Since you are not watching world events, are you going to fail to notice when the pope sets up his new headquarters in Jerusalem, and when Germany begins to flex its muscles in Europe?

No, we certainly will not fail to notice when events such as the ones you describe take place. If the pope announces to the world that the “new Vatican” is in Jerusalem—or even if he says that he’s thinking about moving the Catholic Church’s headquarters to Jerusalem—you can rest assured that we will be paying attention.

Probably, your reference to “watching world events” alludes to comments we have made about “headline theology,” or the practice of trying to read prophetic fulfillments into daily news events, in relation to Jesus’s command to “Watch therefore…” (Luke 21:36). It’s good to watch world events, and all of us should, but that’s not the meaning of this passage; nor is it the primary function of the church and its leadership, as some seem to think.

There are dozens of magazines and newsletters, most published by Protestant evangelicals, centering on the “watch world events” theme. Some of them connect every new natural disaster with biblical prophecy, and either imply or state outright that certain news items—the pope’s visit to Cuba, El Niño, flesh-eating bacteria, and so on—are part of a chain of events leading directly to the tribulation of the end of this age. The problem is that decade after decade of connecting current events with end-time prophecy tends to create a “boy who cried wolf” syndrome.

Don’t misunderstand! Some of the items we read of in the daily headlines may have prophetic significance—but then, maybe they don’t. The truth is, we don’t know for sure whether El Niño or the pope’s latest visit are prophetically significant—so to state dogmatically that these things definitely are prophetically significant would be nothing less than irresponsibility on our part!

Supposedly, the aim of the publications carrying the “watch world events” theme is to help people realize that time is short and they need to repent. That’s fine. But, unfortunately, a long history of failed speculations tends to drive people in the other direction. If bringing people to repentance is the aim, why not cut to the chase and tell them they need to repent? After all, no matter who you are, you could die at any moment! Even if you don’t, your days are numbered, so to speak, because you are mortal. And once you die, your next moment of consciousness will quickly bring you to the realization that Judgment Day has arrived (Hebrews 9:27)! El Niño won’t be quite so important then!

We are going to continue teaching that turbulent times are predicted for the end of the age, and that we need to always be spiritually prepared for the times ahead, but we firmly believe that issuing warnings about coming calamities is not the only way to help people see the necessity of repentance.

The risen Christ said, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46,47).

To repent of their sins, people have to know what sin is. They have to be taught that sin is the transgression of God’s holy and righteous law (1 John 3:4). Therefore, we must provide television programs, sermons, articles, and booklets on the Ten Commandments, on the ongoing validity of God’s law, on the Sabbath and holy days, and on false doctrines concerning the so-called “Old Testament law.”

To have their sins forgiven, people have to know who Jesus Christ is and what He accomplished in His earthly ministry. Therefore, we must provide material on the divinity and humanity of Christ, on His sacrificial and redemptive work, on the prophecies concerning Him, and on His example and teachings.

Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18–20).

The “all things” Jesus commanded includes far more than the things He commanded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. In fact, Jesus had much to say about ethics, morality, godliness, and the like, but relatively little to say about famines and earthquakes and other such disasters. A word study with your concordance will quickly prove this.

Based on these words of Jesus, we firmly believe that the commission He gives us involves much teaching on a wide range of subjects—prophecy included.

We occasionally speak of prophetic possibilities where certain world events are concerned, but we believe it is vitally important to let our readers and listeners know that we may have far less time than world events might seem to indicate. On the other hand, we believe it is important to let our readers and listeners know that we may have more time than we think. In other words:

“WATCH therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42).