Another View for May 4, 2005
By Rick Warren
Baptist Press
When we were getting ready for the first service of Saddleback Church 26 years ago, I planned to extend a traditional “come forward” altar call at the end of the service. It was the way I'd always done it. I'd been a Southern Baptist evangelist! But as I concluded my first message in the Laguna Hills High School theater, I suddenly realized I had two problems:
First, I noticed there was no aisle in the building. The chairs were welded together and the building was designed to empty to the outside.
Second, I realized that even if they could get to the front, all that was there was an orchestra pit that dropped off right in front of the stage. I nearly cracked up thinking about saying, “I'm going to ask you to come down and jump in the pit for Jesus!”
I was 26 years old, and I honestly didn't know what to do next. How could I get people to indicate their commitment to Christ if they couldn't come forward?
Over the next few weeks, we experimented with several different ways of having people indicate their commitment to Christ. We tried setting up a counseling room, where people could go after the service. We found that once people walked out of the service they just kept walking to their car.
After a number of experiments, we decided to turn the back side of our welcome card into a decision card. We encourage everyone to fill out the front side at the beginning of the service. At the end of each service, I ask everyone to bow their heads and I lead in a closing prayer, during which I give an opportunity for unbelievers to make a commitment to Christ. Then, I'll pray a model prayer as an example and ask them to let me know about their decision on the commitment card. Then the last thing we do in our service is have a special music number and collect the cards and offering at the same time. The cards are immediately processed for personal follow up.
Some might ask, “Where do people make their public profession of faith?” That's what baptism is for! It is a public statement of faith in Christ. The altar call is actually a modern invention. Asahel Nettleton began using it in 1817, and Charles Finney popularized it. In the New Testament churches didn't have altar calls because there weren't church buildings for about the first 300 years. There were no aisles to walk down!
Offering a time of commitment is an important element of an evangelistic service. Here are four suggestions for leading people to make a commitment:
• Clearly explain exactly how to respond to Christ. Too many invitations to salvation are misunderstood. The unchurched often have no idea what's going on.
• Plan out your time of commitment. Deliberately and carefully think through what you want to happen. Extending an opportunity to come to Christ is too important to just tack on to the end of a message without planning it.
• Lead unbelievers in a model prayer. The unchurched don't know what to say to God. Help people verbalize their faith.
• Never pressure unbelievers to decide. Trust the Holy Spirit to do his work. I tell my staff, “If the fruit is ripe, you don't have to yank it!” I believe an overextended invitation is counterproductive. It hardens hearts rather than softening them.
I often pray, “Father, you've said, ‘According to your faith it will be done unto you.' I know it would be a waste of time to speak and not expect you to use it, so I thank you in advance that lives are going to be changed.” Expect people to respond!