The Love Shack

“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.