Every Eye Open
Something just popped into my head.
When you go to an evangelical-minded church, occasionally (or frequently or every Sunday) the preacher there will have an altar call. And how does he conduct it? He says the old ritual lines – ‘every head bowed, every eye closed. This is nobody else’s business – just between you and the Lord – yes, I see those hands…’ and so on.
And what I want to know all of a sudden is, WHY? Why are all the heads bowed? Why are all the eyes closed? And above all, Why is it nobody else’s business?
Shouldn’t everyone SEE who’s coming to the Lord? SEE who’s thrown off the chains? SEE who’s going to join them in Heaven? Isn’t this a time of God’s glory manifesting itself in the salvation and redemption of a sinner?
And shouldn’t those who are raising their hands want to jump up on their chairs and shout, “Woo-ha! I’m saved for all eternity by the Blood of the Lamb!!!!!” ? (Woo-ha is in the Christian dictionary, I’m sure. See the section on “speaking in tongues”.)
And shouldn’t the rest of the church be looking and seeing and clapping and rejoicing over the salvation of someone “once lost, but now found”?
The angels certainly go nuts –
What’s with the eyes closed and doing this in secret? Sure, it makes it easier for the timid to put up their hands. But I have an ugly suspicion that it’s a procedure being followed by the preacher for that very reason – so that he can gain some converts that he may otherwaise not be able to count.
I’ve always sensed that this was a silly or even childish practice. Now I think it through, I think it’s a very dangerous one as well.
We are called to tell the world about Jesus and bring them to Him. Good grief! If we can’t acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Saviour in church of all places, how can we do it in the World?
Am I missing something here?
Mike
Dave Travis
Rose
Thanks for this great synopsis. (BTW, “No Name” near bottom of your list was Mel Lawrenz, Elmbrook...
April 17th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by SteveG. @swggy said: New blog post: Every Eye Open – http://bit.ly/aaJlpv [...]
April 19th, 2010 at 11:36 am
AMEN!!! I agree 110%! (Former math majors can mess with numbers to make a point
)… Jesus said, (Matt. 10:32-33) “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
April 25th, 2010 at 11:47 am
No different than a Wedding, Baptism or confirmation. Your (corporate) body should be make that same commitment, that we’ll have your back – that we’re accountable to each other.
April 26th, 2010 at 9:13 am
Exactly! I think we’re always a little leery of things done when people are told not to look – is there some sleight of hand going on? But doing something out in the open is the way to openness, transparency, support and grace in relationships.