In the February encouragement letter, Pres suggested a book by William P. Young entitled The Shack. Many of you have ordered this book already, and the feedback we've received has been wonderful. However, we did receive one question regarding an online commentary criticizing the book. Pres has taken the time to answer this question in detail. Please read the following Q&A and decide for yourself if you'd like to venture into The Shack.

Question:

Based on your last month's letter, I ordered The Shack from you all. I am even more eagerly awaiting its arrival, because in today's mail, I received a warning from my cousin with this link to a website regarding The Shack http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/08/shack.htm#1. I know nothing about this man who writes the review, as I know nothing about the book beyond your recommendation. Nevertheless, based on many years of knowing that you espouse the true word of God, I trust that you wouldn't recommend anything that goes against it. Therefore, I am all the more curious to hear your take on it. Thanks so much for your faithfulness in sharing Father's love with all of us! God bless you.

Pres' answer:

First of all, I deeply appreciate your expression of trust in me to not recommend something to you that is fundamentally flawed or contrary to the Bible.

I thought long and prayed for several days before recommending The Shack. It is an "edgy" book. When I read it, I knew the author would pay a high price for writing a story like this one. I have not looked, but I can only imagine there are many other critical reviews of the book appearing. No telling how many critiques of it will be delivered in sermons, etc. However, in the end, I thought it best to let you know what I was reading that had positively affected my spiritual life.

Here is how I think about--approach--books like The Shack: First, this is a novel, a work of fiction. It is a story, a myth, a fable. In other words, it is not high theology. The author has no intention of ironing out the mystery of the Trinity. The author moves the story along with big ideas and broad concepts, not the nuances common to works of non-fiction. The goal in reading this book is not to have a detailed understanding but to capture a general concept: God missed Mack (the main character), knew he was bitter over the death of his daughter, and determined to invite him into a series of interactions that would potentially free him from his bitter anger. If you think about it, that is the story of the Bible, plain and simple.

The Shack is not a book about repentance. However, the critic criticizes the author for leaving this point out. I won't continue my critique of the critic, but he makes this error several times in his criticism. It's kind of silly to criticize an author for the book he didn't write after reading the book he did write.

This is a book about the age old question of how to reconcile the suffering and injustice of earth with God's divine love and absolute power. Many have undertaken this formidable challenge. The problem persists. I surmise the author decided to take a stab at it himself in the fashion of a novel.

It is a book about freedom through the power of forgiveness for wrongs suffered. This is the same style of forgiveness God practices, just as Isaiah records. However, the critic is anxious to criticize and misses that this higher practice of forgiveness, which is very biblical, is different from the fundamental forgiveness inherent in salvation.

Most of all, the book is the author's attempt to reframe our staid image of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in an effort to help those of us who struggle mightily to trust God to get over that hurdle, especially when faced with suffering.

The critic references several times that God is referred to as Papa in the book. My gut tells me he is reacting to this aspect of the book so strongly because he may need its message more than he realizes. Galatians notes that God has sent His Spirit into our spirits inspiring us to call Him, "Abba." Literally, that is a childlike term of endearment, e.g. daddy, papa would be perfectly accurate translations. In the story, Mack has no difficulty recognizing the preeminent and all-powerful God. The story is, he readily recognizes Him and resents Him for not doing anything to save his daughter from a horrid death. What Mack does not grasp is the preeminent and all-powerful God who condescended to earth and suffered in all ways like we humans do in the person of Jesus, except without sin. And that as a result, is capable of identifying with our heartaches and bringing healing to us as He sees fit. It is God's wish--via His Spirit--that we address Him as Papa (lit. Abba). It is my observation that the critic is not the only church member who finds this Divine preference challenging. I think The Shack might assist us in honoring God's preferences for how we address Him in spite of our discomfort.

The critic misses the point of the book dramatically--as will many others. He is anxious to point out that God is not a woman, and takes the author to task. However, in his anxious criticism the critic fails to grapple himself with the Genesis passage that records God made man in His own image, male and female He made them. I don't pretend to understand this verse, but clearly there is some aspect of God that is feminine. Further, the critic fails to mention that later in the book, the African-American female is gone and God is now portrayed as a man. If he is going to criticize, I think he should be fair.

Again, this is a story attempting to help wounded, untrusting people see God as one who comes to us in our deepest difficulty. As I have written, and you have no doubt read, I think the story of Christmas underscores God's determination to do whatever it takes to break through our prejudice and gain access into our hearts.

So, why did I recommend the book?

I am profoundly concerned about the state of the church. More pointedly, I am deeply concerned about what I observe in the church's attitude toward and about God. By all counts, both secular and religious, the church in America is dying rather quickly. Why? From the surveys, church and its message simply do not matter. It is irrelevant. God is distant, high, and only provides assistance to us when death approaches: At the last moment, He snatches Believers at death's door from the jaws of hell into the forgiveness of heaven. In other words: God, church, the spiritual life, Jesus, etc. do not do us one whit of good on a daily basis--certainly not in times of tragedy like portrayed in the book--but serve only to get us to heaven when we die. In the meantime, we are on our own. As I look around, this is how I see a great many Believers living. Something needs to change...and quick. If The Shack will help rock us off dead center, more power to the author.

We desperately need to redefine what we understand (in the church) about God. He is relevant. He is present. He is accounted for. He cares. He is involved in everything that transpires in life. I want to do whatever I can to challenge those around me--and within the sound of my voice and within the reach of my pen--to rethink what they know of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Why? Because what the preponderance of us know and believe now is not correct. God loves us desperately, and from what I can tell, will do whatever it takes to break into our world and overcome our biases.

This may be more than you wanted to know from my mind. But, there you have it. My encouragement would be to read for the big idea. If God is closer, Jesus more involved, and the Holy Spirit more integrally involved after reading, then the book will have served its purpose.

This said, the book will never be what the critic wants it to be. Is the book heretical? Absolutely not. Will it make you think? Absolutely. Will you pray differently after reading it? I think so. After reading the book will you be content to do church as normal and think of God as a distant deity? I wasn't. Once read, if difficulty is encountered and Satan suggests God failed to protect and love, I believe the book will challenge us to think again...from God's perspective.

If you'd like to order this book and check it out for yourself, you can do so by going to our online store at http://www.lifetime.org/the-shack-p-123.html.