How to mess up an alter call

Hymns are loaded with the Word!

 

My first time in a Baptist church at age 16, I didn't believe anything. I was only there because a friend had invited me, and I reluctantly accepted. My answer to him when he asked me during the "invitation", "Are you saved?" I chuckled at the question that meant nothing to me and said, "Hard telling." "He said, "It's not a joking matter!" He was 15 and very on fire for the Lord. Saved from what? That word meant nothing to me. No one had ever told me I needed to be "saved".

They had me on my knees after the service while someone said, "Repeat these words after me." I was very shy and had no idea what the words meant and didn't have the courage to tell them so, and so I repeated the meaningless words. I certainly wouldn't have wanted a religious "fanatic' as a friend had I had any friends, but I was desperate for a friend and went along with whatever he said. I thank God that he sent that boy to me rather than a drug addict or something worse coming my way and wanting to be my "friend". I shudder to think of all the wickedness I could have gotten into in my shyness and hunger for a friend.

When I went home after the service, my dad jokingly asked, "Well, did you get saved?" He had a 7th Day Adventist background and knew that word that meant nothing to me. I said, "Yes, but I don't know what from." Too many times Christians are so anxious to get someone "saved" that they don't bother to ask where they are in their knowledge of Jesus and what If anything they believe. They seem to assume that everyone knows and believes that Jesus died for their sins and are just waiting for someone to tell them how to be saved. Nothing is further from the truth. Satan had blinded the eyes and minds of the lost and caused them to believe a lie.

There is also the "Jesus will change your life." Nearly 46 years after accepting Christ, I'm still waiting for my life to change for the better. The only thing that changed is that I am now forgiven, and I have an eternal home of bliss and happiness waiting for me instead of an eternity of misery and suffering. However, getting saved did nothing to change my life here on earth, which is a promise by those who are anxious to lead others to Christ. God says just the opposite. He doesn't promise a better life, but He says that if we live for Him we will suffer as Jesus suffered--maybe not on a cross, but we will be persecuted for Him. This world hates God, and they will hate us.

How many would even turn to the Lord if we told them the truth of what could happen to them? "If you live for Christ, you could suffer severe persecution. You could be beaten, imprisoned, or even killed for your faith. Now, are you ready to accept Christ?"

 

Your experience is an excellent exhibit for my case that we need to re-evaluate all that we do to present the gospel and call people to Christ. There needs to be more to our hope of heaven than "I said the prayer."

Your latter comment reflects exactly what a Romanian pastor said. When Romania was under Communism, he said when someone came to him wanting to confess Christ as Lord, the Romanian "repenters" (as they called thesemselves) would try to talk him out of it. They gave him the downside, including death, imprisonment, beating, loss of job and family. If he still wanted to confess Christ, they figured his conversion was valid.

 

Simple: have our assisstant pastor stand in front of the pulpit waiting for anyone to come and be saved!:type:

 

We must recapture an understanding of the gospel that recognizes that to the lost world, it is offensive. So offensive that some folks could kill you.

For one thing, it commits the unpardonable offense of being judgmental. It declares unequivocally the judgment to come.

Its next offense is that it is exclusive, not inclusive. It declares unequivocally that there is only one way to God, and that is through Jesus Christ.

Its next offense is that it destroys our notions of our goodness. The gospel has the audacity to tell us that our goodness is not good enough.

We cannot clean up the gospel to make it attractive. We cannot soften it to avoid making people angry at us.

Yet we do it in our invitations. We create the image of a wimpy Jesus, wringing his hands, waiting powerless for a decision, having given a tender wish that we would accept his gentle offer of eternal life.

My own experience is that the Holy Spirit's showing me my sin, convicting me of it, and the terrible penalty of it, was not gentle at all. It hit me right between the eyes. It scared the living daylights out of me.

I do not say that we should be in-your-face with an appeal. But there should be an urgent exhortation to flee the wrath to come, and pointing to Jesus as the only way.

Oh, but we don't want to scare people into heaven. Well, when I realized that God's plan for my life as a lost boy was not wonderful--it was hell--it scared the h-ck out of me. And I am eternally grateful.

 

Really? I knew Spurgeon always urged people to come to Christ, but I didn't know he gave "altar calls".

I thought he had a prayer room or something like that which he made available to people who were under conviction.

Perhaps you could point me to the source you are using?

peace to youraying:

 

I know, according to his sermons, that Mr. Spurgeon appealled to the sinner in the meat of his sermons, but I can't recall anything about him inviting sinners to come forward at the close of a meeting.

In all my time in ministry, I never invited people to come forward, but still, I did see people respond on their own, or speak to me after a service.

Cheers,

Jim

 

"In addition to earnest preaching it will be wise to use other means. If you wish to see results from your sermons you must be accessible to inquirers. A meeting after every service may not be desirable, but frequent opportunities for coming into direct contact with your people should be sought after, and by some means created. It is shocking to think that there are ministers who have no method whatever for meeting the anxious, and if they do see here and there one, it is because of the courage of the seeker, and not because of the earnestness of the pastor." ---Charles Spurgeon

 

When you quote Mr. Spurgeon, you must remember from where he comes too. He was booted out of the Baptist Union, which was steep into liberal theology. A lot of what he said was directed at these "baptist" churches.

Whilst there is truth in the quote, he prolly would not have said it quite the same where there are multiple evangelical baptist churches about.

Cheers,

Jim

 

On what actually went on at the Metroplitan Tabernacle, see this post with accounts from the Sword and Trowel. Here is a sample:

"The time had now arrived for an address to the unconverted."


"a number of Christians retired into a room below with many anxious ones, several of whom received peace with God through faith in the precious Savior. Many of these have since been seen by Mr. Spurgeon, who tells us that he conversed personally with no less than seventy-five inquirers, in one day subsequent to the meeting."


"Mr. Spurgeon then gave out the hymn, commencing with —
"Just as I am, Without one plea.""


"Now came the direct reference to the unsaved. This was introduced by a most earnest and awakening address by Mr. Spurgeon, and was responded to in prayer by Mr. Stott and Mr. Varley. A hymn followed, commencing thus,
"Once a sinner near despair."
Mr. Teal and Mr. Burton then prayed, and Mr. Spurgeon closed with prayer. INQUIRERS were then encouraged to retire to the lecture hall, where ministers and elders would be glad to converse with them; and many responded to the invitation.""


"Many a time it has been my joy to see the nail which was driven home by the sermon clinched by the after talk"

 

We Don't Do Invitations

I've been following BB posts for years, but never post. Not sure why I decided to do so for this topic, but here goes.

Tom Butler - I grew up in Padcah, and was a member of the old Bible Baptist Church (now Heartland) for years. You know my parents, and probably know that during the seventies and eighties, Bible Baptist had some high pressure altar calls. Unfortunately, I saw many "walk the aisle" in an emotional atmosphere only to realize later that no true conversion took place.

I now belong to an SBC church in South Carolina that doesn' t have invitations. During every sermon, the pastor explains what a saving relationship with Christ through repentence means, and invites people to stop him in the atrium to ask about it. He promises to take them to lunch, or meet individually at their convenience and explain what being "saved" means -- answering any questions and discussing the gospel in depth, including sin, repentence, foriveness, atonement, etc.

Since it's founding six years ago, the church has grown from about 30 to over 1,000, with probably about 300 through salvation.

 

Darryl, you have my curiosity up. I'll PM you to get brought up to date. Or you can PM me.

 

Invitations I've seen have often been short, no urging by the pastor to come forward, and just a verse or two of a song. If the pastor says anything, it is often "You don't have to come forward. You can accept Christ right there in your seat." After all, we don't want to embarrass anyone do we?

I shudder to think what kind of Christianity we have in the US. How many of us would stand against real persecution? I have my doubts about myself.

 

My own pastor gives a very short exhortation, then opens the doors of the church. If there is no response, he's through. No high pressure, no manipulation. The principle part of the invitation is in the content of his sermon.

 

"Our brethren Smith and Fullerton would not have a blessing on their work if they did not expect the blessing to come; but expecting the blessing, they provide an enquiry-room, and persons to look after the converts. Shall we commence farming, and provide no barn? In many a village, the Lord has saved souls under the preaching of the gospel, but the minister has never said, "I shall be in the vestry on such-and-such an evening to see enquirers," or, "I shall stop after the sermon to talk with the anxious." He has never given the people a chance of telling what the Lord has done for them; and if he should hear that a dozen people have been convinced of sin, he would be surprised, and fear that they were hypocrites. We have not so learned Christ. We expect to take fish in our nets, and to reap harvests in our fields. Is it so with you, my brethren? Let it be more so." ---Charles Spurgeon

 

Jerome must be Spurgeon's biggest fan