This is one of the many reasons why we must defend the doctrine of Hell, as Jesus did.  It brings eternity into focus and lends a heavy weight to our mission.  It reminds us of the seriousness of sin and the glory of the cross.

First, let me say that many people have been touched by this book. Many of whom are grounded in orthodox Christianity and have a healthy respect for God and the Bible. I, too, was moved at the end of the book by the story of reconciliation and restoration. It’s a beautiful story. I want to be clear that I am not critiquing your private experience with God. I’m critiquing a book. I say this because often when I have questioned certain facets of the book in discussion with people who were moved by it, I have been met with various levels of defensiveness as though I were questioning the validity of something that happened between them and God. Please quit that. It’s silly and a waste of our time!

Here’s a telling question: “Did The Shack mediate an experience between you and God or did the Holy Spirit initiate the encounter?” Be careful with your answer. One answer leads you to idolatry. The other leads to Jesus.

If the book is not the mediator, then we should be able to talk about the book freely without your feelings getting hurt. Fair enough?

The Writing and General Literary Quality

William Paul Young is a good writer, though at times he forgets that in the book. There are moments where his storytelling and dialogue is natural and inviting. Other times it comes off like a Lifetime for Women movie showing late at night. It’s a mixed bag. There is an old addage about good writing that says that it’s always better to show than to tell. For example, you could say “Joe was really sad.” But it’s far more powerful to describe the expression on Joe’s face, his posture, and maybe some dialogue where the sadness is hidden between the lines as subtext. This way you let the reader feel things authentically instead of telling them what to feel.

When you start “telling” too much it’s easy to allow the dialogue to become really cliched and melodramatic. It loses its moorings in reality and starts to feel fake and stilted.

Very often The Shack tells more than it shows and some of the potential impact gets lost. Other times, Young gets in a groove and sucks you in with a beautiful sensitivity and subtlety. Like when Jesus takes Mack out onto the lake for a stroll on top of the water. Or when Papa leads Mack through the woods to find Missy. (trying to avoid spoilers here!)

The Shack isn’t poorly written, but it is inconsistent. I have a sneaking suspicion that this may be more due to over-editing than his writing prowess.

The Theology of The Shack

This is why you’re here right? There are some problems. I think everyone who has heard of the book knows there are some problems. The real question is whether or not those problems should be deal breakers for us or if we should simply pick out the bones and enjoy the rest.

You can’t talk about this constructively without speaking to some much larger issues first.

First, there’s the reader that says, “I know there are problems with the theology but the book really helped me get over some issues. God really healed me through that book so how can you say it’s bad?”

Listen to what you are saying. You are putting the false gospel of pragmatism in authority over Scripture. Pragmatism simply means that “if it works, it’s right and good. If it doesn’t produce the intended result, it’s bad and should be abandoned.”

Pragmatism relates to this because what you are saying is that because I was touched by God while reading The Shack, then The Shack is good and right. This is simply not a Biblical world view. A Biblical worldview would demand that everything that calls itself the truth must be measured and tested by The Truth of scripture. If something is in conflict with what is clearly taught in Scripture then it is, by definition, bad. Regardless of whether we perceive that it “works” as we intend it or not.

This is the only way to truthfully evaluate this book!

Second, there’s the reader that says, “I know there are problems with the theology but this is fiction and not a theology textbook.”

Sigh. I think this objection frustrates me most, so I may get a little cranky on this one.

What is “theology” then? Isn’t it the study of God? As soon as you start making assertions about the nature and activity of God you have begun theology. I don’t care if its in a book, around a coffee table, or in a sports bar. It’s theology. It matters not at all what literary form it is in. Children’s book, textbook, biography, drama, fiction, sci-fi, whatever. Theology is theology no matter where it’s found.

This is the same fallacy behind the attitude that many still espouse that says, “I don’t need no theology. Just gimme my NIV and Jesus. That’s all I need!” Seriously? Do you think you can read your Bible and even say the name of Jesus without it being “theology”? Sorry to break it to you, but if you know Jesus your are a theologian. Maybe a bad one, but you still qualify.

The real question we should be asking about ALL media that we consume is, what is the message? There is always a message, an assertion of some kind. Something we are to learn, or a world view being represented. Why are we so naive to think that if it’s fiction there’s no message? Fiction is perhaps the most powerful and effective means of communicating a message and getting the audience to adopt the message into their world view. Why do you think Jesus told so many parables? Was he just trying to help future children’s book writers?

Don’t devalue the quest to know God (and to understand Him rightly according to what He has revealed to us about Himself through the Bible) by relegating it to boring textbooks and old white dudes in liberal seminaries. Frankly, it’s foolish to do so.

I’m not saying the author of The Shack is trying to assimilate the world into believing that God the Father is a fat black woman who likes to bake. Sadly, that is where much of the debate over this book has landed. However, the author is making some truth claims whether he wants to admit it or not.

My issues with the book are not the same ones that everyone else is whipped up about. I agree that God the Father should not be portrayed as a woman. If he wanted us to call him a her He would have said so. I just think there is a bigger fish to fry here.

The Message of The Shack

What’s the message, then? I believe the primary message of the book is an attempt to answer the ancient question of how God can allow evil (and the resulting suffering) in the world. Especially when it comes to “good” people. Even His people.

The book tries to answer this question by making God nicer, more accessible, less glorious, and less scary. Case in point… When Papa (God the Father) explains why He is appearing to Mack as a woman, He explains that it’s because what Mack needed in that moment was a mother, not a father. So God presented Himself as a woman to make Mack feel more comfortable and to make Himself more easily acceptable to Mack.

Wait a second. Didn’t Copernicus teach us anything? We aren’t the center of the universe.

The problem here is that if you strip God of His majesty, His “otherness”, then you no longer have God. Of course, the same is true if you strip him of His “closeness”. It’s never either/or with God. It MUST be both/and. God doesn’t set aside His holiness when He loves us any more than a good father sets aside His love for His children when he disciplines them. Both are happening, in their fullness, at the same time. The idea that God must hide some part of His nature in order to cater to our brokeness creates an impotent gospel!

An example of this is found in Moses’ relationship with God. In Exodus 33, we see that when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak to God, God spoke to him “face to face”. This statement doesn’t mean much if we are talking about a God that is not holy, majestic, glorious, and jealous. It doesn’t mean much UNLESS we read about God speaking “I Am” from the burning bush, or only allowing Moses to see the outer edge of His glory in passing because if Moses glimpsed more he would be consumed by the site of God’s glory.

In other words, grace and forgiveness do not mean much to us until we see the fiercness of God’s hate for sin, the fierceness of His glory, and the magnitude of our iniquity. When we see those things clearly, and then we are confronted by the grace of the cross then we understand how God can be both holy and full of grace at the same time.

This dynamic is completely missing from The Shack. The triune God gets stripped of His fierce holiness in an attempt to make Him more approachable. His harder edges are softened so that we will not be put off by His sovereignty. When I am broken and suffering I don’t want a God that is like me. I need a God that I can worship because He is grand and He made a way for me to have relationship with Him.

Why isn’t the incarnation of Jesus enough for us to relate to? Why do we have to strip God of His greatness in order to approach Him?

We Dare Not.

Should You Read It?

You won’t go to hell if you read it. But there are better books that won’t try to feed you an impotent gospel presented by a God that is mysterious but not glorious.

RECOMMENDATION: Want to wrestle with the problem of suffering? Read “Suffering and the Sovereignty of God” by John Piper.

Following a powerful 1.5 hours of inspiration, I wrote the following article.  I delivered this, word for word, this morning for our Easter service.  I’ve never delivered a message in this way before.  It’s always much more free-flowing and less “theatrical”.  I almost never write down the exact words that I will say, only a skeleton of notes and triggers for my memory to keep me on track.  However, when I sat down to construct my sermon this week, I got really inspired to write it word for word.

This is probably the longest post ever done on this blog, but I hope you will take a few moments to read it anyway.  It just sort of poured out of me all at once.

Today I’m going to tell you a story.  It is the greatest story ever told.  Maybe you have heard it before, maybe you haven’t.  Maybe you think you know this story, but you have only heard a poor retelling of it where the wonder and mystery of its storyline has been replaced with pragmatism, stiff religion, hypocrisy.  Or perhaps you have heard this story many, many times and you’ve allowed familiarity to breed contempt.

The story I am going to tell you this morning has been unfolding since before the dawn of time.  It is not only the centerpiece of mankind’s history, it is the driving force behind every event, every triumph, every defeat, every tragedy.  It is the impetus behind the rise and fall of every world leader and every nation on the planet.  It is the common thread that runs through every seemingly coincidental and serendipitous event in history.

Peter says that it is the story that the angels long to look into and understand.  It is a story so wondrous, mysterious, and alive that it has held the attention of the angels for eons.  It confounds the wise and makes fools of otherwise restrained men.  It is the only story that can fix all that is wrong with the world.  It is the only story that can make straight what is crooked in humanity.  It is the pathway to peace.

And what makes this story so irresistibly alluring is that it is completely true.  It is the foundation on which all Truth rests. So much so, that nothing on earth or in heaven can call itself the truth if it stands in conflict with this one story.  What I am about to tell you is not a fairy tale told to scared children to help them sleep.  It is not the duplicitous fabrication of power hungry patriarchs created to control the masses.  This story is the TRUTH, and it is greater than any corruption that has attempted to abuse it.

Our story begins before time.  Before the existence of water, dirt, trees, air, the beauty of a sunset or the twinkling of the stars.  Our story begins with God.  His name is Yahweh, the self-existent, self-directed, self-sufficient One.  He has always been and He will always be.  He cannot be defined by, or constrained  by time.  He has no need, no emptiness, no loneliness in Him.  He created us so that He could lavish His love upon us wastefully and extravagantly.  And in turn, we would respond with joy to worship Him.

We were created to worship our Creator, but instead we rejected Him.  We accused Him of not being good.  We accused Him of not loving us well.  We told Him that He needed us and that we didn’t need Him.  We turned our backs on His love and made ourselves His enemies.  At that moment, sin entered the hearts of mankind and we were separated from God.

And God was patient with us.  He told His people through Moses that He was a Holy God and longed to purify His people.  He longed to set them apart for relationship with Himself.  He made Himself known to them  yet, His people rejected Him.  They complained against Him and called into question His goodness and faithfulness.  They tested His patience to the point of worshipping other gods and exalted their pagan names above the mighty name of Yahweh.

And God was patient with us.  For centuries He sent prophets to herald the coming of a King who would set His people free and bring with Him the Kingdom of God.  His prophets told us to repent for the kingdom of God was coming.  They prophesied to us that we belong to God and we are His people.  And we mocked, rejected, and killed the prophets of God.

And God was patient with us.  So, He did what He said He would do.  But He didn’t send an earthly king, for no man could do or be what was required.  Instead, God Himself came down.  He entered into human history.  God Himself came to us to rescue us.  His name is Jesus Christ.  Fully God, and fully man in one person.

He came and He told us that He was our deliverer, the Shepherd of Our Souls, the Way the Truth and the Life.  He came and showed us how to love, how to believe, how to obey, and how to serve.  He told us who He was and then proved it over and over again through miracles and through mercy.  He shook the prison walls of tired religion, He confounded the wise, and confronted hypocrisy.  He turned the weakest of men into heroes, and He gathered the sick, the poor, and the marginalized to Himself so that they could find rest. He told us that if we would follow Him, He would lead us to safety, peace, and forgiveness.

Yet, we rejected Him.  We mocked Him with the tongues that He created.  We beat Him with fists that He formed in our mother’s womb.  We betrayed Him while breathing the air that He provided.  We told Him that we didn’t need Him and that He needed us.  We called Him a liar and a fool.  We killed our King like a criminal.  We turned our backs on the one who came to save us.  The only One that could.

And God was patient with us.  He was patient because this was the plan all along.  You see, the story had already been written and was simply being unrolled like a scroll, one chapter at a time.  God was not surprised, alarmed or worried.  He has always been in control and always will be.  No one drug Jesus to the cross, rather Jesus gave up His life to satisfy the demands of our deserved punishment.  When He died, He bore the full and terrible weight of the searing wrath of God.  He stood up under the torrential onslaught of centuries of just wrath being stored up in the cellar of God’s justice.  Worst of all, Christ who had known perfect fellowship with God for all eternity past was suddenly and horrifically separated from God.   Forsaken.    This was wrath that you and I deserve.

He paid for every moment when you see the sunset and in your indifference refuse to acknowledge His handiwork.  He paid for every time you take credit for what He has done.  When you take credit for how smart you are, how successful you are, or how religious and good you are.  He paid for every time you have feared created things more than you feared Him.  He paid for every time you worshipped something He has made, instead of worshipping the Creator.  He paid for every time you stubbornly refuse to worship Him because there’s no music and no preacher to excite you.  He paid for your dispassionate resistance to His loving advances toward you.

He paid for every time you hear this story, and reject him with your indifference, your misguided trust in the intellect that He gave you, and your fear of what following Him might cost you.  Yes, He died even for the things you do that are too shameful and wicked to say with words.

He.  Died.  For.  You.

But, the story doesn’t end there.  After 3 days, Jesus Christ took death, Hell, sin and the Devil by the throat and put them under his heel.  He stood over them as our conquering hero and He dominates them now like a master dominates His dog with a leash and the command of His voice.  Jesus Christ stood up from death under His own power and left the burial clothes where they lay.  Death cannot hold our King Jesus.  Therefore, death, sin, hell, and the Devil hold no power over those that belong to Jesus.  You have nothing to fear!  Death is now a puppet on a string, a tool in the hands of God.  Now, for the Christian it is a tool of blessing, a ticket home and for the unbeliever it is a terrifying reminder of the reality that time is short.

So this is the story of an unfathomable God, making Himself understood.  This is the story of an unknowable God, making Himself known.  This is the story of an infinitely Holy God extending mercy to the ones most deserving of His wrath.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 says,

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

THE STORY IS NOT OVER!  IT IS STILL UNFOLDING.  Will you enter this story?  Will you be reconciled to God?  Will you allow Christ to come in and exchange your sin for His righteousness.  Will you let Him wipe your slate clean, making you a new creation?

It’s time that you did what you were created to do.  It’s time for you to stop rejecting the one that made you.  Now is the time, because there will come a day when He will no longer be patient with you.  There will come a day when He will release you to your own rebellion to suffer the consequences of your indifference.  Do not fool yourself – your time, and your desires, do not belong to you.  Yahweh, God alone, holds time in His hands and His grace is the only thing that restrains the sin in your heart.

[tags]gospel, jesus, easter, resurrection, the cross, salvation, saved, christian, christ, grace, mercy, yahweh[/tags]