Call to the Altar

We should be reminded that the Church is full of sinners, like you and me, who desperately need to
know and experience the saving grace of God. Romans 3 says:
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus..

Recognizing that we all sin, we can also see how the Word of God will set us free, as we know and apply its principles.  And, when we do sin, our response is not to ignore it or try to cover it up, but to confess it.  At times that may be counterintuitive; we don't want people to know what we have done, so we hide that transgression away.  But evil thrives in the darkness, and we have to bring forth our sinful behavior into the light, place ourselves in agreement with God, who already knows about it, and allow Him to forgive us and provide the strength to overcome the power of indwelling sin.

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Jesus desires for all people to be saved, to come into a relationship with Him through a saving
knowledge of Christ. Romans 10 outlines the process by which a person becomes a Christian:
8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

When I was at an elementary school camp, I responded to the youth pastor's invitation to give my life to Jesus.  Perhaps that is your story; in a church service or special assembly, you responded to the Spirit and accepted Christ as your Savior.  Or, in a small group or just by yourself, you surrendered your life to Him.  Romans 10 relates how we are to accept Christ and be saved.

An altar call is simply a method.  However, there has been a mini-debate recently about the validity of altar calls.  It stems, apparently, from a video featuring a Dallas pastor, Todd Wagner.  The Christian Post reported on it:

Todd Wagner, senior pastor of Watermark Community Church in Dallas, Texas, believes altar calls are not “unbiblical” but “they’re also not a required biblical act.” Thus, he does not issue an altar call very often at his megachurch.

One major problem with altar calls that many pastors and theologians have identified is that they have led to false conversions. Those who responded spontaneously by going forward and saying a prayer to receive Jesus Christ might have done so out of emotion rather than out of conviction.

Wagner had written, "The altar call relies on the powers of emotion, rhetorical persuasion, and social pressure to induce people to make a hasty and premature decision. And producing professions is not the same thing as making disciples...”

The Post article said, "Famous evangelists who have employed altar calls include Dwight Moody, Billy Sunday and Billy Graham. Generally, they invited people to come forward after a sermon to make a public confession of faith." But, the article related that Wagner thought that Charles Finney was too "manipulative."

Evangelist Greg Laurie, who incorporates altar calls in his Harvest Crusades ministry, posted the Christian Post article on Twitter along with these comments:

Public invitations are Biblical and very important.

Peter invited people to believe on the day of Pentecost.

3000 responded.

@BillyGraham responded to a “Alter call”.

So did I.

We call these ‘professions of faith”.

Time will tell if they are conversions.

The Christian Post article linked to a previous Post column by a pastor named Shane Idleman, who wrote:

...anytime we give an honest appeal for a person to turn to God, it's a good thing. But in our zeal to "get people into the kingdom," we sometimes run the risk of offering false assurance. This is a very real danger in the church today. Many come forward after a sermon, but do they change? Often, it's the "I'll give Jesus a try" attitude, rather than a broken heart desperately seeking a Savior — the American gospel versus the true gospel.

The success rate of genuine conversions at crusades hovers between 5% to 15%. Some may argue, "But seeds are planted." Yes, seed are planted, but are they seeds of salvation or seeds of false assurance?

I have great respect for men such as Billy Graham and Greg Laurie, and for the mass crusades that draw thousands to hear the gospel. I wish that there were more. I'm not challenging this type of ministry...I'm challenging the "overall" approach to altar calls.

He stresses that "genuine faith produces genuine fruit."

I think the bottom line is that the altar call is an invitation for a person to respond to Jesus and the work He desires to do in a person's life.  He is the One who invites, He is the One who calls, and the spoken word, the word of truth, without manipulation, can be powerful in opening up the human heart to Jesus.  But, the call to the altar offers a moment that a person can point back to and say - this is the time; this is when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

Now, it's also important that we remember and relate what it means to be saved and to encourage people to pursue holiness.  While salvation is a one-time occurrence, the process of discipleship and sanctification is life-long.  Our acceptance of Christ is not the end, it is the beginning of an adventure in which we know Him and reflect His glory.

In light of discussions about moral failures in the Church and widespread sinful behavior, it's important that we pursue holiness and we allow the power of Christ to change us.  We have to keep a clean slate before Him, confessing our sins, having an attitude of repentance and experiencing His restoration when we miss the mark.  In a culture in which the power and effect of sin are minimized, we must uphold God's standards for righteous living.