The 'Invitation'

What about having an inquiry room or an anxious meeting like some of the old timers had, including Spurgeon (as has been ably shown on this thread)? Would you be against that, too? Just curious. :type:

 

I'm all for it, John. It's about the same as the pastor's telling the congregation that he'll be around right after the service if anybody wants to talk to him.

I should have included that in my previous post, as an acceptable alternative to a "walk-the-aisle" invitation..

 

Re: The 'Invitation"

Bro Pinoy,

From what I gather from your statement of the way the PB give their "altar Call", is pretty much the same as the "open door" that is given in the ORB churches. At the end of the service, the closing preacher will say something like this: "If there is any one here, who has been praying on account of their sins, and believes that God has saved them, come and give us your hand to be baptized". It may not be word for word, but pretty close.

We, as ORBs don't give an "invitation" to be saved(we preach repentance through our sermons), but to give a "recognition" to those who have experienced the Grace of God, and to make a public statement of Faith towards God. If someone was to come to the pulpit and start praying, I would pray with him...its just that we let them "work out their own salvation with fear and trembling". Salvation is a "one on one" situation with God...they need to take it to God in prayer.Not them, man and God.

Willis

 

I was in a church where the people who came forward were taken to small rooms and spoken with about any decision they made. Each small room had a closed door where there was privacy. I thought it worked very well.

 

That's what we did in the churches I grew up in, pastored by my grandfather and father. I think it's a good way to do it. And frankly, I don't see a lot of difference between saying, "Come down front and we'll take you aside and counsel you," and, "Come to the inquiry room and we'll counsel you." It's pretty much the same thing in my mind. Either way, though, as I think you'll agree, the sinner should be carefully counselled with about their eternal soul.

 

The only thing I would definitely want to see would be that each person would be separately counseled from their friends especially young kids and youth. I have heard too many talk about their reason for doing something was because their friend did.

 

I agree that there's not much difference. Except that "coming down front" is too often presented as the same as "getting saved." Were the pastor to use the words you did, there would be no confusion. Instead, we sometimes hear exhortations to come down couched as "come to Christ," "meet the Savior down here," "Step out on faith," and the like.

That's why, even today, we hear salvation testimonies in words like "I walked the aisle when I WAS ten......"

I'm all for providing a sense of urgency to an appeal to the lost. I'm more in favor of clarity of the appeal.

 

Very true. The Ideal of course is for every soul to be dealt with one on one.

 

I'm glad to hear this. There is, of course, a wrong way and a right way to do anything. And our methods should be driven by our theology, not just done by tradition, etc.

 

I have watched and read with great interest this discussion about" the Invitation". Because I am a street evangelist(I stand on street corners, I go to fairs, I go to public parks) and I am very interested in this subject. I realize that I have only an invitation or alter call to offer the prospective listener and I'm totally dependent upon the convicting power and work of the Holy Spirit to get that listener to respond to my message.
The message I delivered is very short and to the point and the response to that message continues to increase. Perhaps now as high as 85%.
I do offer to and do lead the listener in a sinner's prayer. Of course, I see many different reactions as the listeners pray with me. Some close their eyes and bow their heads. Others do not. After we pray some are very stoic others are beside themselves with joy.
It is my contention that the use of the invitation is of the upmost importance in dealing with the lost. I also take notice that those who have not experienced answering an invitation many times have trouble determining exactly when they received salvation.
To date, the most helpful thing I have experienced in witnessing is offering the listener proof of their salvation after hearing them call on the name of of the Lord for their salvation.
I go to the streets every day and witness. Some days I talked as high as 22 people, other days I talk to two or three. It all depends on whether the people are out are not.
I also sponsor a full-time street evangelist in Chihuahua, Mexico. And last month he prayed with 220 people.
So you can see that I consider the invitation to be very, very important.