Reflecting on the Invitation

It is a tradition of churches of Christ to extend "the invitation" at the end of a service. For the most part it is the local preacher that does this at the end of both the Sunday morning and evening sermons and at the conclusion of the Wednesday evening Bible study, although some congregations have been known to do this before class on Wednesday evening. In other cases on Wednesday evening, some of the men will take turns from week to week delivering a "devotional" which is designed to segue into the invitation.

We refer to it as a tradition because we find neither a command to extend such an invitation nor an example of it being offered as we offer it today. However, in responding to those who on the day of Pentecost asked, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37), Peter did, in fact, invite them to, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…" (v.38). In approaching Saul of Tarsus in Damascus, Ananias in essence, invited him to "arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins…" (Acts 22:16).

Jesus described Himself as standing at the door and knocking (Rev. 3:20). While normally we think of the person outside of the door as the recipient of the invitation, in this instance we find Jesus issuing the invitation: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me" (Rev. 3:20). Although Jesus' entrance is contingent on "any man" opening the door, He nevertheless provides the benefit that one can receive by opening that door and that is, fellowship with Him as represented by "supping" [dining—NKJV]. In this text, Jesus is not inviting sinners to obey the gospel but for wayward brethren to repent.

Since man has breached divine fellowship because of his sin, it was necessary for that fellowship to be restored if man was to have any hope for eternal life. That is the purpose for the redemptive sacrifice of Christ—to provide the atonement for sin and to reconcile man with God. Deity invites man to partake of that blessed fellowship, which involves an abundant life on earth as well as eternal life in the glory and splendor of heaven (John 10:10).

With so much at stake, it is imperative that every opportunity be afforded both to those who have yet to initially obey the gospel and to those Christians who may have stumbled along the way to restore their fellowship with Deity and with the church. Only by walking in the light can one enjoy that fellowship (1 John 1:7). If one discontinues that walk for whatever reason, he no longer has that fellowship; therefore, steps must be taken [repentance and confession—Acts 8:22; James 5:16] to restore it. These are the reasons that the tradition of offering an invitation to both groups has been established over the years.

The traditional invitation process is as follows: The speaker first appeals to the ones who have yet to become Christians, describing their need for doing so and perhaps reminding them of the consequences for a failure to do so. He may allude to the wonderful benefits that they may enjoy as a child of God on earth and reiterate the promise of God for eternal life unto all that are obedient (Heb. 5:9).

Next, the speaker turns his attention to the brethren and asks if there is any among them who, although they have obeyed the gospel, perhaps they have been negligent in their lives or have committed sins that would bring shame and reproach upon Christ and His church. If that is the case, those sins must be confessed and repented of so that the cleansing blood of Christ will continue to cleanse (1 John 1:9).

There are other reasons that people may respond to the invitation; for example, some use this time to indicate their desire to identify with the local congregation— or as we more commonly refer to it, placing membership. Others simply request prayers as they may struggle with a particular issue in their life; therefore, the speaker may say something to the effect of: "Whatever need you may have, won't you come, as we stand and sing?" The congregation then stands and begins to sing the preselected song.

The "invitation" song has also been called the "song of encouragement," apparently in an effort to "encourage" those who need to respond to do so. Usually [but not always] this song has a theme of coming to Jesus and submission to His will. The singing of this song allows those who perhaps should respond the chance to consider their situation and to act accordingly. If someone does "come forward," the song also gives the speaker [or perhaps one of the elders] an opportunity to speak with the respondent to ascertain their need. If the individual is someone that is outside of the body of Christ, the reason for their answering the invitation should be apparent.

We have perhaps taken for granted the offering of the invitation over the years. For many, it has never occurred to them that the invitation would not be offered or that anyone would ever question whether or not it should be done. Furthermore, we have never considered whether it should be offered in a different way than that to what we have become accustomed. Recently some have questioned the necessity of the invitation. As previously mentioned, we have no Biblical directive or a Scriptural example of this being done in the manner that we do it; therefore, we have no right to bind this on brethren who for whatever reason they choose not to do so. We do, however, have the right to question the wisdom of those who do not offer it or offer it in such an ambiguous way that people do not even know to what they may be responding.

Examples

One preacher in a local congregation (which is known for its proclivity for its progressive thoughts and practices) simply concludes the sermon by saying: "If you would come to Jesus—come as we stand and sing."

What does that mean? What is going to happen when they "come"? If a family was visiting on a particular Sunday morning, would they have any idea as to what this individual was referring? The implications are chilling; we wonder if they would be told simply to "accept Jesus into their heart" or "pray the sinner's prayer."

The writer of this article has also heard invitations that sounded more like an invitation to therapy than an entreaty to obey the gospel or to be restored to the family of God. Dubious statements such as, "If you have anything in your life that you want to share with us," are proffered as "invitations." God invites all men to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4), and while He is concerned with our well-being, both physical and psychological, He is far more concerned that we obey His commandments in order to receive salvation (Heb. 5:9).

Since liberals are rarely forthcoming as to their motivation for anything that they do [or fail to do], we can only speculate that one of the reasons for their reluctance to offer a meaningful invitation or to offer one that is so vague that people may not know to what they are responding is their belief in "grace-only" salvation. According to these advocates, we do not and cannot contribute "one whit" to our own salvation. This false doctrine denies the necessity of obedient faith.

Since to them, salvation is 100% God's grace and 0% on our part, evidently there is no need to "invite" people to address their particular spiritual situation. However, this practice violates clear Scriptures that beckon us to obey by faith the commandments of repentance, confession, and immersion—or to return to the fold of God if one has fallen away. The invitation is always extended to anyone that needs and wants to embrace the salvation that God offers.

From the Richwood Reaper (Sept. 23, 2018)