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Creating More SENDING Capacity
“The greatness of a church is not in her seating capacity, but in her sending capacity” 
I’ve heard this saying over & over again for the past 15 years or so from Pastors and church leaders from all different perspectives of ministry. But I haven’t seen much about how to expand the SENDING capacity of a local church or a real change in strategy to developing SENDING capacity. Both are necessary for a missional movement. How can we understand the difference & add real SENDING capacity to our strategies?
- Seating capacity is about managing the movement of people into relationships. Sending capacity is about managing the movement of people into mission.
- The mission that Jesus gave the church was a SENDING strategy. The Great Commission & the Acts 1:8 Challenge are foundational
- Matthew 28:19 (NLT) – “go and make disciples of all the nations…”
- Acts 1:8 (NLT) – “you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
- Seating capacity is easier. Not cheaper, but easier. It’s easier to draw a big crowd than to send a lot of people into missional roles in the world. It takes longer & requires different things from the leaders.
- Seating capacity is INSIDE. Sending capacity is OUTSIDE. Serving inside the church is great, but if the only mission opportunities we give people are inside, we fall short of a true Acts 1:8 SENDING strategy.
- Being SEATED is much more comfortable than being SENT. Going to church is for the majority of people, very safe, sanitary, & can be enjoyable. Being SENT requires sacrifice, risk, & a sometimes delayed reward for effort.
- I can be SEATED in my own strength. Being SENT requires the power of the Spirit.
- Being SEATED tends to make much of the leaders. Being SENT makes much of the mission. We hear a lot about the churches & leaders with the most SEATING capacity.
- SEATING capacity is easier to track and clean up after. It’s more static. SENDING strategies are hard to control and can get messy.
Do you see any difference between SEATING capacity and SENDING capacity? How does your church include SENDING in its strategies? What resources do you know about to aid SENDING capacity and SEATING capacity?
Where are the next generation of church leaders? You might be surprised…
Don’t get down about the future of the church. God’s Spirit is not done yet. Loved this post from Dr. Russell Moore.
…the leaders of the next generation might not be coming from the current evangelical establishment. They are probably still pagans.
The next Jonathan Edwards might be the man driving in front of you with the Darwin Fish bumper decal. The next Charles Wesley might be a misogynist, profanity-spewing hip-hop artist right now. The next Billy Graham might be passed out drunk in a fraternity house right now. The next Charles Spurgeon might be making posters for a Gay Pride March right now. The next Mother Teresa might be managing an abortion clinic right now.
But the Spirit of God can turn all that around.
Who is it that you’re thinking will never change? Who are you shying away from talking about faith with? How about instead of seeing people as dead ends or distractions, see them as next gen leaders for God’s continued Gospel movement. Think of the possibilities…
Read the entire post here. And follow Dr. Moore on Twitter as well.
Zero
Thinking about numerical goals for 2012 & beyond. None challenges my faith more than ZERO. How about shooting for some of these?
- Zero w/o the opportunity to respond to the gospel.
- Zero homes destroyed by addiction, adultery, abuse, neglect.
- Zero kids dying of curable diseases.
- Zero elderly residents w/o life’s necessities.
- Zero kids w/o encouragement, mentoring, and opportunity to connect w/God.
- Zero suicides completed.
- Zero kids waiting for adoption.
In our quest for numbers going up, let’s not forget to think about the ones that should be going down and add them to our stat sheets every now and then. Someone asked, “What difference does it make if our churches grow but the community continues to deteriorate?” If we’re really making disciples who respond to God’s call of engagement (Matthew 28:19-20), some things should be moving toward zero.
Lane Corley 