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Altar call

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An altar call is a practice in some evangelical churches in which those who wish to make a new spiritual commitment to Jesus Christ are invited to come forward publicly. It is so named because the supplicants gather at the altar located at the front of the church building. In the Old Testament, an altar was where sacrifices were made. So, the name "altar call" refers to a believer "offering" themselves on an altar to God, as in Romans 12:1:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.[1]

Most altar calls occur at the end of an evangelical address[citation needed] invitation may be referred to as an "altar call" even if there is no actual altar present. Many preachers make use of the altar call; notable examples include Billy Graham, Benny Hinn, Franklin Graham and Reinhard Bonnke.[citation needed] Congregations often sing a hymn, usually with a theme of invitation or decision, during the altar call. Some churches makes use of the sinner's prayer, which people who come forward to be "saved" are asked to recite. It is sometimes said by the invitee that those who come forth are going to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. This is a ritual in which the supplicant makes a prayer asking for his sins to be forgiven, acknowledges Jesus as the risen Son of God and pledges his/her devotion to Jesus and to live thereafter following Christ's teachings. This is often called being born again.[citation needed]

In Pentecostal churches, the altar is a place people can come and repent of their sins and pray to receive the Holy Spirit, which they believe is accompanied with the initial sign of speaking in tongues. It is also a place to go to pray for needs and to get a "touch" from God. Pentecostal altar calls often involve the laying on of hands, and many people will come up to pray for others to receive their need. Altar calls may also invite Christians to come forward for specific purposes other than conversion; for example to rededicate their lives after a lapse, to pray for healing, to surrender a new part of their lives to God, or to receive a particular blessing. It is also a place of dedication where callings are given (such as a call to the ministry).

History

Reacting against the pervasive Calvinism of the Great Awakening, the successors of that great movement of God’s Spirit turned from God to humans, from the preaching of objective content (namely, Christ and him crucified) to the emphasis on getting a person to "make a decision." "The evangelical Christians of the nineteeth century combined revivalism with social reform and helped lead campaigns to abolish slavery and support women's suffrage and child labor laws. [One of the most famous 19th century revivalists,] Charles Grandison Finney, popularized the idea of the "altar call" in order to sign up his converts for the abolition movement." (The call to conversion by Jim Wallis p78).

Evangelical churches have taken this act of response to the Proclaimed Word from a corporate action and made it a private act. Many churches, particularly those that practice evangelical Christianity, believe that one must make a public proclamation of faith based on scriptural passages found in the Bible in which Jesus states, "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."[2][3]

Objections

Some churches object to the use of the altar call for a variety of reasons. They argue that there is no example in the Bible of its use.[4] Others believe it is intimidating and therefore creates an unnecessary and artificial barrier to those who would become Christians but are then unwilling to make an immediate public profession under the gaze of others.[4]

Calvinists object to altar calls in that they may mislead people into confusing outward conduct with spiritual change. In doing so, they argue, altar calls may actually give people false assurance about their salvation.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Romans 12:1
  2. ^ Matthew 10:32
  3. ^ Luke 12:8
  4. ^ a b Warren, Rick. "Communicating to Change Lives - Teaching Notes". Preaching for Life Change Seminar: International Version. p. 81. I want to remind you that Jesus never said you had to walk from Point A to Point B in a church to become a believer. In fact they gave no come forward, down the aisle altar calls for the first three hundred years of the church because they didn't even have church buildings for the first three hundred years of the church, so there obviously weren't any aisles to walk down. The come forward invitation is a method that's only about 180 years old. It was invented by Methodist churches in the late 17th century and later picked up and popularized by Charles Finney in the mid 1800s - and the majority of evangelical churches use that form today. There's nothing wrong with it. It's just not necessarily a biblical commandment. It just happens to be a method that was used frequently for the last 200 years. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
  5. ^ 1 www.9marks.org 
By Jim Wallis
  • [2] The new altar call.(HEATS & MINDS)(Poverty): An article from: Sojourners Magazine [HTML] [Digital]
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