that wades into the debate about the role of faith versus that of science. “Are these worlds on a collision course? Or do they run parallel to each other?”

You can view the About Life series at www.youtube.com/adventistsaboutlife.And YouTube does allow 
immediate feedback—unlike most forms of mass communication. 

Exactly. What did God mean when He said, “Come, let us reason together?” Isn’t that an invitation? He’s saying: 
“Come, sit down, let’s talk!” Communication is about dialogue. It must flow both ways, and if it doesn’t, you could easily be just talking to yourself. 

 

How did you choose those first three 
topics—“Faith v.s. Science,” “Freedom,” 
and “Integrity”—which launched the channel last year? Why not start with something more squarely focused on Adventist doctrine?  

I think the answer to that takes us back 
to the question, “Why are we doing this, 
really?” Evangelism will always be at the top of the mission agenda of our church. Evangelism doesn’t have to be defended. God says, “Go into all the world. Go and teach and preach and baptize.” So that’s our first priority.

 

But we have to remember that there are some people, perhaps many, whom we’re not going to reach if we 
don’t try some other methods of communication. Is broadcasting on YouTube evangelism? Maybe not, primarily. For effective evangelism you need space and time to lay out, build, and justify your points. With YouTube, you have time only to deliver a punch line, not write a book.

 

If we can simply touch a chord in 
people’s minds; cause them to wonder 
“Hey, is he talking to me?”; and stimulate interest in exploring the topic further—that’s what this YouTube effort is about.

 

So I’m choosing topics because they’re relevant. They touch on real-life issues. They don’t need lengthy explanations or introductions. And I’ve chosen them because ultimately they all deal with values that are foundational to our church’s identity and mission. 

 

Your faith and science YouTube video 
came out at a time when this topic was being widely discussed among Adventists—in publications and online. Do you plan to use this medium to “jump into the fray” and become involved in current discussions? 

The YouTube medium is well-suited to calling attention to a number of key issues—in the sense of making a concise value statement and saying, “This is important to me as a Seventh-day Adventist.” And so yes, I believe at times we can and should do that.

 

The comments people are leaving on 
the “About Life” Web site are overwhelmingly positive, but there are one or two negative remarks, as well. One person suggests that you’re using a medium and a style that’s too closely aligned with “the world,” that we’re tainting our message with the method we’re using to convey it. Is this a danger? 

No, it’s not. Look, this is the world where God has placed us; this is where 
we live and breathe. We Skype. We Twitter. We use communication technology in so many different ways. The important issue is not the particular means of communication we use. The 
more significant questions are: “What 
are we communicating? Do we do it 
effectively? Are we current? Do we make the best use of that which will 
reach the most people? Is the communication of a kind that serves our objective and furthers our mission?”

 

The scope of our mission responsibility embraces the whole world—and to me, that means the “online world,” as well. 

 

So you’re saying we have to go to where people actually are, rather than expecting them to make the effort to come to us? 

Yes, precisely. The God we serve is a constantly searching God. He doesn’t passively sit back. He goes out looking and calling for the one that is lost. He reaches out to us, again and again. And I think the church—and I, as a church leader—must try to do the same. We must constantly ask ourselves: How can I reach out? How can I establish contact? Where do I need to go to touch the one who is lost? And that, really, is the driving force behind this YouTube project.