My guest today, Pastor Marcus Watson, joins me to talk about ways we can begin to see unification in our relationships, our country, our world and especially in the church. We discuss the need to resist "thingification." What is thingification? In the church it is when we see those around us in the pews and even those who do not attend as things, numbers, people who represent a good image for the church. It is when we lose sight of what the true meaning of mission really is.
So how do we avoid doing this? We start becoming aware of when we are thingifying people. We stop doing that by paying attention to what God is doing all around us, especially outside the walls of the church building. We stop trying to control outcomes and start listening to what people need and want. Then we join in the mission to take the mission outside the walls and into our communities.
Dismissing thingification and search for shalom through listening and trying to understand other points of view can help us improve our relationships in families and at work, as well as in our churches and communities. Maybe it can even help us to contribute to healing our world, one person at a time.
To reach out to Pastor Marcus Watson go to https://www.markuswatson.com where you will find links to his books, his podcasts and his blog as well as how to connect with him.
To reach out to Stephen Ray Watts, the musician performing "If You Only Knew" on this episode, go to https://dotseroband.com
The website to connect with Laura Padgett is https://lauralpadgett.com
