The Shack – Part Two -

Having stated my general thoughts about the literary qualities of The Shack and how the very nature of the book reminds us about the power of a story, I now move on the the content of the book.  This post will deal with what seems to be the author’s underlying thesis (1) That Western Christianity has become institutionalized “religious social clubs” that “don’t seem to make any real difference or affect any real changes, (2) That Western Christianity places far too much weight on the Scriptures as the way in which God has chosen to reveal himself and his will, (3) That the church uses the Bible as a means of control by determining its interpretation, not allowing for dissent and inducing guilt through its teaching and (4) That the outcome of the previous three issues is that people have been cut off from a personal relationship with God in which God is real and relevant.

It might appear that the book is about the question of suffering and evil and God.  That certainly is a major theme, but I don’t believe it is the primary issue The Shack confronts.  The underlying message is that the church and the Scriptures really don’t provide the answers for the questions Mack, the primary character of the story, faces.  Mack doesn’t find any comfort in the fellowship of disciples, nor does he find any help in the Scriptures.  He is only helped when he has an experience with God at a mountain shack. 

Now, if my premise and understanding of the author’s message are correct, the question is – Is he right?

The best answer is probably yes and no.  OK that does sound like I am riding the fence, but the issues are not really clear cut.  The church (and I use that in a very general sense) is and always has been a mixed bag.  The church is made up of people.  People, though redeemed, often have their own baggage and issues they are working through.  People, though in love with Jesus, struggle at times to understand how to live that out in every day life.  People, giving their time and money to love others into the Kingdom of God, often find themselves worrying about and contending for their own little petty Kingdoms.  People who look an awfully lot like the first disciples. 

So does the church have problems – absolutely.  Always has, always will.  And hopefully always striving to become the church that looks like the Bride of Christ. 

But has the Western church become just a religious social club?  Well, no doubt you could find some congregations that fit that characterization.  But is that an accurate description of the church as a whole?  Certainly not in my experience.  I’ve never been a part of a perfect church, but in every church I have been a part of I find some of the most loving, caring, Christ-like people on earth.  I keep finding people who really care about others and live that out every day.  I find leaders who give of themselves as servants to the people of their congregations without asking or receiving much in return. 

Having said that I do think that the institutionalization of the church is a problem for Western Christianity, but maybe not for the same reasons as Young, the author of The Shack.  Institutionalization is a problem because institutions tend not to be very good at making disciples (the prime directive of Jesus for His church).  They tend not to ask people to go out to the people and make disciples, but instead they work at keeping the disciples in one place and asking the people to come.

Institutions also are not very flexible and become an end in themselves rather than a means to an end.  The death of institutions is seen as the end of the movement.  A concept that is the antithesis of New Testament Christianity.

Institutions become very protective of themselves.  They fight for their own survival and thus tend to lose their vision.  Once established they see their existence as necessary and all important and never consider that the end of the institution is not the same as the end of a movement.

Institutions have a different means of judging success than that laid out by Christ.  Institutions judge success upon the number of people attending institutional events, the size of the budget and the size and scope of facilities.  One could also add to that list the popularity and renown of their leaders.  Jesus really only gave one measure of success for the church – are people being turning into disciples who can turn others into disciples of Jesus in an ever increasing world impacting way?

I find the author’s view of the Scriptures to be disturbing and odd.  Disturbing because he seems to leave his readers with the impression that direct personal revelation is much more important and meaningful than the revelation of God in and through the Scriptures.  I think this comes out in the storyline of the book. No where does Mack find any help from the Bible.  Yet, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  Jesus used the Scriptures to blunt the attack of Satan in his own life.  It is the Word of God that equips the disciple to walk with God.  It is through the Scriptures we discover the will of God. 

Odd because much of the theology of the book is dependent completely on God’s revelation of himself in Scriptures.  While I don’t think Young accurately portrayed the Trinity, still he wouldn’t have any concept of the Trinity at all apart from the Bible.  The same could be said for many of the ideas taught in The Shack. 

I’m not suggesting that Young is anti-Bible, he just seems to have a view of Scripture that doesn’t appreciate it’s importance in the believer’s life.  Now, before you get all bent out of shape, I admit I’m coming to my conclusions by reading between the lines.  Young doesn’t say these things directly.  He says them through the story and maybe he skewed the story to one side for dramatic effect or to make the point by going to the extreme.  But it needs to be pointed out because people will read what he wrote and because so many people have promoted this book as the next best thing in Christian literature they will take it as gospel and follow it to its logical conclusions.

Does the church short circuit a personal relationship with God?  It can, just like anything else can become an idol or substitute god.  Is that the church’s fault.  Possibly – if the church promotes itself as an end and doesn’t point people to Christ, than it can create an atmosphere in which people might look to the institution as the mediator between God and man.

But the situation is much more complex than either extreme want’s to acknowledge.  A relationship with God is not like a relationship with Aunt Jamima.  God is not an old black woman baking biscuits and pie.  But more about that later…

OK – now you can tell me where I am missing it or getting it. 

Next installment asap