Thoughts on the Invitation

Has the formal invitation outlived its usefulness?

[Note: Recently Jack Wilkie had a thought-provoking piece on this subject in which he referenced something I’d written. It had never been published, but was prepared last year and presented to a small group of preachers in a Bible study. I thought I’d tweak it and throw it out to a broader audience. It’s certainly not a topic requiring unanimity of thought. None need feel obligated to agree, but perhaps we should think more about it.]

Has the formal invitation outlived its usefulness? More precisely: Is it helpful, given our current climate in the church and culture, to close each sermon with a formal plea asking anyone to come to the front of the assembly, during the singing of an invitation song, for processing of his request, whether for prayer, baptism, or membership?

1. There is no New Testament command for or example of such.

2. At best, the practice must be justified as an expedient (not an obligation).

3. What was expedient may—with time and circumstance—cease being so.

4. No practice of the church should be continued, in perpetuity, solely on the basis of longstanding tradition.

What might be some evidence against the obligatory, formally extended invitation?

I. It bears no fruit.

1. Over 99% of the time nobody responds (that’s my experience, after decades offering it; your experience may be very different).

2. Because no one responds, it becomes the expectation that no one will respond.

3. If the general expectation is against anyone’s responding, the exercise becomes a thing to get through rather than a genuinely encouraging tool.

4. In my records I go back seven years to find a response during the invitation song (*not including one lady who came forward after a guest speaker’s lesson and, sparing you the details, it should not have happened). It’s possible I’ve forgotten a case or two; if so, they’re the exceptions that prove the rule that any response during an invitation song is highly unusual.

5. I baptized a middle-aged woman in 2021, an elderly lady in 2022, a young father and his teenage daughter in 2023, and helped baptize that man’s father-in-law in 2024. All of them were present during multiple invitation songs. None of them came forward during an invitation. Yet, they all obeyed the gospel.

6. If we had to judge the invitation song based on results, what would we conclude?

II. Fruitless activity is discouraging.

1. If we go years with no public response, how is that not discouraging to our members?

2. If every sermon is a pitch to come forward, and nobody ever does, how does the preacher not look ineffective?

3. Does the church look alive (or even wise) to non-Christian visitors who see something done every time with zero results?

4. How many years would it take, with no responses, to conclude the practice is unhelpful?

III. An invitation to non-Christians misdirects the focus of the Lord’s Day assembly.

1. The Sunday assembly is for saints to worship (in contrast to an outreach effort).

2. When every sermon—whatever its subject—must end with an invitation to obey the gospel, it fosters the impression that the Lord’s Day assembly (or, at least, part of it) is for the world (which it is not).

IV. Responses (already exceedingly rare) often create situations that must be handled outside the assembly, which defeats the ostensible purpose of the invitation.

1. For example, if someone I don’t know comes forward wanting to be baptized, I don’t know he’s ready, and am going to have a conversation with him after the service (yet, I invited him to come obey the gospel, as if it were going to happen when he walked down the aisle).

2. Or, for example, a couple comes forward stating they want to place membership. Even if they affirm they are members of the Lord’s church, I may not know their marriage is scriptural. Thus, before they can be announced as members, there needs to be a conversation with the elders outside the assembly.

3. So, in both cases above, the preacher offers an invitation that he must then appear to retract.

V. But, if there are reasons not to, are there any possible good outcomes of an invitation? Yes.

1. Someone you know already, such as a member’s child, wants to be baptized (but, how likely is he to come forward during the song?).

2. A Christian comes forward asking for prayer (but, again, especially in a small church, this can range from rare to almost never).

VI. What are some potential objections to not offering an invitation?

1. If we don’t have an invitation song, someone who needs to respond may not. Answer: It is never the case that the only way to request prayers, membership or baptism is by going to the front during an invitation song.

2. We’ve done it so long, it would seem wrong not to. Answer: We should never violate the conscience, but should we be so hidebound to tradition that we elevate it to obligation? Is any church tradition so entrenched that it could not be let go? If so, is that healthy?

3. The elders still think the invitation is expedient to offer. Answer: If so, then so be it.

4. Preachers would not know how to end their sermons without an invitation. Answer: This is true!