Altar Call

One of the major features of the twenty-first century church is the altar call. This is a time when the "doors of the church are opened" and people are able to partake. They can become members, become born again, get baptized in the Holy Ghost, or something else that requires the church leader's assistance. Popular theology bolsters this practice; it is usually held at the conclusion of the service to the tune of sorrowful music as to evoke a sense of shame or contrition in the congregant. After a whole service of being told one needs to change, the church then offers the congregant the opportunity to begin change with an act of faith at the altar. There are several problems with this practice, which we discuss here. Before we even get into the practice of playing music to sadden people and coax them into coming down to the front of the church, the more important issue is the belief that we have an altar in a building (see "The Church"). The church is not a building; the church is the body of Christ. So the thing we call an altar is not an altar, as was in the temple; it is a stage or a podium (Christians call it a pulpit). Pulpits, however, have erroneously received spiritual significance by deeming it an altar. We know from the Old Testament that an altar was where sacrifices were made; are we still doing that? That would mean someone has to be the priest; however, the Levitical priesthood was replaced (Hebrews 7:11-12). If you have been reading from the beginning of this book, red flags should be coming up. That is the first aspect of our discussion. The second is the actual practice itself. G. Craige Lewis of EX Ministries makes powerful arguments in his The Truth Behind Hip Hop series⁶⁹ that suggests that we rethink and cease the practice of playing music during the time of the call for repentance. We want to explore some of the points he makes as well as what the Bible says about this practice.

The Altar in Heaven or on Earth?

Christians are saved by grace through faith. We are not saved by the sacrifice of bulls and goats. The altar was the place where sacrifices were made unto God. And this was part of the requirement of Old Testament righteousness: in order for a person to be in right-standing before God, he or she had to sacrifice on an altar. This was true from the time of Noah until the conclusion of the Covenant: the participant was called upon to show his reverence and worship of God through giving physical sacrifices:

And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. (Genesis 8:20-21)

An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. (Exodus 20:24-26)

In short, the altar was a place of sacrifice. For the people to facilitate a meeting with God under the Old Covenant they had to meet his terms; some are listed in the passages above (Joel 2:7; Malachi 1:7-11). God's rules were that one had to sacrifice on the altar. Exodus 20 tells us that an altar could not be made of hewn stone. Later in Exodus, God gave commands to build an altar for burnt offering made of shittim wood (Exodus 27:1). Although many of the requirements differed based on the occasion, the place of the altar was designated within the court of the tabernacle.

And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty. And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach: And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him. (Exodus 28:40-43)

And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces. And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire: And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar: But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. (Leviticus 1:6-9)

The altar was a fixture of the Old Covenant used to sanctify the tabernacle, the temple, the people, the priests, and the whole nation. This system, however, was merely a shadow of things to come: "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Hebrews 10:2-4). Only by the shed blood of Christ can sins be taken away; thus, having a physical altar, which inherently means we still need to sacrifice, is not only redundant, it is heretical.

Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. (Hebrews 13:9-15)

All we can do is "to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5). Any other sacrifice pales in comparison to what Jesus did: "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24).

The Modern Church is at a loss because we continue to try to redo the things that God undid; "For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God" (Galatians 2:18-19). Yet, we contrary to scripture keep on trying to resurrect the law. We keep trying to build temples, altars, pay tithes, and have firstfruit offerings. How many churches in the United States alone are called "temple," "tabernacle," and other names that have simply passed away? We are the temple of God, not the place where we meet. So why do we keep trying to resurrect the law? Why do we still want to have an altar? Historically, it goes back to the Roman Church. The Roman Church teaches that taking Eucharist, involving the belief in transubstantiation, is a form of sacrifice. The priest takes the host (the bread) and the wine empowering them with the presence of Christ and re-sacrifices it. Jesus is hung on the cross once again and re-sacrificed for the sins of the parishioners: "they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame" (Hebrews 6:6). An altar is befitting for such a practice because they believe there is still a need for a physical sacrifice. Biblically, this is unsound and unnecessary, given the scriptures we have included here. Therefore, there is no need for an altar. In fact, we are smacking Jesus in the face every time we attempt to claim we are bringing people to the altar. The true altar is in heaven, the place where Jesus went to make his sacrifice for us. We cannot keep ignoring this because our overlooking this fact makes our salvation worthless. We tell God that we do not need Jesus Christ; we have a physical means to salvation. On the contrary, we do need him. Jesus is the only way to the Father—without him we are lost. The only altar that matters is the one in heaven. All other altars are useless and need to be destroyed.

Some would say this is just semantics. We are exchanging the word altar for pulpit. This is not so. We are explaining how tradition has again crept into our midst by the language we use. The words we speak are powerful whether we think they are or not. By designating a part of the church building as holy, as the altar of God, we give power to things that were not intended to be powerful. We negate the altar of our hearts and uphold a place built by men's hands as the place where our sacrifices should be made. The place where God dwells is in us. The sacrifice he looks for is our lives. Our best offering is ourselves. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:1-2).

Old and New Covenant Confusion

Our lack of understanding over which rules apply to us as Christians evinces our confusion about what pertains to life and godliness. We simply are not certain what the Christian is called upon to do to be Christian. Our lack of understanding stirs us to create rules from the Old and New Covenants to attempt to make the power of God work for us. God does not dwell in darkness—the fact that we are unsure of God's will for us proves our lack of connection to him. Instead of making contact, we prevent ourselves from coming into agreement with him by ignoring his power in the simplicity of the Gospel. Rather than accepting that calling people to come to Jesus is the work of God, we set up altars and attempt to redo sacrifices; we attempt to do the work of the high priest. "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44). There is only one high priest, Jesus Christ.

Music and the Call

In all honesty, it is difficult to convince people to come to Jesus; it takes the power of God. Many churches, however, do try to convince people, through noise and emotions, to answer the call. These churches do not have silence during times where the focus is salvation. Most churches attempt to manipulate people through various means. Many churches chant. Many ministers attempt to compel the unbelievers to come forward. The majority of churches sing songs often accompanied with music laced with heavy drumbeats. When the podium is empty, by making lots of noise, the church elicits a person to get the feeling of confused ecstasy that will heavily influence them to come to the podium. If the whole church speaks in tongues, or shouts "Jesus," or makes a muddled noise, a person is more willing to move and partake in the requests offered because they somewhat lose the ability to reason. The effect is the same because the point is to produce a large amount of noise. Yet, God says "Woe to them ... That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David" (Amos 6:1, 5). "Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols" (Amos 5:23).

Churches that attempt to draw people through music prefer music that appeals to the emotions. Some songs remind people of their pasts, cause them to reflect on their lives—usually to a time earlier in their lives when they were in church and rebelled—and come to the front. The ballad "I Surrender All" is an example. This song is not inherently bad. It is beautiful and can teach us something. But at the same time, it can also be super emotive. It can be used to engender feelings of guilt, shame, and sorrow. The desire of a Christian should be that others would come to Jesus because of godly sorrow not worldly sadness, which results from emotional feelings of guilt. Many people that come forward in response to the call are reacting to the emotional call of the music, not to the spiritual call of God. These lost souls are subsequently considered by the "way side" because they came for the feeling the music evoked not for Christ himself. Their confession is without belief in their hearts; confession without belief is just talk. Here are some points⁷¹ that highlight the effect music can have on someone:

• For many years therapists have been advocating the use of music—both listening and study—for the reduction of anxiety and stress, the relief of pain. And music has also been recommended as an aid for positive change in mood and emotional states.
• Michael DeBakey, who in 1966 became the first surgeon to successfully implant an artificial heart, is on record saying: "Creating and performing music promotes self-expression and provides self-gratification while giving pleasure to others. In medicine, increasing published reports demonstrate that music has a healing effect on patients.
• Doctors now believe using music therapy in hospitals and nursing homes not only makes people feel better, but also makes them heal faster.
• Other researchers have found the sound of drums may influence how bodies work.
• Music activates the parts of the brain that make us happy, this suggests it can benefit our physical and mental well being.
• "Music," says Esther Mok in the AORN Journal in February 2003, "is an easily administered, non-threatening, non-invasive, and inexpensive tool to calm preoperative anxiety."
• The incredible ability that music has to affect and manipulate emotions and the brain is undeniable, and yet still largely inexplicable.

G. Craige Lewis argues that using music to draw people misses the mark and ultimately leads to a watering down of the message. Like him, we agree that Isaiah 1:18 urges us to reject all forms of influence that cloud the mind: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Reason is the key word in this verse; in this case, it means that we need to judge and make a sound decision. God is calling us to make a choice, which is the most significant in our lives. Our minds need to be clear when this happens (see "Understanding Salvation"). Music has the ability to cloud judgment; therefore, we need be careful how we use it. "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints" (1 Corinthians 14:33).

Conclusion

There is no altar in our churches worth mentioning or worth calling an altar because the real altar is in heaven. Without an altar, there is no need for an altar call. But calls for salvation are needful in the church. The church must be willing to preach the unadulterated gospel of Jesus. We cannot rely on powerless music to influence people or on clever preachers that know how to evoke strong emotions through guilt or promises of prosperity. Only the gospel can provide people with the power of God unto salvation (2 Timothy 2:25). If the emphasis is not on the gospel, then we have already missed the move of God and the service is pointless. Our source and our power is Jesus Christ, everything else is rubbish in comparison.

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