State of the Black Church: Volume 1

Brothers and Sisters, every November our President gives a speech called the State of the Union.  In that speech he outlines how the US is doing in key areas, such as economics, military, social issues, jobs, education etc.  He uses that time to lay out a plan to address the issues that are important to him and his political party.  As some of you know, I have been concerned about the state of our beloved Black churches.  I grieve at the thought of some of the practices that occur in the church and the acceptance of said practices by church leaders.

This is not a condemnation of the Black church, nor the wonderful people who pastor such churches or hold offices in such churches.  I simply want to open up minds to the possibility that we may have to look at some of our practices in order to save souls.  

Volume 1: The Alter Call

Think about the alter call at your church.  It is a very important part of every church service.  After pastor preaches he gives an invitation for anyone who has been moved during the service to come up and 'give their life to Jesus.'  The musicians play soft and pretty.  The members of the church are praying or quietly humming along to the tune.  Many are slowly rocking back and forth to the music.  The table is set for a person, hungry for a change in their life to make that journey down the aisle and 'give their life to Jesus.'  The person comes down the aisle and either prays with the pastor, or is directed into a private room where a minister leads them in a prayer to accept Jesus.  The congregation applauds and stands and encourages the person.  And the person is told that once they say that prayer that they are changed forever and the Holy Spirit now lives in them.

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

But how many people are really saved by that particular experience?  How many people can honestly say that they became saved during an alter call and immediately began to walk in the narrow way?  I would guess very few, if any.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

But, Brother J, you ask me; what is the big deal here?  The church is saving souls, and once saved, always saved.  I agree.  But I believe that salvation comes through real repentance and real faith.  I do not believe it comes from having one very emotional experience and repeating a prayer that one may or may not fully understand.

The danger in the current practice of alter calls in Black churches is that we are communicating to people that they are saved when there is not one verifiable shred of evidence that supports the assumption.  I would further comment that we tell people they are saved before we are even sure they understand the gospel.

So these people leave the church that day and think they are Christians; but they don't think like Christians, and they don't behave like Christians.  But because they had that one experience, they tell people that they are saved, they are Christians and they become representatives of the body of Christ to their families, friends, and co-workers before they truly understand what it means to be members of the blessed body of the risen Lord.

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

At the risk of being hated and scoffed at (trust me, I am getting plenty of practice) I think the alter call and all that it entails cheapens the name Christian, and allows people to say they are in the body when they are not.

I think back to my college days.  I attended a small HBCU and the biggest thing on campus was the Fraternities and Sororities.  Each organization had a section of land called a plot where they each had a small cement and brick painted structure that represented their organization.  One of the first things you learned was that if you were not an authorized member of that organization, then you would pay dearly if you stepped foot on one of those plots.  The Fraternities and Sororities protected the membership in their organizations fiercely and no person who had not earned membership was allowed to be called a brother or a sister, nor participate in the meetings or events held by each individual organization.  There was a process for joining and criteria that needed to be met before one could ever be considered a member.  There was even a challenge issued to unknown brothers or sisters to determine if they were really members of the organization.

In contrast, we in the Black church believe that the decision for Christ is the most important decision one can make; yet we think that one prayer is enough for someone to enter the kingdom.  Are we really that obtuse? When a pagan organization makes more effort to really bring people into the fold, and we, the church, give one invitation, have one prayer, and assume that person is now saved and member of the body of Christ, is a shame before our Lord.  

What, then, shall we do?  I'm glad you asked.  I would submit to the reader that alter calls are unbiblical and unnecessary   It is foolishness to sit around Sunday dinner and say, we had 3 people give their life to Christ today.  The truth, brothers and sisters, is that we have no idea how many people truly give their life to Christ.   What we should be doing is training a cadre of tried and tested church members to disciple those who express interest in the Christian life.  I mean one on one, open bible, getting real with God talks that could last years.  The goal is to plant and to water and let God give the increase.