No pushing!

I love the Holy Spirit. Make no doubt about it. I rejoice in His sovereignty and marvel at His manifold works. As a preacher of the Gospel it gives me great comfort to know that every time I step into the pulpit I don’t have to rely on my strength or wisdom or studies to convert lost souls, but to rely wholly upon the almighty breath of the Spirit of God. He gives life! He raises sinners from the dead! He causes the work of God to flourish and prosper!

But it is my passionate love for the Spirit that makes me rage when I see men trying to manipulate the work of God. I despise man-manufactured religion because it belittles the glory of the Almighty. One thing I’ve got on my mind today has to do with the altar call.

I’m not totally opposed to altar calls. By an altar call I mean asking a person to come forward to the front of the church after the sermon if he (she) wants to respond publically to the preaching of the Word and receive prayer from the preacher or the ministerial oversight. I can see the use of altar calls and I know the Lord has blessed my own life through them. 

My preferred method, however, is the old-fashioned way that preachers like Charles Spurgeon used to exemplify, namely, to invite interested listeners or anxious sinners to come chat to him on Monday morning/ afternoon at his office. That way the person had a chance to let the hustle and bustle of the Sunday service die down and really think long and hard about if he (she) was truly opening up to the Gospel. The benefit of this second way is that it avoids the perils of emotionalism to which so many are prone today. But, having said that, I still think altar calls have their place.

Nevertheless, what I can’t stand about altar calls (and what makes me boil with anger) is folk who pray for people pushing them to the ground. There is nothing spiritual whatsoever about such a practice. What is it that makes a person want to chuck another guy on the ground? Is it so that everybody thinks he is somehow more godly or anointed?

I don’t deny that the Holy Spirit can descend so powerfully upon God’s people that they fall on the ground. But He certainly doesn’t need men to push them to the floor. If God wants someone to be overwhelmed with the sense of His presence, then He can lay the man (woman) on the ground; not the preacher! Let God be God! Let the Spirit do the work! Anything else is a deceitful work of man that brings the integrity of the Gospel into question.

When I was younger I remember one preacher who prayed for me whilst pushing me forcefully on the forehead. In my innocence I chucked myself on the ground just to get away from him. On another occasion I remember a man blowing on my face saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. Receive the Holy Spirit? What? As if he were Jesus Christ! None of the apostles ever imparted the Holy Spirit to anybody. They prayed to God and He descended. The only thing I received in my face from that dodgy minister was the scent of fish and onions that he had been eating before the service.

We need to clean up these practices and stop well-intentioned but mistaken fellow ministers form abusing the work of the Spirit in this manner. Perhaps the best way to put a halt to this nonsense would be to push them back onto the ground to see how they like it! 

If the Holy Spirit wants to move, He will do so. But He won’t do it via the manipulation of modern day people pushers.