43. Introduction to "Beyond Thingification: Helping Your Church Engage in God's Mission"

Understanding God's mission is critical.The world today is nothing like the world as it was fifty years ago. Because of this, a lot of churches are really struggling with how to be the church in the 21st century.  People used to go to church because, well, that’s just what you did. But not anymore. Today, even a lot of Christians don’t go to church—at least not the typical Sunday morning kind of church.My new book, Beyond Thingification: Helping Your Church Engage in God’s Mission, is meant to help churches discern how to be the kind of church this world needs. And it has nothing to do with starting more and better programs. It’s about listening to God, listening to each other, and listening to our neighbors.In this episode, I read the Introduction of my forthcoming book, Beyond Thingification: Helping Your Church Engage in God’s Mission.THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:The words “self-preservation” and “self-propagation” capture the ethos of the church in North America today.Too many churches focus on numbers to feel successful.  How many people showed up?  How much did people give this week?  How many small groups do we have?  And so forth.Doing “church stuff” is not the same thing as accomplishing God’s mission.We need to find a new way of being church--a way that helps us live out God's mission in the world. RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKSBookBeyond Thingification, by Markus WatsonMarkus Watson Website:  https://markuswatson.com/E-mail:  [email protected]:  https://twitter.com/markuswatsonInstagram:  https://www.instagram.com/markuswats0n/To leave a review of Spiritual Life and Leadership: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-life-and-leadership/id1435252632— Links to Amazon are affiliate links.  If you make a purchase through any of these links, I’ll receive a small commission–which will help pay for the Spiritual Life and Leadership podcast!Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.