Altar Calls and the Emerging Church<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
A discussion between Tony Jones and Sean McDowell
 
(An installment of the column "Sparks: Iron Sharpens Iron" appearing in
The Journal of Student Ministries)
www.thejournalofstudentministries.com
 
 
Tony says:
Sean, first let me make a confession: I came forward at church camp in 5th grade and "invited Jesus into my life as my personal Lord and Savior." I cried like a baby, too.
 
But then, a few year later, I was a counselor at that camp, and I discovered that the staff set that night up every year. They called it "Cry Night."
 
Of course, it's unfair to dismiss a ministry practice just because it's been abused by a few people, so I want to look a little more deeply at the altar calls.
 
Jesus compels us to follow his example and call people out of their sinful lives into a life redeemed by his grace. After he healed, he would often say, "Now go and sin no more." In each of our lives, there are these poignant moments, turning points, that call for repentance and a commitment to a "new life"-what the New Testament calls metanoia.
 
But in each of these instances, Jesus dealt personally with someone. There were no mass conversions when the Savior of the world trod the earth! The only one I can think of is Peter's sermon on Pentecost and the resulting conversion of 3,000 that day and 2,000 a couple days later. But I think we can confidently say that was a special work of the Holy Spirit on a special occasion.
 
Otherwise, the conversion stories we have are individuals like <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Cornelius, Lydia, and the Ethiopian Eunuch. And I think that, as youth workers, we are daft to assume that one message is right on-target for dozens of kids, or even thousands and a stadium rally. Like Jesus, we're called to minister to individual students and their individual needs.
It's easy to provoke a "Cry Night" at summer camp (I know, I've done it); it's harder to be deeply involved with the lives of many students and to be available when God is working a metanoia in their lives.
 
Sean says:
Tony, I also have some concerns about the way altar calls are often done. Excessive emotional appeal often leads merely to a commitment of the heart when it should be both the heart and mind. Metanoia means a "change of mind." If an emotional appeal distracts from the true cost of following Jesus it is call for concern.
 
This is why, if I do an altar call, I request for music not to be played until after the commitment period. Trained counselors must be on hand help students understand that it is all about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. If young people don't understand how to enter into relationship with Jesus, they will likely fall away.
 
It bothers me when people give an altar call and think their work is done. In reality, the work has just begun! An altar call is often the first step in the spiritual journey of our students that can open the door for us to become deeply involved in their lives.
 
There may not be examples of Jesus leading mass conversions, as you mentioned, but Paul gave mass evangelistic messages many times. He addressed entire crowds with a tailored gospel message.
 
The first thing Paul often did when he came to town was to preach to crowds. In Acts 13 Paul preaches in Antioch of Pisidia to groups of Jews during Sabbath. In his Athenian speech to Jews and Gentiles, Paul once again addressed crowds with the message of the resurrection of Jesus. There were even many converts, as a result of his call to repentance (Acts 17:34).
 
Paul did not call crowds to respond, but the individual people in the crowds. While he addressed the group, he was still able to minister to the individuals. Many times our kids are ministered to best in the midst of their peers.
 
Tony says:
Metanoia may literally mean "change of mind," but in the Bible it's used to mean "repentance," which I'm sure we would agree is a mental and spiritual turning. It's a significant action, to repent, and not one to be done lightly.What worries me, Sean, about many of the modern youth ministry methods are just the peer groups that you mention. Indeed, we must minister to our students in the midst of their peers. But there's also a great deal of social pressure in those groups.
We've all seen our kids at worship, sometimes raising their hands in unison, like lemmings, when the chorus comes around. They look around and, since so many of the other kids are raising their hands, they do it, too. That's not to say they're necessarily being inauthentic, just that there's a lot of pressure on them to conform.
Several times I've taken youth groups to the big-name youth speaker at our local stadium. And I've watched it with my own eyes: one well-meaning kids starts going forward to the stage, then a couple more, then they all go en masse. No one wants to be the one unrepentant kid!
 
We've just got to be hyper-aware, when giving students opportunities for metanoia, that they can repent out of true conviction instead of peer pressure.
 
Sean says:
It seems we are in agreement that metanoia involves rational and emotional faculties. This is why, I would argue, its so important not to have an unhealthy emotional appeal that interrupts rational thinking. Such a move might get a "conversion statistic," but not a lasting disciple.
 
Peer pressure can be negative, as you point out, but can't it also be positive? I've seen the examples of abuse (like you mentioned) but I have also seen powerful times where kids are moved to repentance because of the actions of their peers.
 
As youth workers, we have the great responsibility of fostering positive peer pressure and minimizing the negative. Kids are so peer-oriented why not try to use it for the good? We should challenge kids to make a public stand-at appropriate times and in appropriate ways-and to then live accordingly.
 
After coming down from Mt. Sinai, and seeing Aaron leading the Israelites in worship of the golden calf, Moses used peer pressure to call individuals to action. He said publicly, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me" (Exodus 32:26).
 
We may not have a biblical precedent for altar calls in the exact way they are done today. But why is that problematic if proper theology and care informs our methodology?
 
Tony says:
So I wonder what that would look like, using the social surroundings of a peer group, not as pressure but as an environment of safety? Because I think you're exactly right, Sean, that's how it should be used. We never come to the moment of metanoia in a vacuum. We're always surrounded by community: family, youth group, school, teams, etc. And, like with a family, the context of a youth group should be one that is supportive of exploration and questions-supportive of, as you say, the rational and emotional faculties.
 
This seems to me to exclude, out of hand, the pyrotechnic-laden production at the local basketball arena, when the highly-paid evangelist yells at your kids and basically tells them that if they don't become soldiers for Christ tonight, both they and our whole world are going to hell. I'm deeply troubled by youthworkers who outsource metanoia by taking their students to these events.
 
Instead, let's nurture environments that, as you say, foster positive and healthy peer environments.
 
Sean says:
How to create a positive environment is really the key question. Pressure is not necessarily a bad thing (just consider Ezra leading the people in corporate confession in Nehemiah 9), but it can certainly be abused.
 
We shouldn't merely assume our current models are right because of tradition, as you say, without deep caution and theological reflection. As leaders God will hold us to a high standard for the way we minister to our students, whether individually or corporately.
 
There may be some highly paid evangelists that abuse the public forum, but there are also many who provide nurturing, challenging, and biblically-based events that can be a deep source of encouragement and help for our teens. I think we both agree that such forums can exist, but they must add to the individual ministry we are already having with our students rather than replace it.
 
Great insights, Tony. I am looking forward to our next discussion on how technology is shaping youth ministry.
 
 
Sean McDowell graduated summa cum laude from Talbot Theological Seminary with a double Master's degree in Philosophy and Theology. He teaches Bible in high school and is a nationally recognized speaker, and has authored many articles and books, including, Ethix: Being Bold in a Whatever World (B and H Publishing, 2006). His website is www.seanmcdowell.org