Extending “the invitation” at the close of each sermon is an excellent assembly custom. It provides an opportunity for sinners to become Christians and for unfaithful Christians to correct their lives.
It is an obvious observable fact that in today’s assemblies this opportunity is not being used as much as it used to be. Exactly why this is so I am not sure. Likely, as it has always been, timidity plays a major role. Perhaps today we are more often emphasizing that people can and should obey the gospel immediately (“the same hour of the night” - Acts 16:33) upon realizing they are lost - that waiting for a church assembly is not necessary. Also, it may be because more people are being taught privately than in the church’s assembly. All these, and likely more, could be contributing to the decline of responses to “the invitation.”
Although I have not personally experienced this, I have read of preachers to whom it has been suggested that “the invitation” is a useless relic in today’s world. Perhaps unconsciously, or maybe not, some preachers have adopted this attitude by not spending much time at the end of sermons inviting people to obey. I regret that! It is never a waste of time to tell people what they must do to be saved and exhorting them to do so immediately!! Every preacher should be encouraged to spend time in his sermon, most fittingly at the end, inviting people to obey. So what if it seems “tacked on.” Don’t make it that was. That is your task as a preacher!
The validity and value of “the invitation” is not hard to demonstrate. It takes just one penitent heart, stepping to the aisle, walking forward and expressing their desire to obey God to teach us of its timeliness. Every “invitation” has that potential!
For all Christians “the invitation” should be used as a time to look at oneself. Am I growing spiritually? Am I a better Christian than I was a year ago? Am I drifting? How can I use the things I’ve heard in the sermon to help me live godly? When the invitation song is sung, use it to continue this self-evaluation. Make the song a means of encouraging yourself to be, in attitude and life, a more dedicated, committed Christian that seeks each day to honor God. The Lord’s Supper is not the only time for honest, searching self-examination!!
If we will do this, no “invitation” will pass without responses. They will not contribute to the local church’s record keeping, but God knows, and that is all that matters.
- reprinted from July 28, 1998