Dear Friends,

Have you read The Shack ? It is a book that has had unexpected popularity and one that is touching hearts and drawing people to God is amazing ways. I enjoyed it personally and have recommended it to many others.

But, the book, with its unconventional representation of God, has created a significant amount of controversy in Christian circles. Because of the questions that have been raised about whether or not William P. Young, author of The Shack , is a hero or a heretic, I thought I would devote this month's newsletter to giving my views. (If you haven't read the book, I think it's safe to read on. I won't say anything here that will detract from your enjoyment if you choose to read it.)

Before we analyze the story, we should

1. Know the book's audience.

I don't think we can draw conclusions about the value of this book without understanding its target audience. Young originally wrote the book to explain to his own children something about his spiritual journey so they could understand both their father and their God better.

I then conclude that The Shack was written for Christians - for those who already know God through faith in Jesus Christ. To that extent it is not an evangelistic tract. A person will need more than this book to have a complete understanding of sin, guilt, and forgiveness. But, it may be a discussion starter allowing believers to have evangelistic conversations with unbelieving friends.

If we agree on the audience, then we observe that there seem to be two groups of Christians who benefit most from this book:

First are those who may have given up on or wandered from their initial relationship with God, particularly those who have experienced unexplained or unresolved suffering. They started out just fine with God. But life happened. Struggles came. And God was sidelined at best and blamed at worst. The questions became bigger than the answers.

Second, this reaches those who long for an intimate relationship with God but have missed such relationship in the traditional church presentation of Him. The writer does criticize the organized church and many are offended by that. But, let's be honest, the church is made up of and led by human beings and, thus, is a flawed structure. And we often confuse the organized church (mankind's efforts to organize relationship with God) and the organism Church , which consists of all true believers in Christ whether or not their name is on a membership role anywhere. The author, therefore, urges us to look directly at God and to bypass the distractions of the traditional church if it has in any way kept us from knowing Him as He wants to be known.

2. Know the book's limitations

We need to keep in mind that the story told in The Shack is not meant to give a complete picture of God. That should be no surprise. If we want to know the full revelation of God, we go to the Bible, not to a novel.

But even in going to the Bible as our primary resource, if we took any one parable from the New Testament, we still would not get a full picture of God. We need the parable of the Prodigal Son and the parable of the Landlord and Tenants and the other parables Jesus told in order to even begin to understand the multiple aspects of God's character and His relationship to us earthlings.

Readers must be discerning in comparing what they read in Young's book to what has been written in God's Word. No human author will get everything right when walking on sacred ground. But I think Young has been careful in portraying God as He is revealed in the inspired text of the Bible.

Why read The Shack ?

1. Relationships with other humans.

The Bible gives a great deal of teaching on human relationships, but we often don't understand it or how to apply it in our lives. This book deals very practically with issues related to relationships:

Parent/child love: We see Mack's agony over Missy's death and empathize with his self-recriminations at not being able to protect her. We also see his anxiety over Kate and her withdrawal from him and the family. If we have children, we can relate to those feelings and then observe how God brings insight and healing into this family.

Forgiveness: One of the hardest things for any human being to do is to forgive someone who doesn't deserve to be forgiven. Much is said in this book about forgiveness including what it is not . Mack, with God's instruction and enablement, is able to forgive not only his own father, but also Missy's killer, and ultimately himself.

Reconciliation: The concept of reconciliation is dealt with. Mack was able to reconcile with God and with his father, but not with Missy's murderer. There is a difference between forgiveness and reconciliation and the biblical teaching on this subject comes through with clarity.

Honesty: Mack is challenged in his thinking that by not telling his wife about the note from Papa he somehow was protecting her from pain. He is taught the necessity of total honesty in a marriage relationship and promised the relational rewards that come from such transparency.

Many other emotional and relational issues are addressed from a theological perspective including emotions in general, and fear, guilt, love, and submission in particular.

2. Relationship with God

The Bible provides a multi-faceted revelation of God, but we don't come anywhere near to being able to completely understand Him. The Shack makes an effort to bridge the gap between the text of the inspired revelation and the application of that revelation to our lives.

God revealed : C. S. Lewis, in his allegorical Chronicles of Narnia , portrays our Lord as the lion Aslan. Only a rare few seem to have a theological problem with that, but, as I have discovered in my reading, many do have a problem with thinking about the possibility of God revealing Himself (as depicted in this book) as an African American woman!

Scripturally, we find that God revealed Himself in various ways: speaking in the burning bush to Moses and later speaking with him face-to-face, wrestling with Jacob, eating with Abraham, whispering to Elijah, giving dreams to Ezekiel, and showing glory to Isaiah, to name a few.

God chooses (and has the right to choose) how and when to reveal Himself and it appears that maybe his choice is based at least in part on the individual's personality and needs.

Trinity presented: Young's presentation of the Trinity is bold! We can read theological treatises on the persons of the Trinity and, in fact, this book has engendered a number of them. Most all of them (the honest ones anyway) admit by time they finish expounding on what they think they know that they don't really understand the Trinity either. So, admittedly, the author has ventured into dangerous theological territory.

Even so, his creative expression of the members of the Trinity and their interrelationship is helpful to our understanding as long as we keep in mind that no earthly parable can explain the Godhead fully. I don't think, however, that Young has done anything in his portrayal that is contrary to what the Bible teaches. He takes it a bit further than the Bible does, as we see, but does not contradict what we are given in scriptural revelation.

That said, here's my take on Young's portrayal of the members of the Godhead:

God the Father , as Young portrays him, is much like the Father in the parable of the Prodigal Son. It is only one side of God, to be sure, but it is a side that Jesus revealed when He told that story – the Father who would go to great lengths to welcome a prodigal who was ready to come home.

God the Son , is portrayed as the creative servant particularly in making the beautiful casket for Missy. And this is much the way Jesus described Himself to His own disciples as He washed their feet and the way John describes Him in the first chapter of his Gospel as the Creator of the universe.

God, the Holy Spirit , is shown by Young to be a spirit being incorporating creativity, activity, and the breath of life. The description of Mack's increasing ability to see and sense Sarayu is very typical of our own interaction with the Holy Spirit. The more we acknowledge Him and relate to Him, the more we begin to recognize His voice, His guidance, and His work

Invitation offered: Mack was invited to a personal “retreat” with God. And, he had to be intentional about going to The Shack to give God time to relate to him, to heal him. He had to make the effort to make meeting with God a priority that weekend. He had to borrow a car, pack a bag, leave home, drive a long ways, and give up everything else that he had planned for those days. God, for this time, was made a top priority. And God issues that same invitation to all of us!

If we were as intentional about taking God up on that invitation as Mack was, we, too, might see Him in new ways and receive the understanding and healing that only He can give.

Love received: I think the author's portrayal of a non-judgmental God of love is an important one for us to grasp. Romans 8:1 promises that once we have been redeemed by Jesus Christ, there is no more condemnation. God will discipline, He will correct, He will not protect us from all suffering, but He will not condemn. Everything He does related to His redeemed ones is out of love for us. I believe it is impossible to overemphasize infinite love.

Concluding thoughts:

The religious leaders of Jesus' day knew their Scriptures well (many knew the entire Torah by heart!), but they didn't recognize Jesus as the Son of God because He came in a way they did not expect. They weren't open to God revealing Himself in His chosen way instead of the way they knew and could wrap their minds around. (Luke19:44; John 5:39-40 ).

I don't want to be guilty of the same thing: of knowing all the “right” answers, but missing Jesus in the process. So, while admitting that The Shack challenges my comfort zones in some ways, I have to say that it truly and powerfully draws me to the God of the Bible. Could I ask for anything more?

May you enjoy His great blessings today!

Bev

Note: For those of you who want more specific addressing of issues raised by those reading The Shack , I am appending some of my answers to objections I have read or heard. Maybe these responses will help your own understanding and maybe they will support you in your conversations with others.

P.S. If you know of others who would enjoy receiving this newsletter each month, please encourage them to visit my website (www.beverlyvankampen.com), click on the newsletter icon, and enter their e-mail address. I would love to add them to our circle of friends.