The Shack

One of the greatest ways to keep me from reading a book is to say, "You've got to read this book!! It's great! You just gotta read it!!" And one of the best ways to get me to read a book is to say, "This book is terrible - it is full of heresy." The Shack is a book that everyone has been reading for a while now, and I just didn't have any desire to read it. Then I heard from a few people, and read some comments on the web, that made me want to check it out to see if it really is as bad as some say. Well....

I read the book this past week, finishing it a couple of days ago. Overall, I liked the book. The story is quite good. There are a couple of places where I feel the author is off-base theologically, especially where he deals with evil. I have much the same feeling about one of my favorite Christian authors, Teilhard de Chardin. Evil is more than just the absence of good or mistakes. I don't know much about the author's faith - one person wrote me to say that the author is a universalist, and indeed there are areas in the book where universalism seems to rear its head. But the thrust of the book is basic, orthodox Christianity.

I can see where some might be upset at the way God is portrayed when Mack gets to the shack. But come on, we all know that God has no gender and certainly no ethnic/racial characteristics. Jesus is a male, yes! And middle-eastern at that. Even the term Father has less to do with maleness as with parenthood and personhood. Given Mack's background experiences God was portrayed perfectly.

There are those who are out to strip the church and her servants of any creativity whatsoever. That extends to ministries such as Rick Warren's Purpose Driven programs, fresh attempts at translating the Scriptures, emerging church themes, seeker-sensitive approaches to evangelism. In the Twelve-Step Programs there are a zillion slogans and one of them is "Take the best and leave the rest." The Shack was a treat to read and will leave a lasting impression in my heart and mind about the overwhelming and captivating love of God for all of us who have ever suffered loss in our lives. And I am glad that God is bigger than my little ministry in Clintondale. I am glad that God continues to move Christians to creativity and risk in ministry. It is only through creativity and risk that we grow.