Andrew Wilson Interview

Andrew Wilson is a busy, busy man. He is the author of three books, a hugely popular preacher and whilst we have no medical verification for this, we suspect he has the largest brain in the Northern Hemisphere. We are delighted to have him as a main stage speaker for Mobilise 2009. So ahead of the conference, Liam Thatcher caught up with him to talk about life, work and his latest book, GodStories.

Can you tell us a little about yourself, your background and how you came to faith?

My parents were converted independently of one another in the ten days before they got married, so God was on my case from a young age, I guess! All four of us children - one little brother and two little sisters - have grown up knowing the Lord, and actually are all in Newfrontiers churches today. So my background has made following Jesus easier than most. Having said that, although I've never been an atheist, it wasn't until the age of 22 that I actually started living out my faith, and I was 24 before becoming historically convinced that the resurrection actually happened, and that the new creation had started on Easter Sunday. Those two years were totally pivotal in my life.

What is your current role?

I'm an elder at Kings Church in Eastbourne, where I do lots of preaching, teaching, pastoring and leading. I also run two training programmes in Newfrontiers - Leadership Training based in Brighton, and FP-Impact based in East Grinstead - and do various bits of training and teaching around the UK and occasionally overseas.

You recently became a father (to an incredibly photogenic child!) How has that experience affected you and your wife, Rachel?

In every way! Our little son, Zeke (short for Ezekiel) is an absolute peach, he eats and sleeps well, and he seems to have read all the right books - but it still turns your life upside-down. Rach has obviously stopped working, and we still find we barely have enough time to get everything done… but it's the most amazing experience, and I couldn't recommend it highly enough. When your baby smiles at you, it pretty much ruins you for anything else!

Your book, Incomparable, was quite a success! It’s even been reprinted and released as an audiobook. Were you surprised by its popularity?

I was, really. When you're writing something, it's very hard to know whether or not anyone will like it, other than your wife, your mum and your closest friends. So the fact that it's done well in the UK has been really exciting. We're still working on getting it sold in the US, which is a much harder nut to crack without living there, but over here the book has done well, and that's hugely encouraging. I think it shows that people genuinely want to know God better, and that theology can sell if it's explained simply. Those are both good trends, methinks.

Your newest book is called GodStories. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

GodStories is about the gospel, and the premise is that ‘the gospel is bigger than you think’. It takes a similar format to Incomparable, but goes into the many ways the gospel is explained in the Scriptures (redemption, justification, creation set free, the fall of Babylon, Christ crucified, the kingdom, and 50 others). My passion in the book is to show how the gospel can be communicated in dozens of ways, which will both enhance our worship, and make us more effective missionaries in a culture where people's worldviews are so varied.

Sounds great! How did it come about?

I started writing it while I was still working on Incomparable, and had kind of agreed that it would be the next book I would write. Several months in, though, I had an amazing prophetic word from Simon Virgo that my next book was to show people the gospel and God's big story in the Bible. Given that the book was called GodStories and subtitled ‘Explorations in the gospel of God’, I took this to be a clear indication that God wanted me to write it! It's amazing when God speaks as clearly as that. In fact, the last two books I've written have been directly brought about by prophetic ministry. God, as Hebrews 12:25 puts it, is the Speaking One.

Is GodStories primarily written for Christians, or is it the kind of book you could give to a non-Christian who wants to know more about what Christians believe?

Like any book, it depends on the non-Christian. It's not written for sceptics, in the sense that it doesn't engage with most of the objections to Christianity; I've written stuff like that before, and hope to again, but if you've got a sceptical friend you need Tim Keller's The Reason for God, not this. On the other hand, if they're seeking, looking to find out more about what Christians believe, I think GodStories could work really well, because the whole point is that it gives a broad range of explanations of the gospel. Primarily, though, I wrote the book to help Christians grasp the wonder of what God has done.

You have an amazing gift for making enormous themes so accessible. How did you learn to do this?

[Andrew chuckles.] In 2004-5 I had a rather odd year. I was writing a Master's thesis on the warnings in Hebrews, at the same time as working for Kidz Klub. One minute I'd be embroiled in the nineteen interpretations of kai parapesontas, the next minute I'd have Don Smith, our lead elder, stick his head into my office and tell me not to become an egghead, and then I'd have to write a sketch for Kidz Klub, or do an object lesson to 180 children who wouldn't understand a warning in Hebrews if it bit them in the face! That double-whammy was very formative for me; grappling with tough exegesis and working out how to explain the gospel to a six-year-old. Most people I know would feel at home in one of those environments and not the other, and I was the same. But I knew God had spoken to me about it prophetically (there's a theme emerging here, isn't there?), and so I had to work at it.

Basically, I learned theology from Piper, Grudem, Wright and co, and simple communication from Janet Johnston and the Kidz Klub team. As I've gone on, I've tried to remember those lessons and apply them to any doctrine I'm teaching on - although I've often conspicuously failed to do so!

What advice would you give to preachers and writers to help them achieve that fine balance?

It depends on who you are. If you're good at communicating but lightweight in theology, read big books, and wrestle with them till your brain explodes. And if, like me, you're heavyweight but incomprehensible, talk to people who don't understand: kids, young people, unbelievers, ordinary people who queue in the Post Office and take the bus and buy lottery tickets. If you mainly interact with books, believers and boffins then you'll talk to them, and confuse everybody else.

Who have been your major influences in terms of theology, writing and preaching?

Theology is a word used quite loosely (it often implies anything to do with Christian doctrine), but in its literal sense it means the study of God. My understanding of God was kickstarted by an American preacher called Judson Cornwall, but now is far more shaped by John Piper than anyone else. His vision of God, shaped as it is by Calvin, Edwards, Owen and others, is totally compelling, and he has mined the older writers for all their best stuff, before translating it into modern English and slapping it on his website for free. What a guy. If you mean doctrine in its broader sense, then I would add Wayne Grudem, Tom Wright, D.A. Carson, Tim Keller, Chris Wright and the Puritan Thomas Watson.

In terms of writing, my style is heavily influenced by Tom Wright, but this last year I came across the outstanding writing of Donald Miller, and I suspect I'll try and imitate him a bit more in future.

Preaching-wise, I am totally stuck. I want Piper's vision of God, Wright's vision of God's big picture, Grudem's grasp of doctrine, Rob Bell's creativity, Keller's apologetics, Driscoll's humour... and I've got none of them! Having said that, if I had to copy one preacher entirely, it would probably be our very own P-J Smyth. Watch and learn.

A quick Google search for Andrew Wilson throws up a number of books supposedly authored by you including a translation of Harry Potter into Ancient Greek, Wilson’s Practical Meat Inspection and Handbook of Lingerie: A Man’s Guide. How many of these are genuinely yours?

[Andrew chuckles] None, alas. Although when Incomparable came out, my elders put a copy of the last of these on the screen at Kings, as part of a joint offer. Some of our old people didn't know it was a joke.

This is your first year speaking at a Mobilise main session. How are you feeling about it?

Excited, scared, eager, nervous, and fighting an internal war against pride in my own soul (with Rachel's help). Seriously!

And what does the future hold for the Wilson family? Do you have any particular hopes and ambitions for the next few years?

Well, in no particular order: more children, more people saved and added at Kings, more books, more trainees, more elders and deacons to share the weight at Kings, and less time away from my family. How these can be reconciled remains to be seen.

To find out more about GodStories visit the website and check out the trailer. You can also read our review of Incomparable and purchase his books from Newfrontiers Resources.