It wasn’t long ago that the altar call
was a common occurrence within the church service. Depending
on the denomination this may still take place but it is far
less common today. The question to be asked is why has this
taken place?
Obviously times change and things that
worked in the past don’t work forever. The revival meetings
that many altar calls took place at are no longer happening.
But not even that tells the real story. The truth is that
the gospel has been made to be easily digestable. Is this
good or bad? Well it depends on your perspective and just
how digestable it is made.
The gospel should not be watered down
and truly cannot be watered down. The truth of Jesus Christ
is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Any change to the
message that Jesus died on the cross for forgiveness of our
sins and salvation of our souls is a change to the gospel
and it is not the gospel that is being preached any longer.
With that in mind, there are barriers
that can be removed that are preventing people from
accepting the gospel. It starts with our terminology. There
are everyday Christian words that those within the church
use a lot that don’t mean much to those outside of the
church. Words like lost and saved are very common to
churched people but may not make any sense to those outside
of the church. Replacing these words with more common terms
or making sure that we explain ourselves well will eliminate
this barrier. For a complete list of words, see here.
Another barrier is the idea of going
forward and making a public confession of faith. This is
really what is on my mind as I write. This is what I am
thinking of in terms of easy or hard evangelism. Like every
story, there are two sides to this. The first is the barrier
side. There is no requirement that a person must go forward
to be saved. Someone can give their life to Christ in their
pew, alone at home, or with a friend just as easily as they
can by going forward in front of a group of people. So why
should we put up a barrier that will close some people off
from accepting the gospel if they are shy or don’t want to
get up in front of a group of people?
On the other hand, we can’t deny the power of the Holy
Spirit. If God is calling a person to repentance they can
resist but it is not an obstacle that the Holy Spirit can’t
overcome. If the requirement was for a person to do
cartwheels to the front of the church, God can give them the
ability to do cartwheels.
A public confession of faith is an
important thing for a new believer. It affirms to the church
that they have made a commitment to Christ. It also should
be a reminder to the church that this new Christian needs
their love and support as they begin their walk with Christ.
The other question to ask is when is a public confession of
faith most important?
We are called to be baptized. Through
baptism we identify with Christ’s death and resurrection. I
believe that this is the most important time for a public
confession of faith. At this time a new believer can show to
others that yes, they are committed to this Christian thing.
Baptism is done in many different ways with a lot of
different procedures and requirements beforehand. In my mind
though, it gives a person time to truly think on the
decision they are making and the commitment they are making
to Christ. It is not an emotional decision when it comes
time to be baptized.
So, do we make evangelism easy in
order to remove barriers that may hinder a person from
giving their life to Christ? Or do we trust in the power of
the Holy Spirit to overcome all obstacles and bring a person
to salvation? The answer is yes. Salvation shouldn’t be
thought of as a one step, one time event where someone comes
forward and prays a prayer. There is a time for a public
confession of faith. This is affirming both to the new
believer and the body of Christians that should be
celebrating the salvation of an unsaved individual.
We should remove every obstacle we can
when reaching out to a lost person. But once that door is
open we shouldn’t make it easy to come in by selling a cheap
and easy gospel. When a person expresses an interest in God,
don’t sell God short.
