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Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Altar Call

Tonight I went to the Hawaii District Campmeeting for the Nazarene Church. The worship team from Ma'ili Samoan Church of the Nazarene was leading worship. I love that group! So much fun! Sitting in my pew, feeling the wind blow accross my face, listening to children run and play outside, I felt so at home. It was campmeeting. Open air worship, a call to search your heart and a time for renewal. A time set aside from our busy schedules to spend an entire week focused on God. (or at least the evenings of that week)
As usual, there was an altar call at the end of the service. A call to respond to the plan God has for your life. Now there has been some debate in the church I am attending as to whether altar calls are nec. Do we want to include them?After all, there is no Biblical record of them, per se. What good do they do?? Tonight, as I watched the teenagers head for the altar, I was reminded of what the altar represents, or should. Teenagers are a great example of what the church should be when it comes to altar calls. When 1 responds, the rest follow. There may be 10 teenagers surrounding and praying for the 1 who went forward.

That is what we, as the body of Christ, should be doing for one another. When one is hurting, we should all gather around. Yes, altar calls are a good opportunity to invite people to accept Christ. And yes, altar calls can make some very uncomfortable. But they are so much more. They are an opportunity, in a world that is far too busy, to stop and say, "I am broken." or "I need to deal with God - now." They remind us that we are all weak, and offer us the chance to support one another. I have heard it said many times that 80% or more of what happens in most churches could happen without the presence of God (other than to sustain life, of course!). Altar calls must be in the other 20%. How many times have I been running from God's voice, only to get caught in an altar call. Regular services were easy enough to deal with because immediately after the message (when God was speaking to me), a short prayer would be said and service dismissed. People would turn, smile, talk, laugh, eat, leave. In other words, distraction, distraction, distraction, distraction. Then, conviction forgotten. Altar calls made it more difficult. Even if I chose not to respond outwardly. I had to at least listen. There was no distraction - unless I created my own. :-) Oh, the familiar feeling of dread, as you know that God is telling you to take care of business and you are scared to death to step out. What will people think? What will you tell them if they ask you what you are praying for? Also familiar, is the incredible sense of relief and release as you hit your knees and know that you were obedient. Some times, that is all that happened for me during an altar call. I was simply called to obey. Other times, I dealt with issues that lead myself and those praying with me to tarry for an hour or more. Hhhmmm, come to think of it, one of the "tarry" times was during a campmeeting. It was when God first prompted me to respond to a call to full time ministry and service. I think Steve preached out of Acts. That is all I remember about the sermon. I remember the altar call, though. Because that is where things changed. A few friends and a couple loving adults stayed and prayed through with me until the end, sharing scriptures and insights periodically along the way.
Are altar calls nec. in a church service? Probably not, but I definately feel that they have their place, especially when done well - with God doing the prompting and not man doing the manipulating. However we choose to do it, we must never forget to lift up the body. Remember, the enemy is prowling about, seeking whom he may devour. Sooner or later, we are all injured in battle. Hopefully we also grow occasionally, and that growth can be painful as well. The church must be humble enough to be vulnerable within the body and caring enough to support one another - no matter what. A line from a song, "why do the chosen kill their wounded?" has not ceased to haunt me since the first time I heard it. We must not kill our wounded but rescue them and nurture them back to health. If they leave the fold completely, we must pursue them with our love and prayers until the are brought back home.
Thank you for, once again, reading through my rambled thoughts!!

1 comment:

Joe Hayes said...

So, why do you think we lose that as adults? I always feel coerced into going to the alter at my church, and resent it so I don't go. Also, I can't think of a time that I made real spiritual progress at an alter. Seems like the spiritual growth I've done has beeen slow and over time, not lighning bolt alter pray-through things. I could be wrong.