In the sturdy Christian Reformed Church of my youth, we didn’t do “altar calls” – those end-of-service appeals for sinners to come forward, stand or kneel, and thereby declare their decision to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior from sin and the Lord of their lives. No, that wasn’t us. Because altar calls made every message into a salvation sermon and– accompanied by endless verses of “Just As I Am”–had the power to pressure and manipulate people, especially the young and vulnerable. Christian Reformed folks took pride in that fact! Altar calls were for those excitable Baptists and ecstatic Pentecostals, not us. We gave Billy Graham a pass in our criticisms, because he was, after all, an evangelist . . . and because he was Billy Graham.

The late Peter De Vries, a Calvin University (née College) grad, left the faith tradition of his youth, and searched for a home in other branches of Protestantism before settling into an uneasy, unchurched agnosticism. He was even more critical of American evangelicalism than he was of his own Dutch Calvinism. In his novel Mackerel Plaza, the main character, Peter Mackerel, was confronted by a street preacher, who “altar-called” him outside a NYC apartment building: “Brother, won’t you make a decision for Christ?” . . . to which Mackerel replied: “For heaven’s sake, can’t he make his own decisions?”

I’ve come to see the importance of altar calls. Sometimes the Spirit of God moves in such a powerful way in worship that it feels irresponsible to just walk away without offering an opportunity to do something, to come forward, to kneel, to pray or have someone pray for you. We may not come to the altar for the same reasons, but if the Spirit of God nudges us forward, we should go.

Jesus concluded his Sermon on the Mount with a good, old-fashioned altar call, a clear appeal for a decision . . . yes, a decision for Christ. In just a few arresting sentences, Jesus described two roads, two kinds of prophecy, two kinds of fruit and two houses. Now we must decide, and the choice could not be more stark.

The right choice is clear. But please remember this: We don’t have to be right to make the right decision; each of us can come to Jesus, “Just As I Am.”

– Pastor Dave