A Few Comments

If you look at the subtitle of my blog, you will notice that I have allowed myself space to make comments on things that give me pause. So, I am going to make a few comments on the book I just finished listening to yesterday, The Shack. There have been a lot of reactions to this book from it being the best book many feel they have ever read to it being condemned as heresy. Laura even made her recommendation in no uncertain terms: "Mama, don't read it!"

Being the educator I am, even thought I am not in the classroom any more, I have often told my students they can not make an argument against an idea unless they know something about which they are arguing. Emotion leads us down a precarious path, especially when we try to make our arguments known about something we feel strongly about. So, I felt if I was going to weigh in on the book (not that anyone really cares how I feel about the book) I needed to read/listen to it.

I am a Christian, and I try to live my life in a way that reflects God's love for me. I know that it is through His grace through Jesus Christ that I am allowed to be called "an heir, a co-heir with Christ" (Romans 8:17). I know I fall short everyday in my effort, but I also know I have an intercessor in Christ who allows me to confess those sins and who reconciles me to God. I know God has given me the Holy Spirit to be with me here on this earth as my guide. I know God is also just and will judge me according to my life lived here on earth. I believe the Bible is the inerrant world of God given to man through inspiration. I know as much as I study God's word to understand Him there are aspects of God's will I will never understand and I accept those things on faith.

With that said, I will preface this by saying it is a wonder I am still alive. I listened to the book, and many times I tried to write down my thoughts on something that was said as I was trying to drive down the road. Not a good thing to do.

As with the DaVinci Code, The Shack is fiction. However, Young left himself open, as did Larry Brown, to both the accolades and criticism when he chose to have his fictitious story centered on the Deity that is the center of a religion that is practiced and studied by so many. Young explores the matter of God's unending love for us and what it does for us and how it should be reflected in us as believers. I have no problem with that thought. He also examines forgiveness and how our lack of it only serves to entrap us more and rarely affects the person to whom our lack of forgiveness is directed. I have no problem with that premise either.

However, his view of truth is troubling. It appears Young considers truth to be relative, a concept based on past experiences, such as the experiences of Mack Philips, the protagonist of the story who had a harsh childhood and who later loses his daughter to a serial killer. He goes to seminary, in my view, to work out the conflicts he had with the way his father treated him and the faith his father professed to have. All of us have had experiences that influence the way we think, yet the truth is always the truth; it is an absolute.

Young, also in my view, takes a dim view of the church both as a local body of believers and as a universal entity. In a conversation with Philips, Jesus explains organized religion is not a priority in the greater scheme of things. I know that cruel events have played out in the name of organized religion, but I also know that the church is Christ's bride, whom he loves and who awaits his return. To dismiss the church is irresponsible.

The most disturbing concept, and one that almost made me run off the road, was Jesus' explanation of his purpose. Toward the end of the book Jesus states he came to reconcile God to us. God does not need to be reconciled to anyone. We need to be reconciled to God, exactly what Jesus does for us. Jesus also states in his discussion of the church that there all kinds of paths for the Buddhist and Jew and others to come to him. They may come to Jesus, like many who believe him to be a wonderful person to emulate but doubt his divinity such as Benjamin Franklin, but unless they come to God through faith in Jesus as their savior they have misunderstood God's plan.

Another point that bothered me was the acknowledgement Young gave at the end of the book to several universal and existential thinkers, in my view an endorsement of New Age thinking. This fact is reinforced by the name Saru that he gave to the Holy Spirit. This endorsement also reflects part of what has happened within the church today. It is what I call "feel good religion." In many of our churches, we don't want to chase away potential members, so we don't or won't mention sin, consequences, and responsibility. Back to my point, we must teach the truth.

Okay, I have had my say. Read The Shack or don't read The Shack. However, if you are examining your faith and the One you can place it in, read The Bible.