Don Johnson "on invitations"

So there are two basic types of invitations: a call to conversion to faith, and a call for a Christian to commit/repent/act to something.

My question is the call to salvation. How do you in your ministry call people to salvation in a church service? Maybe you don’t even think that is appropriate. Maybe you do. Any thoughts?

Our music pastor at the close of the service typically says something like this: “if you have a spiritual need, Pastor Matt will be in the front of the auditorium and he would like to connect with you”.

I really appreciate how you always support your church here in your responses (I seriously mean that.)

Side question: Is there a 1st, 2nd and 3rd Baptist in your town?

• I invite people to search their own hearts and minds about (insert sermon topic here).


• I urge them to confess their sin and resolve to do better today about (insert sermon topic here)


• I ask them to pray that the Holy Spirit work in everyone’s hearts; unbelievers for salvation, believers for holiness


• Music plays


• Invitation over - total elapsed time maybe 90 seconds

[Mark_Smith]

I really appreciate how you always support your church here in your responses (I seriously mean that.)

Side question: Is there a 1st, 2nd and 3rd Baptist in your town?

First website

My guess is there was a 2nd and 3rd but they died out. But I don’t know. Per the Minnesota Historical Society First also planted Bethlehem (John Piper)

On big decisions and privacy:

• I’m sure most have met with a financial advisor. We had an in depth consultation with one about 5 years ago. I provided all kinds of very private data: W2’s; tax statements; info on all of our CC accounts and our mortgage; and an income and expense statement from the prior 12 months (thanks Quicken!). It was in a private office. With a door closed. There was not a congregation singing with organ & piano accompaniment “Just as I am”. I was not on the front pew with others all around me.
• Several years ago I had an uncomfortable medical issue with _____________ [ it’s too private to go beyond this …]. I was in my doctor’s office alone with him for this discussion. There was not a congregation singing with organ & piano accompaniment “Just as I am”. I was not on the front pew with others all around me.
• In an important enough discussion about one’s spiritual needs, is really the best venue on the front pew with hundreds of people wanting that verse to be the last so they can go - where ever they might go after church!? Don’t think so.
• The end-of-the-message invitation harkens back to revivalist days and their bad theology.

[Mark_Smith]

My question is the call to salvation. How do you in your ministry call people to salvation in a church service? Maybe you don’t even think that is appropriate. Maybe you do. Any thoughts?

Our pastor usually gives people these options: 1. He or other pastors will be available & happy to talk with them after services; 2. To call or drop into the church office during the week, and he or another pastor will be available & happy to talk to them; or 3. We have a rather large (I’m guessing 600 square feet) prayer room with capable volunteers who will be available & happy to talk to them after services. (These options apply to any spiritual or prayer need.)

Rarely do we have a (so-called) alter call; and then, it’s not drawn out or manipulative. (I’m personally not opposed to them; but I also don’t believe that having them is necessary.) Isn’t baptism supposed to be the means by which we publicly declare our faith anyway?

NT Scripture is rife with models of invitations, both public (Pentecost—“…exhort [strongly urged] saying ‘Save yourselves…’”—and personal (“And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord [Acts 22:16 {Ananias to the future Apostle Paul}] “).

This is a relatively silly discussion that basically takes one persons pet peeve and gives it some credibility. We have all seen abuses involving just about every facet of Christian practice. But you don’t judge a practice by its abuses. You judge it by whether or not it is Scripturally right.

Invitations are quite Scriptural. Scripture models are evident. Apply Scripture to the situation and then trust the Holy Spirit in the life of the other person.

I agree that invitations are ok. I don’t think Don disputes that. We just don’t want them to become manipulative.

My real pet peeve is the misuse of the word “tenant”. Please don’t do it, you will drive me mad.

But that’s another thread…

You can give an altar call after specific invitations, I don’t have a problem with that. But must you? Will marching down to the altar really make that significant difference that some say it will? What we are really after are spiritual responses to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Let’s avoid manipulating a response and let folks make spiritual decisions without the public psychological display.

I agree - it’s not the ‘invitation’ itself, but the language of it. I have seldom heard an altar call that didn’t link sincerity and faith with the walk down the aisle. It’s very difficult to encourage someone to respond without implying that if they ‘really mean it’ they will ‘do something’ to prove it. This is confusing if a preacher just spent 30 minutes telling folks salvation is “not of works lest any man should boast”. I think we (general ‘we’) aren’t very good at communicating that fine line between faith and works.

The root problem is that, by continuing to employ altar calls, we practice that which the Bible neither records, instructs, nor encourages. We must understand the distinction between an “invitation” and an “altar call.” We usually call “altar calls” “invitations.” An invitation is a verbal admonition, during the course of the sermon, to believe on Christ. (Or whatever else is being encouraged.) Such invitations are found in Scripture. They call for an inward, invisible response of faith to the proclaimed Word of God. An altar call is a plea for a physical response (raise a hand, walk an aisle, etc.) to indicate a decision. You will not find altar calls in the Bible, except the command to be baptized as an indication of faith in Christ. So long as we fail to maintain this important distinction, we will confuse people with our altar calls. If the preacher is not clear about this matter, and its Biblical validity, should we be surprised if the people to whom we preach are also confused?

If we’re dispensational, why do we still have an altar in our Tabernacle?

Did you ever think what coming to the altar means to a Roman Catholic?

Q. If we don’t have an invitation, how are people going to get saved?

A. The way they always have, through repentance and faith in Christ.

Q. If we don’t have an invitation, how can people make a public profession of faith?

A. That’s what baptism is for.

[G. N. Barkman]

The root problem is that, by continuing to employ altar calls, we practice that which the Bible neither records, instructs, nor encourages. (1) We must understand the distinction between an “invitation” and an “altar call.” We usually call “altar calls” “invitations.” An invitation is a verbal admonition, during the course of the sermon, to believe on Christ. (Or whatever else is being encouraged.) Such invitations are found in Scripture. They call for an inward, invisible response of faith to the proclaimed Word of God. (2) An altar call is a plea for a physical response (raise a hand, walk an aisle, etc.) to indicate a decision. You will not find altar calls in the Bible, except the command to be baptized as an indication of faith in Christ. So long as we fail to maintain this important distinction, we will confuse people with our altar calls. If the preacher is not clear about this matter, and its Biblical validity, should we be surprised if the people to whom we preach are also confused?

(1) This comes across as hardly more than semantic gymnastics, kinda like arguing whether the church meets in the auditorium or the sanctuary. Response to either usually boils down to a request for more information or a public statement of a private decision.

(2) With a couple of notable exceptions, like John 2 where Philip invites Nathanael to “come [physically] and see…” whether Jesus was, indeed, the Christ; or Acts 9 where Christ Himself instructs Saul/Paul, who is responding to the conviction of Christ with “what wilt thou have me to do…”, to “go [physically] into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”

The Bible says to compel them to come in, so compel. Don’t judge a practice by its abuses. Correct the abuses, keep the practice if it has Biblical validity.

How Does Doctrine Affect Evangelism? The Divergent Paths of Asahel Nettleton and Charles Finney

by Rick Nelson

If inquirers are properly counseled without being publicly pressured to make premature (and thus spurious) decisions, the results of evangelism will be conserved to a greater degree. If ministers and church members would practice theologically precise personal evangelism, churches would be transformed by the infusion of new spiritual life.