Creating a Sending Culture
We all know that we are called to be a “going” people. The church is to “go” and make disciples who in turn “go” and make disciples. The question for us, then, is how do we create this culture in our local church? Below are some ideas to consider along these lines.
- Start with you. God has given you, as a senior leader, a tremendous amount of influence in your church. If you really believe that the church’s mission is primarily to send people into the world rather than to merely gather people from the world, this culture will make its way into the church.
- See the breadth of sending culture. It’s easy to think that “sending” only means missionaries and church planters. But true sending culture celebrates a new small group that is sent out, or a new ministry that someone starts, or a short term missions team that serves for a week.
- Think about what you count. I don’t know who said it first, but it’s true that what we evaluate we work toward. What kinds of things could you count that would foster a sending culture? For example, I know of one church who counts the number of people who have gone from being discipled to actively discipling someone else.
- One small step. Changing or increasing a culture in an organization will require action. What is one thing that you could do over the next month that would move people more toward a sending culture? Perhaps it’s celebrating a story of someone being sent or planning an evangelism practicum.
- Pray. Jesus tells us that we don’t face a harvest problem, we face a worker problem (Luke 10:2). In the face of this reality, He commands us to pray. I know several of you have alarms set for 10:02am to remind you to pray for sent ones. Some have other intentional means of engaging in prayer for workers for the harvest. Ultimately, people are sent and embrace a sending culture, not because of our strategies and plans, but because God has done something significant deep inside their soul.
Friends, I know that you know these things. I write them to remind you, to encourage you, and to spur on your thinking as you seek to make this a reality where you serve. Please feel free to reach out to me anytime if you want to discuss ideas about how to continue down this road.
Together with you,
Chris
ctweedy@rmdcma.com or (406) 647-2764