ALTAR CALLS

After attending my church for the first time, one may ask “Why is there no Altar Call? Why was there no ‘invitation’ after the preacher finished the sermon?” After all, a majority of believers grew up in and/or came to salvation in a church that had an “altar call” every Sunday. The “invitation” has become a central part of many Protestant church services across the nation. In fact, in the majority of churches that employ such a technique,

Walking the aisle in response to the ‘altar call’ (is) so closely identified with conversion that coming to Christ and coming to the front (are) treated as one and the same thing. Behind the practice (lies) the fallacy that saving faith is of the same nature as a physical decision, and that if only sinners will answer the evangelist’s invitation then grace will secure their rebirth.1

Anyone that has attended a Billy Graham Crusade has seen people being called to the front for salvation. Not only that, but experience has shown that when serving as a “Counselor” at a Graham Crusade, the counselors are instructed to begin moving down toward the stage as soon as the invitation is given. The stated purpose: to encourage the unsaved to begin moving down in response to the call to come down, in response to the plea:

“Don’t let distance keep you from Christ. Your friends will wait for you. Christ went to the Cross because he loved you. Certainly you can come these few steps. Those of you up high in the stadium, begin moving right now. Come right now. We will wait for you”.

In local churches that employ the Invitation System, the congregation will continue to sing “Have Thine Own Way, Lord” or “Just As I Am”,

PREACHING TODAY

Preaching in a large number of evangelical churches today leaves a lot to be desired. What is preached does not measure up to the examples of preaching in the Word of God. Too many preachers--and too many congregations--settle for "sermonettes", addresses that do not delve deeply into the Bible. They give their people "sound bites", pithy comments and stories which is what the people will remember. They talk about what they think people "want to hear" (can anyone say "tickle the ears"? Paul warned the church about such men, telling them to beware.

Then there are the "preachers" who buy into the post-modern way of thinking, and then tweak the Bible to fit the mold.

The Scripture is clear in its instruction: "Preach the Word!" Settling for stories, jokes, anecdotes, drama and the like is to betray the trust given to the man behind the sacred desk. God's word is to be opened up on Sunday mornings for the true believers who make up the church. Once edified, once trained for the work of ministry, the church then goes out to share the gospel and evangelize.

This faithfulness to the Word can and will cause problems for some preachers who do not preach to the "felt needs" of the congregation. They may be chastized for not "including" everyone as the audience. However, there is no example in Scripture of preaching to "felt needs", rather the examples reveal a faithfulness to opening up the Scriptures, drinking deeply, in what's called an expository fashion.

“To be right with God has often meant to be in trouble with men.” A. W. Tozer

Praise God for the faithful preachers who are true to the calling.