Are Altar Calls More Harm Than Good?

 WHAT IS AN ALTAR CALL?

Almost everyone is familiar with an altar call. You have seen them in a church service or evangelistic conference or church camp.

An altar call is an invitation to any in a crowd who wish to make a public profession of faith. They are invited to come to the altar – at the front of an auditorium or building – to do so. It is called “altar” because that was where sacrifices were made in the O.T.

Notable evangelicals such as Billy Graham, Billy Sunday or D.L. Moody commonly used altar calls at the end of their services or sermons to give seekers an opportunity to respond in salvation to the Gospel call. It was 19^th century Arminian evangelist Charles Finney who coined the term after he called it “the anxious seat” and “the mourner’s bench.”

SHOULD WE PRACTICE ALTAR CALLS?

The quick and simple answer is “probably not.” While they are not sinful to implement in the local church or for other special occasions, they are not wise to use for the following reasons.

1. The altar call is completely absent from the pages of the N.T. You will not find it anywhere. There are “calls” to salvation but never are there any “calls” to come forward in the middle or at the end of a service to the altar of God’s house. The altar call is a foreign concept to the N.T.

2. The altar call is historically absent in church history until the 19th century when Charles Finney began implementing it during his evangelistic crusades. On top of that, Finney was known as a man-centered theologian who endorsed any form of manipulative methodology to entice people to respond to his sermons.

3. There can be some confusion about what it means to “come to Christ.” Unfortunately, some will equate coming forward for an altar call as the equivalent of coming to Christ for salvation. They are not one and the same. An altar call is a physical invitation to come and accept Christ but it is not salvific in any sense. The test of one’s salvation is not whether they came forward or not but whether they are actively bearing fruit in their life (John 15:8).

4. Altar calls are more based on emotional manipulation and not biblical conviction. The content hardly is the emphasis in an altar call but the atmosphere, the peer pressure, the music or the lighting in the auditorium is.

5. The altar call is sometimes used as a replacement for baptism as the means of public profession of faith. Baptism is commanded (Acts 2:38; 10:48; 22:16) and authorized as “the public confession of faith” – not the altar call.

6. The altar call can take precedent over other clearly foundational parts of a worship service. In other words, the Scripture is not silent on those things the church should be committed to (Acts 2:42-47): preaching, doctrine, breaking bread and eating together, sharing possessions, fellowship, praising God, etc. No where are altar calls emphasized in the early church. Unfortunately, in many modern services they take precedent over that which is mentioned in the Book of Acts as elements of a worship service. Altar calls are man-made and not God-prescribed.

7. Altar calls tempt pastors or churches to evaluate their success or fruit by the results of altar calls and not on the bearing fruit of their congregation or the faithfulness to obeying the Scripture. Numbers of people who come forward can become the determinant to whether or not a church is being blessed by God.

8. Many, if not most, people who respond to an altar call never really are saved. Their claim to faith is that walking down the aisle and, thus, they never make their salvation sure (Phil 2:12). Because too many see this walking down the aisle as “fire insurance” in keeping them from an eternity in hell, they never really live the life they profess to live. Thus, at best, they are hypocrites and not really saved.

SO WHAT?

Is an altar call allowable? Sure it can be with certain precautions as discussed above. And while altar calls are not in the Bible, the invitation to come to Christ and the Bible is not silent about how to make our profession of faith public. It begins with an admission of guilt (Ps 25:11), continues with a sincere desire to repent of that sin which makes him guilty (Acts 3:19), and then ends with a rendering Jesus as Lord of one’s life (Rom 10:9).

The Bible says today is the day of salvation (II Cor 6:2) and it can be for you if you come to Him in humble repentance, ask for forgiveness of sins, believe His death on the cross can atone for your sin and embrace Him as Lord.