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How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:14-15, ESV).
I grew up in a church world of altar calls.
After every service, the pastor would say, “Those who want to be saved and be baptized, please come forward.” A faithful church attendee in the home church of my youth would consider it blasphemy if a service ended without an invitation.
Yet today, many Bible-believing churches do not give an altar call. There are several reasons…
- People don’t have time to understand and repent before their decision.
My response: In Acts 2:37-41 after the first gospel message was preached, 3000 were added to the Kingdom, with little to no time to display repentance.
- There are no examples of altar calls in the New Testament.
My response: Describing the end of the first sermon preached by Peter, we read, “And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them saying, ‘Save yourselves from this crooked generation’” (Acts 2:40).
- It will be offensive to those who are visiting church for the first time.
My response: The gospel is convicting to some and offensive to others, as we see after that first sermon preached, “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” (Acts 2:37).
When I first became a believer (early 1970s), I walked around my hometown asking those I met if they would like to be saved. It was during the Jesus Movement Revival and about half of those I asked said, “Yes.” No time for repentance, I just prayed for them immediately and later asked if they wanted to be baptized.
This early enthusiastic response began to wane, and by the mid-1980s I wasn’t giving an altar call/invitation at the church I pastored. Then in 1988, while preparing for a sermon, I heard the Lord say, “Ask if they want to be saved.” I did that Sunday after my sermon and 12 people responded. I kept asking and asking during the next two decades, often with dozens accepting Jesus at the end of a service.
I realize the Spirit works in seasons. And toward the end of my pastorate, fewer people responded to the invitation. Also, some criticized the altar call/invitation for taking a lot of time, making the end of our service unpredictable (and, to be honest, I could feel the pain of those teaching in children’s ministry).
In Romans 10:14-16 there are several phrases that I continue to consider…
- How will they believe in him of whom they have never heard? (v. 14)
- How will they hear without someone preaching? (v. 14)
- How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news (v. 15)
An added note about the Greek in verse 15, as “preach/proclaim” and “preach” in the Greek are essentially the same word, meaning that the good news must be preached/proclaimed for full effect. And it could be concluded that the “full effectiveness” of the Spirit’s conviction would be at an altar call after preaching.
I’m not writing to guilt churches for not giving invitations at the end of a service. In my ministry, there were difficulties and ups and downs with altar calls. The most effective invitations/altar calls that I gave were in obedience to the Spirit’s guidance.
Is God’s Spirit saying today, “Ask people if they want to get saved?”