I remember being so impressed , watching Jimmy Swaggart on TV talk about the design of his megachurch, and how it was optimized for maximum numbers of people around the altar. His services on TV would often end with a call for believers to come forward and "take care of business" and get right with God. In the church that I used to attend, before it went seeker sensitive, there were always a whole bunch of tissue boxes lined up at the altar in anticipation of sobbing people. I've heard of extreme accounts of people wanting salvation on a given Thursday, and being encouraged by church leaders to wait for the Sunday altar call to make it happen; that's practically a form of "salvation via the church". These are some troubling examples of the inroads that the modern "altar" has made in post-Finney American evangelicalism, and here to get the discussion started on this topic is Chad VanRens:
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. 1 John 5:21
The inspired words of the apostle John to the beloved of Christ go far beyond the avoidance of praying to dead saints or angels. Idolatry is a most grievous sin and something that all Christians are to be diligent to avoid. Any time man invents from his own heart something by which he believes he may approach God, or anything that he erects in his heart by which he believes God will hear him he has erected an idol. In short, trying to approach God by a means he has not commanded is an act of idolatry.
Such is the nature of the altar call. In many churches the altar call has been used as a means to call people to make a decision for Christ, but it is also commonly used as a means to encourage Christians to repent of known sins. At the end of a sermon members of a congregation are often told that if God has been dealing with them then they are to come to the altar and "do business with God". This practice is commonly justified by reasoning that the altar call is just a way to get congregation members to take action against sin in their lives and to "keep their accounts short with God". There is nothing wrong with encouraging Christians to repent of sin but the altar call is a serious error.
Nowhere in the whole of the New Testament are Christians told to approach any sort of an altar in order to show a repentant heart or humility, and the so-called altar is only a figment of the imagination. It does not exist. Only in the minds of the pastor and congregation members is there an altar to approach. It is nothing more than a vain fantasy. Since the scripture tells us that Christ himself is our altar (Heb 13:10) there is no basis upon which we may justify the continuation of the Old Testament altar or the erecting of a new one. What right has man to erect new ordinances or put new obstacles between a Christian and Christ? He has none whatsoever.
There is no purpose or reason for a Christian to kneel at the foot of a pulpit and call it an altar. The Christian has direct access to the throne of grace by the imputed righteousness of Christ. Christ hears our prayer no better whether in your seat or in the car, and going forward during an altar call brings you in no closer proximity to Christ, but instead places an idol between you and the Lord. There is simply no justifying it and by participating the Christian only forsakes his liberty in Christ and places himself in bondage. The scripture tells us in Jonah 2:8; Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.
The altar call is a vain idol, no matter whether it is used to call sinners to Christ or Christians to repent. It is a vain fashioning of the heart of man. Search the scriptures and see the warnings of God against those who trust in idols. Do not fool yourself by thinking that you are only showing your repentant spirit. If repentance is in your heart then scripture tells you how to show it. Cease from your sinful behavior and if another is wronged go and make it right between you and do not turn aside from following the Lord and serve him with all your heart (1 Sam 12:20). That is repentance, not kneeling at an imaginary altar. Do not suppose that we as Christians may invent rituals or ordinances as we see fit, that is the nature of false religion. The nature of true religion is to worship God as he commands and to live according to the teaching of scripture without innovation.
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. 1 John 5:21
The inspired words of the apostle John to the beloved of Christ go far beyond the avoidance of praying to dead saints or angels. Idolatry is a most grievous sin and something that all Christians are to be diligent to avoid. Any time man invents from his own heart something by which he believes he may approach God, or anything that he erects in his heart by which he believes God will hear him he has erected an idol. In short, trying to approach God by a means he has not commanded is an act of idolatry.
Such is the nature of the altar call. In many churches the altar call has been used as a means to call people to make a decision for Christ, but it is also commonly used as a means to encourage Christians to repent of known sins. At the end of a sermon members of a congregation are often told that if God has been dealing with them then they are to come to the altar and "do business with God". This practice is commonly justified by reasoning that the altar call is just a way to get congregation members to take action against sin in their lives and to "keep their accounts short with God". There is nothing wrong with encouraging Christians to repent of sin but the altar call is a serious error.
Nowhere in the whole of the New Testament are Christians told to approach any sort of an altar in order to show a repentant heart or humility, and the so-called altar is only a figment of the imagination. It does not exist. Only in the minds of the pastor and congregation members is there an altar to approach. It is nothing more than a vain fantasy. Since the scripture tells us that Christ himself is our altar (Heb 13:10) there is no basis upon which we may justify the continuation of the Old Testament altar or the erecting of a new one. What right has man to erect new ordinances or put new obstacles between a Christian and Christ? He has none whatsoever.
There is no purpose or reason for a Christian to kneel at the foot of a pulpit and call it an altar. The Christian has direct access to the throne of grace by the imputed righteousness of Christ. Christ hears our prayer no better whether in your seat or in the car, and going forward during an altar call brings you in no closer proximity to Christ, but instead places an idol between you and the Lord. There is simply no justifying it and by participating the Christian only forsakes his liberty in Christ and places himself in bondage. The scripture tells us in Jonah 2:8; Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.
The altar call is a vain idol, no matter whether it is used to call sinners to Christ or Christians to repent. It is a vain fashioning of the heart of man. Search the scriptures and see the warnings of God against those who trust in idols. Do not fool yourself by thinking that you are only showing your repentant spirit. If repentance is in your heart then scripture tells you how to show it. Cease from your sinful behavior and if another is wronged go and make it right between you and do not turn aside from following the Lord and serve him with all your heart (1 Sam 12:20). That is repentance, not kneeling at an imaginary altar. Do not suppose that we as Christians may invent rituals or ordinances as we see fit, that is the nature of false religion. The nature of true religion is to worship God as he commands and to live according to the teaching of scripture without innovation.
1 comment:
Veru interesing and true. I too was caught up in the "moment" some time before.
Now I see the error and how man invents, adds, and takes away from God's word in order to produce their own results.
What a gimic!
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