The Shack Book Review (Read It!)

The single most ridiculous thing I’ve heard about “The Shack” so far, is that a pastor of a Christian church has warned his club members against reading it.

After you read “The Shack,” by Wm. Paul Young, this will possibly appall you.

My experience with the judgment of church leaders is that they have exchanged the indwelling of God for the capitalistic intent of remaining in business, and for this God has a special sort of judgment I’m sure. But it belongs to Him and will be accomplished by Love.

I entered into this story with a life experience very like Mack. In my story I failed to save my child from an evil suffered at the hands of a criminal, which left her alive, but permanently damaged. This experience put me more completely in Mack’s seat than some others might be in reading this fictional truth. When this sort of pain comes in, your relationship with God must change. “The Shack” illustrates how that occurs truthfully.
By the measure of truth, then, this story is as true as any story by Hannah Hurnard, George MacDonald or C.S. Lewis.

“The Shack” seeks to demonstrate the indwelling nature of all relationship with God, and God’s personal relationship with all His creation. This is probably the sticking point for believers and unbelievers alike, not because it doesn’t feel true, but because it requires us to accede our independence and repent our self-faith apart from Him.

Because of original sin, we experience ourselves as alone. However, even that knowledge of separateness cannot exist without some “other” from whom we find ourselves separated.
We think this must be overcome by better faith in the unseen, however, the indwelling of God to his creation is actually born out in our physical world in more than a myriad ways which we accept as “normal”: The indwelling of man to woman, the indwelling of sperm to egg, the indwelling of child to mother, the indwelling of food to body to provide energy, the indwelling of seed to earth, the indwelling of oxygen to lung, the indwelling of molecule to cell, cell to system, system to organ. You might call this indwelling the most amazing fractal.

Perhaps we don’t see simply because we are too close to these physical laws to recognize the miracle of them.
I’ve heard people say that this book is not for new believers. I say, let God be the judge of that. When I was a babe, still God sent me personal messages of His personal nature, which drew me fearfully, but always more deeply into His loving arms. The God of all creation is not limited in His love for each created being. There is no secret prayer, sign, club, level or path you must know for Him to meet you in the midst of your mess and speak words for your ears alone.

"I am especially fond of you!"