Photo by Karl Fredrickson
“Maybe in this moment, in this place, today, the Holy Spirit spoke to you...” – Josh Poole
I sat restlessly in a random pew for my first time in a church, as a young adult. Although I grew up with my family in church, this was my first time attending on my own. I really wasn’t confident of my belief and faith at the time. Needless to say, I felt awkward and alone. A couple people near me glanced my way and smiled, offering a warm greeting. Others were mixing, clearly familiar with one another. This made me feel a bit like a third wheel. I stared down at my phone, pretending to be occupied.
Once the lights dimmed and the worship music started, my heart calmed and I relaxed, thankful that I hadn’t been singled out. The music was pleasant and continued for some time. When the pastor stepped to the podium there was a sense of importance in his gait. He displayed a confidence and assurance as he eased into the message after a few light-hearted remarks and announcements. I tried hard to collect and process every word of the message, and did my best to flip through the index of my Bible to locate the passages he referenced. This was quite a challenge for a newcomer.
Eventually the message drew to a close. I could tell because some band members quietly re-entered the stage and played softly as the pastor closed. I was pretty relieved that I made it through my first church service on my own! Now to make a quick exit. But the pastor launched into a little bit of a mini sermon, so I sat tight.
This message was more pointed. His delivery changed to a more serious tone. I still recall his words, which caused me to squirm in my seat a little.
“Friends, I wonder if the Lord has been speaking to you this morning. Maybe this is the time for you to listen to His voice. Dear ones, the Bible is very clear, as we’ve seen in the Word this morning, the Lord invites all to salvation, and this is the day! I pray that you won’t miss this opportunity to heed the call. Whether you’ve been attending church for a long time or this is your first time, He is calling you…”
Although I was sitting near the back, somehow the pastor’s gaze seemed to land on me! I felt locked in his gaze so I turned my head slightly down. Maybe I was imagining things? He continued…
“I feel led by the Lord this morning, dear friends. I sense there is someone here who is ready to make that decision today, praise God. Maybe it’s you? Don’t pass this invitation by, friend. I want to open up our altar this morning as I pray, with every head bowed and every eye closed in this place. This prayer will be a prayer of salvation. If you sense the Lord calling you this morning, don’t resist Him. As I pray these words, simply repeat them after me. In fact, with every eye closed, let’s all repeat this simple prayer.”
I felt my heart beating faster and my palms sweating. Thoughts whirled through my mind. What should I do? I can’t walk out right now because that would be a dead giveaway. But maybe the pastor knows something about me somehow. Maybe this is my time. I guess I can go ahead and repeat the prayer. Then I’ll be saved, I think. I did feel some emotion during the worship music and maybe that was God. I just don’t know, but the pastor seems so confident and sure, and Godly. Who am I to resist this calling?
The pastor prayed these words for us to recite:
“Dear Lord Jesus,” (everyone repeated so I followed).
“Thank you for your Word given to us. Thank you for your grace. Today, I recognize that I am a sinner in need of a savior. Right now, I repent of all my sin. Right now, I surrender my whole life to you. I want to serve you the rest of my life, so I give it all to you right now. So now I believe in you and receive you as my savior and my Lord. Please save me from my sin and make me new, this day forward. Amen.”
The pastor closed the prayer but wasn’t quite finished. I figured, since I repeated that prayer word-for-word, I must be saved! Now it would be time for me to get busy and do everything that I committed to in that prayer. He went on…
“Friends, with every eye remaining closed and every head bowed, I’m asking those of you that prayed that heart-felt prayer for the first time, and you prayed it sincerely, I’m asking you to take the next step and raise your hand. No one is looking, so don’t be afraid. Raise it high. Praise God, I see that hand.”
Again, my mind buzzed. Should I raise my hand? What if I don’t? Did I pray that prayer sincerely? I don’t really know, to be honest. But I raised my hand halfway, then a little higher in hopes that I’d be noticed but not pointed out!
“Thank you, brother, I see that hand! Thank you, Jesus, for all the hands raised in this house! Thank you, Jesus, for welcoming these new believers into the fold.”
Thank you, brother? Was he speaking to me? Did he actually see my hand? Was I saved? As I wondered, I grew restless. The pastor’s last words haunted me for days, because I didn’t follow his last directive…
“Amen and amen. How many are happy today about those hands raised? Now as you leave today, I’m asking just one last thing. Those of you that raised your hand, it’s time to confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord and Savior. I’m asking you to come forward and speak to one of the members of our Care Team at the front.”
The entire congregation applauded. I did too.
I finally left the church when we were officially dismissed. I left without going to the front. I was just anxious to get out and breathe. But would I forfeit my salvation by leaving without “confessing” that Jesus was my Lord and Savior? I just didn’t know. Maybe I would need to do it all over again the next Sunday, but I had the next six days to relax and think about it.
Maybe this has been your experience in the past? It has been mine, and I think I’ve been “saved” a few times over the years, in such church ceremonies. In those times, did I sense that the unseen but ever-present Spirit of a Holy God had changed me in that moment? To this day, I don’t recall but I won’t doubt what God can do in those pastoral invitations. It’s entirely up to Him, is it not?
But I will say this. It has dawned on me over the years that many well-intentioned pastors may be packaging something that is not meant to be packaged. And I often wonder if many pastors, elders and church leaders have been unwittingly making it more about their own particular theological interpretation and even eagerness for responses from “converts.”
Could it be that they’ve been usurping an unseen power reserved for God alone to touch the hearts of mere men in an unscripted moment of time? Could this transaction between God and man, woman or child occur outside the confines of a church building, the Spirit reaching silently and suddenly into the depth of a human soul with saving grace? I believe so.
I just don’t find a single occurrence in scripture where anyone was saved for eternity in the formulaic manner carried out in many of today’s churches, not to deny that it may happen. However, I did find some New Testament encounters where people were clearly saved in a moment of time, in seemingly unscripted ways that catch us by surprise, as they did those first-century onlookers.
It also occurred to me that in those historic encounters, no two were the same! No consistent formula or method was invoked. Nothing scripted by the established “religious leaders” in those days. Virtually instantaneous actions converged in a moment, coordinated by a Divine Director. New life was born!
So far beyond serendipitous whims, the acts of the Spirit are the unrestrained purpose, prerogative and power of God. His intentions transcend what the human soul can only hope to comprehend. He is like the wind, as the Apostle John eloquently illustrates:
“…but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life… The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” (John 3:6-8)
Let’s consider four of those “seemingly unscripted” encounters:
What about Zacchaeus, apparently a notorious sinner? He was beckoned by Jesus to come down out of a tree. Poor guy didn’t even raise his hand or recite a prayer. But what he did do was come down to Jesus who he’d been eager to see, and got really honest about his life. He was saved in that moment and even enjoyed his savior’s presence for a home visit. (Luke chapter 19)
Or maybe a jailer in the city of Philippi, ready to fall on his sword for dereliction of duty? He was caught off guard (no pun intended) by two prisoners as the ground beneath them quaked and prison chains fell away. He cried out in desperation, “What must I do to be saved?”
Those two prisoners, Paul and Silas, proclaimed, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”
Shortly thereafter, even “at that hour of the night” scripture tells us that the despondent jailer received the word of God from those two prisoners. Not only was he saved, but his entire household, simply because they believed in the Lord. (Acts chapter 16)
There are others, but one of the most powerful examples in all of scripture has to be the convicted felon. This prisoner, hanging on a Roman cross to die in agony, turned his head to someone on a cross next to Him. What transpired here, in this moment of time?
This tormented, suffering sinner, doomed to physical and spiritual death, turned to the Christ on that adjacent cross. The dying criminal acknowledged his guilt. He recognized and proclaimed Jesus as fully man and fully God. In doing so, this desperate, filthy human being recognized his own lost condition and his need. Finally, In the weakness of his last breath, he cried out to the Savior of the world – to his savior!
“Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
And the words he longed to hear were whispered to him in the gasping last breaths of Jesus:
“I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke chapter 23)
One last encounter, recorded in the Gospel of John, occurred between Jesus and a crowd of mixed opinions. The savior made a simple plea. And it was the invitation for the ages!
“…Everyone who has heard the Father…comes to me (John 6:45) “…Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life….” (John 6:40)
If you dig into the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, you’ll see and hear Jesus – God in flesh – repeating the same, simple invitation many times. No formula, no scripts. No prayers to be repeated.
These scripture passages opened my eyes to the unconventional and surprising ways of God, beyond our theologies, our formulas and our packaging, who declares:
“’My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.’” (Isaiah 55)
I’ll leave you with the words of my own pastor – words we’re so accustomed to calling the “invitation.” I’ll keep them in my heart forever. Never in my long life, through the many church doors I’ve entered, have I heard anyone from the pulpit speak so truthfully, simply and humbly.
If only these words would be on every pastor’s lips as they share the surprising simplicity of saving faith, just as found in many real-life encounters in scripture. As you read these words, take them to heart. Put aside the formula, the script, the rehearsed invitations of the past. Release yourself to the Spirit of Christ. Listen, look, come, respond and receive… the Invitation of God.
“Maybe in this moment, in this place, today, the Holy Spirit spoke to you. And maybe upon opening up God’s Word you have had a transaction take place in your own heart and you have said, ‘I believe in Jesus.’ If that’s you, and you’re in here today, even without having said the prayer, I want you to know that you are saved.”
– Pastor Josh Poole, Mission City Church
