Book #13 The Shack


There was a lot of hooplah surrounding this book. Quite a few of my friends said how much they loved The Shack by William Young, and they encouraged me to read it. They said it changed the way they viewed God. Really? I better check it out.

It is the story of a father (Mack) whose young daughter is brutally murdered while the family is on a camping trip. A serial killer known as the “Ladykiller” kidnaps her from the campsite, drives her to an abandoned shack, kills her and disposes of her body in an abandoned cave. Mack enters “The Great Sadness”, a depression and mourning period lasting several years, during which he struggles through his anger with God. One day Mack receives a mysterious note in his mailbox inviting him to meet God at the shack where his horrible nightmare began. What he experiences there is a beautiful picture of God’s character and perfect love for His beloved children. He guides Mack from a place of brokenness and anger to a place of healing and forgiveness.

The story itself is beautifully written. The picture it paints of the relationship between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is remarkable. It gives a lovely description of how God works in us, using His love and grace to weave humankind together. It spoke alot of God’s not needing rules because all He needs is communion with us. Sounds good, right?

The problem is, it never mentioned the Bible. I find it hard to fill 248 pages about the nature and character of God, and never once mention the truth of His Word. The book of John calls Jesus The Word. If God’s Word is such a part of Him that He cannot be separated from it, how can you leave it out of the story? Jesus tells us that we show our love for Him by our obedience to His Word. How can we respond to the love He shows us, except that we invoke His word. And if it is such an integral part of our response to His love, how can it be not valued as such.

I guess I just felt like there is far more to the story than what was written.

Comments

  1. Hey Ashley!
    I tried to read this book…I got half-way through and didn't finish.
    Something just felt "off" for me. I would like to think that I'm not so narrow-minded as to not be open to someone else's interpretation of God…but, it really kind of bothered me. IDK.
    Because I didn't finish it, I probably shouldn't even say anything…

    Oh, and the book I mentioned to you when we met that is based in Fairhope, is Cassandra King's Queen of Broken Hearts. It's been so long since I read it…but, I think I recall liking it (i finished it, which must say something ;))

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