Faster Unto Thee

How to Botch an Altar Call

I found this yesterday on The Way of the Master website. This evangelistic ministry is led by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. While those who do not hold to penal substitution will not like this list, those of us who do will find it helps with clarity of thought.

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(A few keys for those who don't want people saved in their altar calls)

1. Present an unbalanced message. Only let them see the heart-warming part of God’s character. Preach God’s love but leave out His holiness and justice. That way they’ll think He’ll let them into heaven no matter what.
2. Don’t mention repentance until they’re repeating a “sinner’s prayer.” Just get them to say, “I repent of all my sins” while they’re echoing you. They won’t know what they’re saying and they won’t count the cost.
   
3. Above all else, be dignified. Don’t get heart to heart with the people. They would get something out of what you said.
   
4. Skim over the gospel and push the prayer. Pretend the lost naturally understand what Christ has done for them.
   
5. Preach Jesus as a life enhancer not a life rescuer. Tell them how Jesus can improve their life but don’t show them Jesus as the only One who can save them from Hell. People will think if they reject Him they’re only losing out on a spiritual high.
   
6. Try to please the people instead of convert them. Tell them what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.
   
7. Compromise the message to speed up the process. The Christians who have heard it a hundred times before will be pleased with that. The quicker they get out the quicker they can get to the restaurant.
   
8. Give them the impression that God is so good He won’t send anyone to hell. Don’t present the whole counsel of God or they might realize He is so good that He’ll see to it that justice is served and that all unrepentant sinners will be punished in the fire that is not quenched.
   
9. Speak to sinners as though they were saints. They’ll think they’re God’s children instead of the enemies of God they’ve made themselves into because of their sin. You’ll give them false assurance and mislead them.
   
10. Don’t mention sin or man’s guilt. Resist the urge to explain what Christ came to deliver us from. Don’t show them their need for the Savior. Otherwise it may all make sense.
    
11. Don’t look to the Bible for the substance of your altar call. Only mimic other preachers with large congregations.
    
12. Tell the lost not to feel bad about their sins. That way you will work against the Holy Spirit who’s convicting them
    
13. Whatever you do, never mention Judgment Day. Your audience might take spiritual matters seriously.
    
14. Tell them Jesus is the only way to heaven but don’t explain why. They may think it’s nothing more than fear tactics and leave offended instead of enlightened.
    
15. Confuse the call. This is a great way to botch up an altar call. Don’t let people know you’re asking them to commit their life to Christ. Be vague and general in what you’re saying. Neglect to mention following Christ in your evangelistic altar calls and say things like, “If you don’t feel you’re as close to God as possible raise your hand,” “If you feel lonely come to the front for prayer,” “If you want more of God this is your time,” and, “If you have struggles and need the answer come down.” Just get them to raise a hand. That way no one will be able to count the cost and you’ll even get saints to respond to salvation altar calls, making the results look more successful.
    
16. Only give them half the story. Tell them Jesus died to forgive everyone but overlook the fact that they must personally receive Him to partake of that forgiveness.
    
17. Present the truth as though it isn’t. Be so funny when you share Christ that you belittle the seriousness of the matter.
    
18. Preach forgiveness without repentance. That way no one will know how to be forgiven.
    
19. Be unbiblical. Present repentance and faith as an offer instead of how God does as a command (Acts 17:30).
    
20. Let them think next Sunday is the day of salvation. Don’t make them feel it’s urgent to respond today.
    
21. Never warn of hell. Dangle heaven in front of their nose but rarely mention hell, certainly not as much as Jesus did.
    
22. Only do altar calls inside the church. Never take the gospel where sinners congregate. The lost might get saved.
    
23. Use churchy terms. Use words like, “saved,” “repent,” and “born again,” without any explanation. That way your hearers won’t comprehend what you’re saying. If they can’t understand it, it’s probable they won’t be changed by it.
    
24. Give false assurance of salvation to unsaved Christians. Assure church folk that they are saved even if they bear no fruit. So that you don’t offend the unsaved pew warmers never quote 2 Corinthians 13:5: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.” You could lose some financial supporters and have to depend on God.
    
25. Never mention the wrath of God. If you mention it, people might be awakened to flee to Jesus who “saves us from the wrath to come.” ( 1 Thess. 1:10)
    
26. Study how the apostles preached and witnessed and do the opposite. Don’t explain Jesus’ suffering death on the cross. Otherwise they may think of running to Him for forgiveness. Don’t speak of His burial or resurrection or they might realize He is God. Refrain from commenting about the hundreds of eyewitnesses who saw Jesus after He rose from the dead. That way they can go on thinking He’s a fairy tale. Overlook talk of the messianic prophecies Jesus fulfilled or they might realize that the Bible is true. If they see it’s the truth they may see that following Christ is the logical decision. And whatever you do, avoid what the apostles did when it came time to call people to obey the gospel. Don’t tell them to trust Christ and live for Him. That is too accurate. If they know how to get saved your altar call will be a success.
    
27. Put more emphasis on the “sinner’s prayer” then on repentance and faith. Satan will smile over your departure from Biblical instruction. We are never taught to use a ‘sinner’s prayer’ throughout the entire Bible. If you decide to use it and put more emphasis on the technique than on what we’re commanded to preach: faith and repentance you’ll certainly botch things up. A ‘sinner’s prayer’ doesn’t equal salvation, only faith in Christ and repentance toward God do.
    
28. Let Christians think you’re the only one who can do it right. Always leave the impression that they should only invite friends to church and never actually witness themselves. It will keep you in business and the lost unsaved.
    
29. Don’t let the lost know they are. Disregard subjects like Judgment Day, God’s holiness, man’s sinfulness and justice. That way the lost can continue to think they’re “good enough” to get into heaven.
    
30. Rely upon psychological techniques to manipulate people into responding to the altar call. Don’t rely upon the Holy Spirit or they may actually get saved.
    
31. Make sure you’re the main attraction. Remember the goal in botching up an altar call is for people to leave and say, “What a wonderful preacher,” instead of, “What a wonderful Savior.” Draw all possible attention to how great a speaker and person you are. Otherwise people might see Christ in your preaching and get saved.
    
32. Don’t focus upon Jesus. Finally, the best way to botch up an altar call is not to preach the gospel. Just get people to lift up a hand and pray a prayer with you. Resist the urge to speak of the only One who could save them.

Sometimes the best way to get a point across is to put it in a different light. You now know a few ways to botch up an altar call. Please do not employ them. Do the opposite. You may already do some of them. Don’t let pride keep you from changing and doing things in a Biblical fashion. The bottom line is how true we are to Christ and His word. Effectively reaching the lost is our purpose. Let nothing hold you back from that agenda. May God bless you as you seek to win people to Christ in Bible clubs, churches, conferences, on the street witnessing encounters, at your school, and at your workplace.

Adapted from Becoming an Emissary for God by Allen Atzbi

Sermon Synopses - "Shirk the Shame" - Romans 1:16-17

Here is another sermon synopsis from my current series on the book of Romans. These synopses, as always, are presented minus the bulk of the sermon material, illustrations, etc.

This letter continues to be life-changing for me, and I hope it is the same for my congregation.

"Shirk the Shame"

Romans 1:16-17

June 21, 2009

Introduction

            Shame is an painful and powerfully motivating thing.

            Imagine the following scenarios. You marry into a family, and for your first Christmas with your new in-laws you are informed that this family draws names out of a hat at Thanksgiving time to decide who is buying Christmas gifts for whom. The family does this because it is large and it is just too expensive for everyone to buy gifts for everyone else. So you draw Uncle Fred's name and file it away. Fast forward ahead to Christmas Day. The family is all gathered together at Grandma's house, who by the way, never follows the name drawing thing but buys gifts for everyone, and it is time for everyone to exchange gifts. As you open up your gift, a sense of dread hits you because the gift you just opened costs way more than the gift you got for Uncle Fred. You hope that the person that bought you your gift just got carried away, but as you look around the room, everyone else's gift is about the same value as the one you are holding, except for the gift you bought for Uncle Fred, which is less than half that value. What happened? They all have an understanding among themselves that the gifts will all have about a such-and-such value, but they never told you about that. Nevertheless, your face is beat red, you want to slide under the couch and die and everyone wonders how such a cheapskate got into the family.

            I remember the kid in high school who, when he was asked a question in math class, did everything he could to divert attention away from himself because he still did not know his multiplication tables and he was embarrassed; Or the kid whose dad was in jail and got mocked for it all the time by the other kids – you could see the shame all over his face.

            Sometimes shame is simple and brief, sometimes it is crippling, sometimes it dominates a person's life and they never shake it.

            Amazingly, Christians sometimes feel ashamed of the gospel, the good news message of Jesus Christ. There are times when a believer walks into certain circles of people and the last thing that believer wants is to be identified as a believer in Christ. There are times and situations where the social fallout is so great, whether it be in school, or the workplace, or the neighborhood, that Christians do their best to live very quiet, wallflower Christian lives. We have the best news in the world and sometimes we are afraid to let it out around the very people who need it most because they might mock us or ridicule us or snicker at us, or think we are real simpletons for believing that religious stuff.

            The Apostle Paul, in this wonderful letter of his to the Romans, deals with this issue of being ashamed of the gospel with only two verses. That is all he needs to make it clear why he is not ashamed of the gospel, and the reasons that drove shame from him can drive shame from us as well. And so the thrust of today's sermon is this:

            Don't be ashamed of the gospel message! Let's look at the two reasons why in these verses.

I.  Because through it salvation comes (v. 16).

            ......

            Now back to my point about not being ashamed. Like Paul, we can say, "I'm not going to be ashamed of this gospel message, because through it God definitely changes people. It is God's means of bringing about transformation. This is how it works. I am not ashamed of it because when it is truly believed, people are transformed. To put it even shorter, I'm not ashamed of it because it is the truth, and those who mock it are fools and they believe a lie.

II. Because through it God's righteousness is revealed (v. 17).

            Now, second reason. Don't be ashamed of the gospel because through it God's righteousness is revealed. Verse 17 again: "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith."

           It appears at first glance that God is in a dilemma. Human beings are terrible sinners, defying his commands and laws and will, living without praise to their creator, choosing to put their wills above his, worshiping other so-called gods, and living generally corrupt lives. That 's the Bible's depiction of human beings – sinful hearts and sinful lives. And the Bible depiction of God is that he is perfectly holy – without sin in any way – and that his wrath burns hot against sin. But God wants to forgive – he loves – it is in his nature to forgive. But his subjects deserve severe punishment and he has said that he condemns their sin and that the penalty for sin is death. And so he can't just wave his hand and forgive them without compromising his justice. For if he just said, "Aw, don't worry about it, I'll let it go", it would be the same as saying sin is no big deal and he  was just kidding about his standards and his holiness is not such a big deal, either. He cannot maintain his integrity as ruler if he does not take law breaking seriously and punish it appropriately. And then he would not be worthy of respect, much less worship. Like children who know their parents' warnings of punishment are empty threats, we would not respect God.

             The gospel is intellectually, emotionally, and relationally satisfying.

Thomas O. Summers on Propitiation and the Divine Attributes

Methodist theologian Thomas O. Summers argued passionately for the penal theory of the atonement contra theologian John Miley, who rejected it. Here is an interesting quote of Summers on propitiation and the divine attributes:

Indeed, every perfection of his nature demands that he shall enforce the sanctions of his law; consequently, no attribute of the Deity will allow God to pardon sin without due satisfaction. His wisdom must be vindicated in creating moral beings, and putting them under law. His power must be vindicated in the enforcement of the penalty, as impunity would argue weakness on the part of the Sovereign, and induce contempt on the part of the subject. His truth, comprehending both veracity and faithfulness, must be vindicated, as it requires the execution of the threat, and would be outraged were it set aside in the exercise of an unconditional prerogative of pardoning mercy. His justice must be vindicated. The integrity of his nature will not allow him to swerve a hair's breath from the strictest equity. It would not be vindicated, but rather outraged, if he were not to render the sinner the just deserts of his sin, unless an equivalent for his punishment be paid, that pardon might be granted; and so God might be just while he justifies - that is, absolves the sinner. His goodness must be vindicated. It revolts from sin, while it would befriend the sinner. Sin is the curse and calamity of the universe. It is only evil continually. In its own nature, as well as from the positive infliction of divine vengeance, it results in the ruin of the sinner. It makes him a moral wreck, helpless and hopeless. It requires no argument to show that goodness can allow nothing to be done which in the slightest degrees connives at sin.

    - from Systematic Theology: A Complete Body of Wesleyan Arminian Divinity, Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1888. Page 266.