1. The altar call too easily confuses the physical act of “coming forward” (walking an aisle) with the spiritual act of “coming to Christ” (repentance and belief). People are urged to come forward as if that coming forward is the critical element in being converted. But what’s required for salvation isn’t walking an aisle. It’s repentance from sin and belief in Jesus Christ (Mark 1:15). Initial repentance and belief – conversion – can happen anywhere, in the pew or in the pub. (Paul Alexander – IX Marks)
I quite agree with Alexander’s statement. I have often heard people refer to their reluctance to “walk the aisle,” as if the level of reluctance was directly proportional to the spiritual depth of the decision to “take the walk.” In so many testimonies I have heard people describe how they held onto the back of the pew in front of them … and how it was the gentle nudging of a friend of the sight of a friend walking the aisle that compelled them to “walk the aisle” to Jesus. How many of us have heard people actually refer to their salvation experience with the phrase, “…I walked the aisle?”But how many of our people, especially our young people, have “walked an aisle” as a group exercise?
And what’s more, could this time-honored tradition in Baptist life be confusing works with salvation? Might we be confusing the human work (walking the aisle) with God’s act of salvation? Could the practice of the “altar call” or “invitation” actually be an invitation to some faulty salvation theology?
When I present the Gospel in one of our worship gatherings, I am most careful to explain a biblical understanding of repentance. Often times I will have one of our military men come up and demonstrate an “about face.” And I will explain that God is looking for us to make a turn in our lives from a self-focused life of sin to a Jesus-focused life of obedience … and it’s called repentance. Then I clearly explain the Gospel and faith in Christ. People let me know about their faith decisions on a response card and I follow up with each one personally.
So, what do you think? Could the classic “altar call” actually be confusing the issues of works and grace in salvation? Could it be a symbol of a faulty doctrine of salvation?
October 1, 2007 at 8:22 am
It certainly can confuse and be misleading as a “works” that is deemed necessary. I elaborated on this in a Sunday School lesson a little over a year ago. At that time I found this resource and it’s research on the origin of altar calls to be very interesting and thought I’d pass along the link:
http://www.biblicalstudies.com/bstudy/ecclesiology/altar.htm
October 1, 2007 at 10:21 am
Mark,
An interesting, thought-provoking article. I think many folk would be surprised at the pragmatic roots of the altar call.
October 1, 2007 at 10:35 am
The classic altar call is a symbol. Is it a symbol of faulty doctrine? Could be. But so is paedo-baptism in churches that don’t practice altar calls. So, it seems there is something else peculiar about the “altar call.”
I see it simply as a symbol of the ego-stroking preacher our so-called churchianity has become enamored with. The longer and more drawn out the more people come forward and that means numbers and dollar signs for the church (at least I heard one church secretary/treasurer say that).
It could be useful if done rightly and with good doctrine. However, that is rarely the case.
October 1, 2007 at 10:40 am
Scott,
Indeed. I think there is, often, a great deal of ego in the altar call. I remember when I “filled the pulpit” in my previous church how my ego was crushed when no one responded at invitation time.
Which begged the question, “Is an altar call truly for the respondent, or for those who are watching … to pump up their local church egos?”
Good insights.
October 1, 2007 at 10:48 am
Geoff,
How timely. I gave my testimony yesterday in my Sunday School class because we were discussing how to know you are saved.
I was raised in church, “walked the aisle” during a “revival” and was “baptised” as a child. Not until I was 28 and a pastor’s wife did I come to realize the error of depending on those actions and my good works for salvation instead of humility before God and repentance.
After class, several of us discussed the validity, or not, of the altar call and whether it has created generations of “good Baptists” that do not have a relationship with Christ. Yes.
There is no passage in the Bible as sad as Matthew 7:21-29. I fear many with good standing church memberships may be told “I never knew you.”
October 1, 2007 at 11:00 am
Liz,
You may, indeed, be on to something. Perhaps a faulty, works-focused understanding of salvation is compounded by the appearance of a human work … walking the aisle … that has resulted in the great numbers of unregenerate folk in our churches.
Not just food for thought … but a buffet …
October 1, 2007 at 11:14 am
Geoff,
I have an invitation at the end of the each service but I am careful to explain that “walking the aisle” does not save you. I see it as an opportunity for people to respond to the work of the Holy Spirit in their heart.
I’m interested in how those who do not have “altar calls” receives, is notified of, whatever you wish to call it, new members and new believers.
Also, one other question. Iain Murray, british author, is critical of altar calls, hand raising, response cards, and any other form of immediate response to a sermon or service. I’m wondering what is the theological difference between an altar call and filling out a response card?
Thanks for your post.
Les
October 1, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Les,
I can only answer for my church.
I utilize a response card each week. It gives people the opportunity to let me know how God is moving in their lives, and it gives them options to inform me of any spiritual decisions that they may have made. (The card also includes a place to share prayer needs and praises with me…)
If someone indicates a decision, or interest in joining our church, I confer with them personally. If they have a testimony of faith in Christ and are able to verbalize that, I point them toward our “Discovering Crossroads Membership Seminar” that I host and lead each month. This 2-hour seminar is a requirement for membership in our church.
Following the seminar, participants are given the opportunity to sign our church covenant and submit a brief form that indicates their desire to join our church.
The Sunday following their submission of paperwork, we publish their names in our weekly worship guide (bulletin) and I welcome them publicly during one of our worship celebrations. This typically involves me calling out their names, their coming forward to be recognized by our church, and the presentation of a certificate and book. (We give each new member family a copy of “The Church of Irresistible Influence” by Robert Lewis.) If they have not been baptized by immersion, we recognize them and their commitment to join the church, but we elevate their baptism by immersion as their true public stand for Christ. And, as you can tell by my past posts, our baptisms are VERY public.
Les, I truly think that the significant difference between an “altar call” and a response card can be summarized in one word … pressure.
Our response cards are not so much an indication of an immediate response as they are points of contact with people and prospective new members.
October 1, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Brother Geoff,
I have hesitated in posting this comment as I am one that certainly believes in an altar call. Please do not get me wrong. I am not against your having someone fill out a response card for someone to follow-up. Thus I will not term that style in an derogatory term. However, I must lovingly and respectfully disagree with your assessment that the altar call is a primer for the ego pump of pastor or congregation.
If we trace the altar call I believe you will find the Sandy Creek Tradition is a place to trace back to. Charles Finney had a form of it called the “wailing bench” or the “anxious seat”. It has been some time since I researched this, but Finney would give an invitation to come and sit on the “anxious seat” and meditate on the sins in your life. I believe that the named was changed to the “wailing bench” because as people sat there during the invitation meditating on their sins they would be so broken they would just begin wailing as in agony. Finney would then tell them to go home and if God saw fit to save them then they could return the next evening and express their desire. As I said, it has been awhile since my research of this and I may be off on some of the logistics. However, an appeal to a public profession, I do not believe, is out of character in the NT. One such instance comes to mind. In Acts the people asked Peter, “What must we do to be saved”? Do you reckon they wrote that out on their response card, or did Peter invite them publicly to salvation? (The response card was just a friendly jab.:>))
Blessings,
Tim
October 1, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Tim,
I didn’t make that assessment. I posed that thought in the form of a question, with which the reader can choose to agree or disagree … “Is an altar call truly for the respondent, or for those who are watching … to pump up their local church egos?”
No primer for that pump.
Sandy Creek tradition, and all other traditions aside, I’m still looking for that compelling biblical argument for the current practice that is known as the “invitation” or “altar call.”
Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not intending to speak of the altar call in a derogatory manner. I simply believe that it is not a clearly biblical practice, and that it many, indeed, do more theological and practical harm than good for many who take the “walk.” That’s why I prefer to use other methods.
You referred to Acts 16:
30He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.
Notice that the reply was the Gospel, followed by baptism. No walking of an aisle. No hymns. No organs. No pressure. Sounds a lot like my church.
I sincerely believe that the altar call is an expression of church culture and tradition. As such, its use must be optional. Yet so many of our brethren look down upon (even rebuke and ridicule) those who do not make use of it.
That’s why I’m doing this series of posts … to show that we who choose not to have an altar call do so on sound theological (biblical) grounds.
October 1, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Brother Geoff,
I believe that you and I are saying the same thing but we are using different verbiage to say it.
When I come to the end of my message I give an invitation to receive Christ as one’s personal Lord and Savior. At that time I explain that to receive Jesus is as simple as praying a prayer of confession and repentance. I then explain that this prayer does not contain any magical words and I will voice the words for the person that desires to pray. Once I lead in that prayer, I then express that if one prayed that prayer and meant it with all of their heart, then Jesus saved them. If they prayed and believe in their heart then their next step is to make this private decision for Christ public and follow it with baptism and church membership.
I by no means encourage one to walk an isle in order to get saved. I honestly do not know of anyone that tells people they must walk and isle to get saved. Just as you do not encourage a person to fill out a response card in order to get saved.
In all honesty, I feel that you have set up a straw man with this “altar-call” illustration. No one says you must come down an isle to get saved. Dr. Billy Graham comes close, but he says that if you want to come to Jesus we have counselors that will help you. I have been to a number of BGEA Crusades and I honestly cannot remember any time that an invitation has been given that one must come to the altar in order to get saved.
Blessings,
Tim
October 1, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Tim,
I agree. I think we’re “barking up the same tree.”
When I speak about “coming forward to get saved,” I’m not really talking about any precherly claims. I am speaking about a general (mis)understanding among Baptists that “the walk” is generally associated with salvation. Indeed, in some churches it can only occur during Spring or Fall Revival, or you’re not really saved!! (Seriously, I have heard that sentiment expressed … they wait for the “real evangelists” to come at revival time.)
Often times it doesn’t matter what we tell people, or how many “disclaimers” we give or explain … misunderstanding is still misunderstanding. And, as always, our actions speak louder than our words. That call for “just one more verse” speaks volumes about the overall conception that God must work during the “invitation time,” lest He not work at all.
Again, I’m not talking about what we say, preach, or even think … but what our “practice” and tradition “say” to the people in the pews.
October 2, 2007 at 6:51 am
Brother Geoff,
My wife has a testimony similar to Sister Liz’s. I will see if she will allow me to share it with you.
Blessings,
Tim
October 2, 2007 at 10:32 am
For many, walking the aisle is no different than Confirmation in other denominations. I think Baptists have come a long way to get away from this, but there are still a lot of smaller churches that “do church” like they did in the early 70’s asking people to come down front to accept Christ. I wasn’t even prayed with, just given a clipboard to fill out what decision I had made.
I see the pressure on Thursday VBS. It is unsaid peer pressure. Some probably are saved, and the rest are following the others in an effort to do the right thing. Good intentions – no true repentance.
How many people breakdown during a service in realization of their sin? Maybe it is because sin is not preached as much.
We have done the response card, too, and I struggle with the urgent response vs waiting for the pastor to schedule someone in.
You guys just keep preaching repentance.
Liz
October 12, 2007 at 8:11 pm
how was anyone ever saved before the “altar call”?
October 26, 2007 at 8:19 am
[...] Part I [...]
October 27, 2007 at 12:00 pm
[...] Part I [...]
November 12, 2007 at 9:26 pm
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