Shack Bash

So, this morning, my beloved Pastor totally railed on "The Shack." This was ironic as I was just talking with my friend Charity about how much she loved it as we walked into church. Our pastor is a well-read theologian, which is definitely not the intended audience for this book. Actually, this book was only written for the author's kids but was so fabulous it became published. That said, The Shack is not intended to be a doctrinal foundation book - more of a teaching tool -and like anything to do with humans, is entitled interpretation and mistake. However, the immense good done through this book is to be appreciated, and regardless of his harsh, un-contextualized criticisms, is definitely worth the read!!

His main points were as follows:

1. Modalism. This topic of theology discusses the Trinity merely as Jesus playing different roles at different times, rather than there being 3 separate persons in the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). This says that in the Old Testament Jesus played God the Father. When Jesus came to Earth, he played himself, and after he ascended into Heaven, he continued playing the Holy Spirit to this day. This is clear heresy per Jesus' baptism. In The Shack, Papa (God the Father) says, " I became fully human in Jesus." Our pastor took this to say that the Father was not independent of Jesus, but that he was merely one mask Jesus wore. This is a gross misinterpretation whereas in this part of the book, Papa is explaining to Mack (the main human character) that though there are 3 persons, they are also ONE, further supporting the trinitarian doctrines of scripture, saying that they share all experiences because they are ONE.

2. Graven Image. The Shack portrays God the Father as a human. This is not intended to be disrespectful, but to further make his character real. In order to put to death our unique images that we create of God the Father in our minds (maybe an old white man with a long white beard, maybe mean, maybe jolly like Santa . . . ), the writer shows God the Father as an African American woman, and calls him/her Papa. This consistent brain-confusion is effective in removing our human perspective and helping us understand that we cannot limit God to anything we can imagine. Later in the book, God the Father shows himself as a man, which our Pastor forgot to mention. His claim that this book promotes Goddess worship is a huge misinterpretation and completely misses the glorious mark the author hits as he works to de-humanize our limited perspective of God the Father.

3. Heirarchy. Mack (the main character) is sitting around the table with Jesus, God and The Holy Spirit. He asks about the chain of command - like who runs the household (connecting this to marriage - and all humanity for that matter). Papa explains to him that heirarchy has no place in their relationships where they are all equal adn there is no sin, therefore, no need to force someone to submit against their will because there is no negative will to fight. Our pastor rightly criticizes this as incorrect, as there is heirarchy even where there is no sin, such as with the angels. However, he again misses the mark, as this passage of the book is one of the most profound, beautiful scenes where they explain trinitarian love, service, and wholehearted community.

As we have unfortunately seen so very recently in the political realm, people who use the pulpit for anything aside from conveying the word of God walk an incredibly fine line. Today, my line was crossed, but I respect my pastor authentically, adn understand he is human as well, and so I choose to give him grace. Read all things with the lense of The Word and maintain discernment. However, don't take yourself too seriously that you would miss out on some amazing truths as brought forth by The Shack.