One of the dangers of Christian blogging is dealing with the spiritual hall monitors who seem to live only to smack your heretical knuckles with their ruler of truth. So I risk their wrath (carefully chosen word) with today’s post.
The movie The Shack has reunited a wave of debate, hand-wringing, defensiveness and condemnation in Evangelical circles. The book and the subsequent movie has been called dangerous, subversive and heretical by many critics. I didn’t know any of this when a friend told me that he really enjoyed the book and I should read it many years ago. Since I have a book addiction I soon was in possession. I finished The Shack and I thought it was a decent and often good read. I was challenged and touched by parts of the story. And, to be honest, I was unsettled by some of it. After finishing the book I did some research to find out what others were saying about the book. Some of the critiques were valuable and thoughtful. These writers pointed out where the book deviated from scripture. Some of the orthodox theological missteps were outlined in clear detail. A thorough review of those concerns was written by author/blogger Tim Challies. I would suggest you balance that critique with another perspective to those objections from author Wayne Jacobson. I will stay away from the theological debate because Tim and Wayne have done it so well. Instead I want to offer a few gentle propositions to consider for my fellow followers of Jesus as the discussion heats up.
- Be careful about disparaging The Shack’s author, William P Young. Please be cautious about assigning motives to a person you don’t know from Adam and Eve’s first house cat. I know that I have been called things that were really surprising by my brothers and sisters in the faith simply because they disagreed with something I wrote. The truth is that I now disagree with some of things I have written in the past and I still think I am a decent guy. Mr. Young apparently was deeply wounded by Christians who should have protected him. I don’t believe Mr.Young set out to write a book that would rock the evangelical community. Apparently he didn’t even write the book with the thought of being published. It was originally written for family members to help them deal with their pain. It doesn’t seem that he set out with sinister motives to undermine theological orthodoxy. He is a fellow wounded traveler trying to reconcile his woundedness. When his theology is nonorthodox I am suggesting that we gracefully point out those areas and don’t attack Mr. Young. Defending truth with grace is always the most effective tactic. But our passion for truth too often makes grace the first thing we jettison.
- Be careful how you share your concerns with others. When I read comments like “are these people just blind to heresy?” I cringe. Because you reinforce the feelings of so many people that are moved by this book and movie. They have experienced a Christianity that is judgmental and sometimes downright mean. If your heart is to be a guardian of truth you will damage that worthy desire by harsh criticism of those who are touched by The Shack.
- Be prayerful about why this book has connected so surprisingly with millions. I think I know some reasons why the book and movie is resonating with so many. Those of us raised in the desert of legalism are desperate for the cool, refreshing waters of grace. Those of us who have been wounded by other Christians want more than anything to believe that Jesus does love us and our experience is not how it should be in the church. We need guardians of the truth of God’s Word but we also need those guardians to be shepherds that care and not just condemn. Some of the articles have been so stern that I felt like I would be sent to after school detention when the writer was done. That doesn’t help a wounded believer. Jesus said to both feed and take care of His sheep.
- Don’t automatically decide you won’t see the movie. Why should you consider doing that if you believe the theology is off base? Because of a principle that I harp on over and over. When people open spiritual doors we should have enough sense to go through them. Instead we tend to slam those doors and then go knock loudly on doors that are closed. Obviously this book and movie is connecting. There is a deep spiritual hunger in America. If a fellow believer or seeker comments on the movie it will do little good to look down our spiritual nose and let them know the theology is all wrong. Instead I would suggest you see it and then engage the viewer. You will be able to get through some pretty intimate doors that this story opens and have a great discussion of truth and grace.
- Be aware that God is doing just fine. I have seen some pretty dire warnings about this book and movie. One of the critiques that I read often is that the book makes God small. Aren’t we also making God small by being so concerned about the possible damage done by this story? God can, will and is using this movie. I agree the theology gets shaky at times. But the truth is that The Shack is causing many people to think about things they have never considered. Some are willing to try again after being deeply wounded. Shouldn’t we be praying that God will use us to come alongside these souls as they search and seek the truth?
- Acknowledge that there are the things this movie does well. When you go negative it causes people to get defensive. It does more harm to make people who feel abandoned or hurt by the church feel “stupid” because they don’t know as much theology as you do. If you know that much theology don’t forget the grace sections.
- Recognize the hunger in the body of Christ. While some of the theology in The Shack is askew I would suggest that the theology of millions of people in the church is also deficient. We have done a poor job of teaching (or understanding) some of the key teachings of Scripture. Most of us get salvation. We could not be reconciled to a Holy God on our own. But then it seems to get a bit spotty. Too many of us don’t understand key theological truths like who we are in Christ, who God says we are and who God says He is. We know truth but don’t trust it. What is in our head doesn’t invade our heart. The Shack has touched the hearts of millions. The door is open for a thoughtful and real discussion. I pray that we don’t blow it.
Instead of taking readers of The Shack to the woodshed let’s take them to the room of grace.
Check out my newest book on Grace, Identity and Faith entitled Waking Up Slowly..
SP Tran
This book will not strike the right chord for those who are very literal in their thinking, or for someone who refuses the fact that there might be more than one side to look at a point.
I’m not necessarily a fan of The Shack, but I do feel that there are big ideas to be explored. Likewise, as Sharon suggested, Forgiving Ararat is an intelligent read that delves into the matter of religion, history, politics as well as the emotional struggle. For me, what Nazareth did was providing the room and seeds for debate, prompting readers to ponder and question long after the last pages. And that was what struck all the right notes for me.
The Shack probably did it for some, but maybe not for me.
Sharon Lee
I loved The Shack for what it was…a creative and imaginative work of fiction. Why are people so hard on this book? Although it did diverge from Scripture at times, I found its message and it’s creativtiy uplifitng. I felt the same way about Forgiving Ararat by Gita Nazareth. It’s about a woman who unlocks the mystery of her own murder from her place in the afterlife. It’s a historical and religious exploration within a suspenseful murder mystery/supernatural thriller. I’m a publicist and fan of the book and would love to read your comments here should you choose to read Forgiving Ararat.
Charlotte
I really liked the book however did have some issues with it. I do feel that God could appear to people in a dream not as reality though – personally I feel comforted by most (not all) black women – they are very warm people and for anyone in emotional strife it is interesting that he would appear as such. Later he appeared as an old man with a beard that we would all expect. I thus do not think he is actually a black woman but God is God and can be anything he wants to be at any time.
The “universalism” issue stuck in my throat a bit (especially the bit when Jesus said he is not Christian). What is the point of going to Church and following Christ all your life if everybody ends up in heaven anyway? It kind of makes the whole thing feel uttlerly pointless and a bit fake to me. If you think of people like radical islamists who hate us with such a passion that they will bomb and murder innocent people – I can’t get my head around the fact that these people will be in heaven with us! Don’t get me wrong I do not wish hell on anyone but do not understand this at all.
The end was a bit disappointing that they went on the hard sell and telling people to buy more books.
Thanks for listening!
S. Whitney
There’s no doubt that some statements and paragraphs written in the book were deeply grievous to my spirit (especially on page 182 and on the bottom of page 145) which are totally new Age and dangerously wrong. Even still the author has clearly experienced a very real and intimately close relationship with the Lord. Many christians like myself have suffered horrendous abuses in life, including spiritual abuse so severe that it often has left us utterly terrified to even consider getting close to God and has caused us to shut down so severely that we had lost the ability to emotionally connect to God and therefore to anyone else. Consequently the Lord has revealed himself to me in the most tender and approachable ways possible to allow me identify with him as the sweetest and safest daddy ever to help me to wake up out of my own personal hell. I too have wanted to write a book that reveals our wonderful Lord as the amazing loving, tender, approachable, good humoured God that He really is, so that multitudes of wounded Christians as well as many bound-up religious Christians could find a whole new life in Him that is more real than anything they have ever known. I truly believe this is probably the author’s desire as well, which is wonderful, and God looks at the motives of the heart, and not at the outward, as men do. Sadly though, because of the serious theology problems in the middle of all the healing good, this could cause some serious confusion for the hurting ones also. I hope that God will allow me ( or someone) to write this great and true message in a book without the serious problems, as it is desperately needed. The Lord once said to me that if someone is in error of a truth but is full of God’s love, but a 2nd person is not in error about that same truth, but is self-righteous in their knowledge and with no grace and truth toward the 1st person, then the 1st person is walking in more truth than the 2nd, because love is the higher truth. SELAH
Greg Elder
Oddly enough, the most hurtful debate I had over this book was with a person who vowed never to read it. The irony was that this person is extremely well-read in scripture, so reading was not the issue. I tried to point out that the book was pointing many to scripture and wondered how that could be a bad thing. I couldn’t get a straight answer. Despite the efforts of others to mediate the rift, I came away forgiving but not forgiven. Thank God He treats me differently. For me the book brought a new awareness of the Holy Spirit, not in some convoluted sense, but as a realization of how active in my life the Holy Spirit is. I pray now to the Father, the Son, AND the Holy Spirit by name. For that I thank Mr. Young.
Teresa Smith
I loved the book. I felt a little uncomfortable with the female depiction of the Father… however, since this is a book of fiction and the main character had “daddy issues”… I was able to look past that and understand what the author was trying to get across… I do believe that God loves us so much and he would come to his child with hand out and inviting rather than booming with a big white beard.
This book does a good job of uncovering God’s nature… that God is love and that love is a verb…therefore God is a verb… This is doctrinally sound.
To Paul: People have been gaining insights from books for years that are written by devout Christians. The Left Behind series for one… God’s people need to be encouraged to pull everything through the lens of the Gospel message… God’s Word.
Why should the secular writers be the only ones allowed to have good stories? :o)
Anything of this world is going to be flawed – this book is one of those flawed things… Test it… point out the questionable areas… enjoy a good read… remember it’s fiction.
I think that is what has people upset… that it has resonated so much and people’s hearts are being set afire. I think people simply need to be reminded that it is fiction and if they have any questions to see their pastor or open up the good book for themselves.
:o)
Ginny
A gentle balance is what is needed. I certainly do NOT agree with Young’s description and depiction of the Trinity, and concur that God’s Word is the ONLY authority on who HE is, but I definitely think that this novel will provoke many to rethink the hate they harbor in their hearts toward those who have grieviously wronged them. Anyone who has suddenly and unexpectedly lost a loved one can understand the anger toward God that the character Mack held in his heart.
This book will bring many to a deeper study of God’s word and a definite desire to know Him. It provides an opportunity for organized religion to help these seekers find their way…the way to salvation through the blood of Jesus shed for us.
One other aside…what do you think of Sophia? I’ve read no reviews that mention her.
David Mackey
Thanks for the thoughtful post. I think I might read The Shack myself.
Kristie
Hey Dave, found this blog response to your post that I thought you’d find interesting if not entertaining – http://postmortemism.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/define-gentle-and-balanced/ .
Matt (Mark's brother)
I have a lot of mixed emotions about The Shack. Rather than emoting on your blog (I’ll save that for mine), let me just ask: what did you think of it? Did you think Tim’s assessment was fair? Also, in the interest of full disclosure, maybe your statement about author Wayne Jacobson’s response should include the fact that he is the publisher of The Shack.
And for David, who said: I understood what the author was doing in attempting to get his point across…what was he trying to get across, exactly? Most everyone I’ve read on the blogosphere describes the book as giving them insights on God that they’ve never gotten before. Do you agree with that? And if so, does it bother you that people are getting insights about God from someplace other than His Word?
That’s the crux of my beef with The Shack. Why are we getting profound insights about God from a fiction book? Thanks in advance.
alba agius
I’m a practising catholic and i and a few other members of my family have read the book and we do agree that there are several inaccurate points., but what we liked about it and found it very helpful is that the many questions and issues that “Mack” raises with the Trinity are the same issues and questions that we all struggle with and somehow through this very book myself and other people in my family were able to get to know a bit of God’s Wisdom. we have ejoyed the book and because i personally know who i am in Christ and that His love for me unconditional i was able to get past those theological inaccuracies.
we all looked at the “big’ picture the message that this book is supposed to convey] trusting that “Papa”. Jesus and the holy Spirit will do what only they can.
David Brantley
Excellent response to criticism of The Shack. Well balanced and thought through. None of that knee-jerk journalism that is so harmful in the Body of Christ today. I have read The Shack and was deeply moved by it. I agree that it should not be taken as a text on theology, but as a writer myself, I understood what the author was doing in attempting to get his point across.
Those with the harshest criticism should beware that God and His Son Jesus criticism came against those who considered themselves the “last word on theology.”
To the “Friends of Job” they faced punishment because ” ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right.” (Job 42:8). Jesus constantly was at odds with the conservative fundamentalist interpertors of the Law and challanged them on their legalism with no heart or grace.
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mark
Dave –
thanks for the great advice in this post. It hurts me to see so many “zealous” or angry or bitter Christians in the world that are always attacking something – I remember the same thing after the Purpose Driven Life and other books they may not fully agree with. I totally agree that we do need to (gracefully) point out bad doctrine, but lets not go into attack mode.
I think your post is great for us all to apply not only to authors/books but for churches and pastors as well.