For nearly 40 years I have had the "invitation" after the end of the sermon nearly every time. Some exceptions may have occurred at different times for various reasons. However, last Sunday I felt lead not to have an "invitation". What followed was most refreshing.
When I had finished my sermon I told the folks that there would be no invitation so that no one needed to feel that they would be ambarrassed or too intimidated to walk 'forward'. I explained that the believers present could come to the altar and pray for those that were seeking for answers in their lives. Then I explained how one receives Christ. Then I explained that if someone was saved that they needed to be baptized. But I asked everyone that desired to either be saved or baptized to speak with me after the service. After our dismissal four people (two adults & two children) asked for baptism! These same people had been in church several times in the past several months and heard invitation after invitation. It was interesting to me that they chose this way to make their desire for baptism known.
I am all for invitations and will not cease having them, but I found that this approach opened a door wide open for those who might not have made the decision so easily. I will do it again in the future.
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5 comments:
Give me a break David, come on. Are you just about trying to change everything. You've tried it with missions to do it "your way", and now you're trying it with in invitation. I feel sorry for the ones that were probably waiting for the invitation that never came. A pastor should NEVER leave without offering an invitation. I was convicted by the song that played during the invitation. Had I'd been in your church I might never had that chance. I pray for you and that you will always offer an invitation, it's way to imporantant to EVER ignore. You can always tell people they can come see you after church but NEVER NEVER ignore an invitation.
A Friend in Christ...
My dear Anonymous friend, I never ignored the invitation. I just changed it up a little. Obviously, people were invited to Christ, they were just given a different way to respond.
When's the last time you gave an invitation and four came for baptism?
David
Invitations/Altar Calls
"What is often shocking to many who use the modern invitation system is that the altar call is just that modern. The practice, although widespread, is a very new phenomenon in the Christian church. For nearly nineteen centuries no one had ever heard of the practice. Such well known evangelists as George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and even John Wesley had never even heard of such a custom. And Charles Spurgeon, that passionate winner of souls par excellence, although well acquainted with the practice, firmly refused to adopt it and even criticized it severely.
Ironically, "the old fashioned altar call" was unheard of until the nineteenth century. It first came into being by the influence of Charles Finney, the pioneer of modern evangelistic methods. In Finney's crusades (c. 1830) seats at the front were reserved for those who, after the sermon, would respond to the challenge to come to the Lord's side. Those who were thus "anxious" for their souls were invited to walk forward to the "anxious seat" where counsel and prayer would be given them.
The following quote from Finney's Lectures on Revival explains his view well.
"Preach to him, and at the moment he thinks he is willing to do anything . . . bring him to the test; call on him to do one thing, to make one step that shall identify him with the people of God. . . . If you say to him, "there is the anxious seat, come out and avow your determination to be on the Lord's side," and if he is not willing to do a small thing as that, then he is not willing to do anything for Christ."
The practice was designed to force decisions, to get results. So it did, and with slight variations the new method spread with increasing popularity through Finney and, later, Dwight L. Moody, and finally into virtually all of nineteenth and twentieth century evangelicalism. Peter Cartwright, Sam Jones, R. A. Torrey, Billy Sunday, Bob Jones, Gipsy Smith, Mordacai Ham, John R. Rice, Billy Graham all employed the method with impressive success. The invitation system had come to stay."(by Fred G. Zaspel)
Bro. David,
We've seen great results the handful of times I've not given the traditional altar call. These times I did just as you, and every time, someone cam to me afterwards. The blessing of this, was we had time to go to a classroom or my office and talk in depth about their questions/interest. From these types of invitations we've seen a family of 4 Baptized. They had been baptized before salvation and needed proper teaching. It would have been quite awkward to do such in the altar with the song playing.
Thanks for the constant encouragement to analyze every step we take.
The "invitation" or "altar call" may very well be the deadest tradition in all of Protestantism. If that sounds outlandish to you, consider how many you have heard in comparison to how many people have actually come forward under conviction to be saved. Most "invitations" are thinly disguised solicitations for membership, directed at visiting Christians who are already members elsewhere.
The harvest field was virtually abandoned two or three generations ago. We have settled for "swapping sheep" and dunking children too small to cross the street unattended. Survey any group of Christians and 90-95 % will have attended church as children...are "homegrown" as opposed to "harvested".
A much more biblical and much less manipulative alternative is Real Corporate Evangelism. Corporate worship is where we worship as a group; corporate prayer is where we all pray; so why is corporate evangelism done solo by the "salesman" down front? Equipping the members to share the gospel directly from the Bible with visitors has proven highly fruitful everywhere instituted. Satisfied "customers" are far more impactful (and approachable) than the "salesman" down front. The fear of speaking in front of a crowd is eliminated (glossophobia), and an instant connection is made with the person who shared. The first church where this was done, more than 25% in attendance were saved (many already members). At the year's end, all had been baptized, all had gone through a formatted discipleship course, and most had moved on to ministering to others. That's 100% retention, compared to the 2-5% retention of those making professions at a Billy Graham crusade.
The time to make a profession of faith is at one's baptism...and not just in answering "yes" to a simplistic question. One should share some assessment of what one's life was like before Christ,... where and when the gospel was presented or read or heard....recognition and repentance of sin....and what God has done in one's life since trusting completely in the atonement for salvation.
I was saved at the tender young age of 42 (no church history) after reading the New Testament on a dare. Sharing God's Word directly is the prescribed method (Rom 10-17). Equipping the saints to do so, as the logical ending of a worship service, also equips them to do so out in the world. Hence we lose the "professional Christian" tag given to pastors to single-handedly do all the sharing and caring. Pastoral "burnout" is for the most part self induced.
Consider Ephesians 4:12...how many saints has the typical pastor equipped to share the gospel? Precious few.
Check out the book Resurrecting the Dead Church. You'll find it on my website www.thedeadchurch.com
Frank Fears
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