Inspiring Conversations with Marcus Piller of Shine Church

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Piller

Hi Marcus, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was raised in a family with little means and yet my parents were always there to help those around them no matter the need. That’s probably where my journey to help people began. When I was 18 years old I attended a Christian missions school in Hawaii and ended up partnering with that organization for 2-1/2 years. During this time my heart to help people with all types of need continued to grow. I became aware of the dire situations many people lived in all throughout the world. I met those who were in extreme poverty, those who were strung out on substances, those who had significant spiritual deficit, and everything in-between. While I felt like I was unable to help with the bulk of the problems these people were dealing with, I wanted to do everything in my power to at least let them know they were loved by their creator and by me as well.

Eventually I ended up in Colorado and began working for a church in the South Denver metro area. During my 13-year stent at this church I primarily focused on the spiritual growth and development of people; at least that’s what I thought. Looking back, I now realize that so much of my time in that church was spent planning and implementing ways to grow the church and not loving people. My ego grew as fast as the church and before I knew it I was neck-deep in prideful pools of religious behavior and had lost sight of what mattered most; the people. Toward the end of my time at the church, my marriage and life began falling apart. Everything I had tried to build was crumbling down around me and I became dark and lost.

For most of my life I really felt like I was in control. I actually loved this control. It gave me a sense of pride and feelings of honor. Unfortunately, pride is a pervasive killer and when reality meets fantasy (the reality of me NOT being in control of life when I thought I was) you’re kind-of faced with a crisis. My crisis ended up exposing some deep addictions I had been hiding for decades and laying me out there for all to see. I actually found myself, the one who’s supposed to be helping, in a place where I was now in need of help.

With my life, ministry, job, marriage, family, finances, and heart all crumbling, I was crushed and looking for help. I ended up attending a 9-month long out-of-state program that helped turned my eyes inwardly, and showed me how broken I really was. My heart had grown dark and full of lies and I didn’t know how to heal it. I felt powerless. But God. The Lord became the healer I had always heard Him to be. He began showing me through His word (The Bible) how prideful I had become and how humility and repentance are the keys to life and love. He showed me how much he loved me and that I didn’t need to DO anything for Him at all. He began to heal my heart and then direct me to help others heal their hearts in the same way.

You see, brokenness is brokenness: it comes in many different shapes and sizes, it stems from many sources and reasonings, it plays itself out externally in a myriad of ways; but no matter how, when, where, why, what, by whom, you’re broken… it can be healed. How do I know that? Because I’m a testimony of one being healed right now and I know hundreds of stories of others on the same journey.

I know those journeys because in 2019, when I came back to Colorado from my 9-month program, I determined to set my life on a course to love the broken well. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last six years. I’ve had opportunity to do this while managing a construction company, while leading a team of technology consultants, and now while working as a pastor in a church once again. This time it’s different though. This time, I realize I’m not here to build a church at all, that’s the Lord’s job. No, I’m here to help people through the love and freedom found in Jesus. No matter the brokenness, no matter the cost, that’s why I’m here.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Since making a conscious course-change in my life I’ve experienced a ton of ups and downs. No, it’s not a smooth road at all. In fact helping people, while being one of the most rewarding things in life, is hands-down the hardest thing I’ve ever done. People are people; every one is different and every need is different. My greatest challenge is trying to figure out what really helps someone. When I meet a person who’s broken and in need they tend to tell me what they think will help them out. Sometimes I believe they are correct, frequently however they are trapped in their own brokenness and unable to clearly see what their true need is. I’m not saying that I’m the “need guru” though, I just think that external perspectives can often see what we are blinded to in our own places of pain. I want to REALLY help people; not feel good about pretending to help people.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are a small congregation of people who love Jesus and who want to love other people in our community well. Our mission statement is to “Engage with God and share His love with others.” We try to do that in all different ways. A primary one is to not focus on making a huge church or really incredible productions but rather love people well and do “life” with them. We all need Jesus and we need each other more than most of us are aware of. Because we believe that brokenness can be healed through Jesus, we strive to extend that into our surrounding community by helping them in every way possible. We partner with other individuals and organizations in order to feed, clothe, shelter, counsel, drive, direct… and love anyone and everyone we are able to.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Luck is an interesting term. I think that most experiences in our lives are shaped by three primary factors. The first one is who you’re around (your environment). This includes family, friends, educators, institutions, and even strangers… The second is who you choose to be (yourself). Am I kind, loving, compassionate, helpful, truthful…? Or am I rude, selfish, angry, prideful, deceptive…? And the third is God.

Only one of these three things am I directly in control of and that is who I choose to be. The first factor, who you’re around, can be “guided” to a good extent but you still can’t control other people. The final factor, God, is simply out of my control completely. We as humans are therefor living lives constantly being affected by two major factors that we are not in control of. While these factors affect every aspect of our lives, I don’t consider them “luck”. And yes, my life has been deeply affected by them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shinechurch.life
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shinechurchco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShineChurchCO/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcus-piller-7a8325220
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ShineChurch