“The Shack continues at #1 on the NY Times Best Seller list for its 25th straight week! Over 4 million in print!” What a phenomenon The Shack is, it takes the grace message to whole new levels. Even to the point of saying God does not have expectations of us to be responsible, that these are tools of fearful, independent man to control others and the future outcome of things. Grace is something I am fairly familiar with as I have attended a grace based church for 23 years. People have said to my pastor “You preach too much grace”. His response has been, “I don’t how you do that”. Grace is not just God’s unmerited favor but also God’s divine enablement, without which we can do nothing. 2 Corinthians 1:12 for our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.

On the other hand there are also many leaders in the church that have said God wants us to take our responsibility and authority, to exercise and develop our faith and embrace a life of sonship, not to God only, but also to the authorities He places in our lives. I would imagine Watchmen Nee’s book “Authority and Submission” would be the furthest thing from the things a book like The Shack emphasizes.

For those who do not know, the author of The Shack, William Young, does not attend a church. He attends house meetings that are not pastor led. His partner at Wind Blown Media, Wayne Jacobson, is also in this movement, ministering together with Frank Viola and George Barna. This is not to discredit but simply to make aware. I very much liked The Shack, yet it could be important to consider, that some of the conclusions the author draws from his understanding of doctrine, lead him away from pastorally led, organized church.

It says in Ephesians 2:8-9 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. The Bible states in James 2:14 what does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? Vs.17 thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Some theologians have argued that the book of James should not be in the Bible as it contrasts with what Paul says in Galatians and Romans.  

Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline has an interesting analogy, “Picture a long, narrow ridge with a sheer drop-off on either side. The chasm to the right is the way of moral bankruptcy through human strivings for righteousness. Historically this has been called the heresy of moralism. The chasm to the left is moral bankruptcy through the absence of human strivings. This has been called the heresy of antinomianism (Gr. “against law”). On the ridge there is a path, the disciplines of the spiritual life. This path leads to the inner transformation and healing for which we seek.”

A friend of mine has done a great deal of study into Calvinism and Armenianism. In over simplification this could be defined as “it is all God’s grace” versus “man’s initiative is also a factor”. I asked him which one he embraced and he said “neither, there are important truths in both”. My purpose is not to “diss” The Shack but I do think we need to have objectivity, know the facts and not just accept truths based on a good story.

The Normal Christian Life

Continual Abiding

Reese Howells and Smith Wigglesworth both had testimonies of simply walking near someone and people sensing a holy presence of God and even being convicted of sin around them. What did they find in God? Was it a special place in God that is not available to all?

I believe a place of ever deeper abiding is the path God would call all of us to, even becoming the “Normal Christian Life”. It is not about being “God’s man” or more special or more loved. It is about a place of ever deeper surrender to the greatest love and fulfillment we were created to live in. I think many that found this place were often quite hidden and unknown. I feel that in this hour of ever increasing world turmoil the depths of God will be ever more available and it will not just be a select few finding this place.

Law and Sin

Rom.3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

What is sin and law? I believe at its core it is independence, self-life. Adam and Eve ate from the wrong tree to know good and evil so they could be as gods and judge for themselves what is right and wrong. They wanted to be in control and to live their own lives.

Romans 4:14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect.

The Jews thought they could be righteous by keeping law, being circumcised, keeping the Sabbath holy, not touching the leper, etc. It was an outward expression of what all of us actually do in one way or another.

The Pharisees just took it to an extreme which God uses as an example for our instruction. If we are not careful, we miss the point since our law practices are so much more subtle. When I am in independence, living my own life, in control, I am, in effect, trying to attain my own righteousness under law. Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight. There are only two alternatives – we are either in faith or in our own efforts.

Romans 3:21-22 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed… even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.

It is not just a one-time surrender at salvation; it is a daily yielding. We can start with prayer. Not praying is certainly a sign that I think I can handle my life all by myself. So keeping a prayer time is an act of faith. “God I believe you care for me and that left to myself I can do no good thing. So I come to You in prayer, to wait on You, submitting my time to you, believing that You hear me and that I am in Your presence. I come to express my love and rejoice in Your will in whatever it is You have for me.”

If my prayer time consists of God pouring out revelation, I rejoice. If it is a dry time and I feel nothing at all, I show my faithfulness and also rejoice. Knowing that God gives me what is best for me at any given time. I acknowledge that dry times are perfect for cleansing my heart to better seek God’s face and not just His hand.

These attitudes in prayer can then begin to carry over into my day. In that slow line at the grocery store or in traffic, “God I accept Your will and rejoice and give thanks in all things. You order my steps and work all things for good. I surrender what I want”. When I get frustrated, display irritation, get pushy, I have taken back control, no longer believing God will take care of me. This is the path of learning to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes. Even to submit when God asks me to bear the burdens of that difficult person I work with and win them through covering love or even surrender to go to the mission field!

Rm.4:3 Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him as righteousness. This is at the crux of everything. I am either believing God or in my own strength, independence, eating from the wrong tree. The deeper life is really quite simple, so simple we can easily miss it!