Reflections on THE SHACK and Relationship

I believe faith is primarily about relationship. We try to make it mostly about adhering to certain doctrine, following certain rules, or abiding by certain behavior. All those things matter, but they are not central. Relationship with Jesus and with others through Jesus matters.

I'm halfway through one of the most impacting books I've ever read - The Shack by William Young. It's a story about a man named Mack who encounters/confronts God after the horrific abduction and murder of his youngest daughter. Here's an exchange in that encounter. (Mack experiences God as "Papa," Jesus as a blue jean and work shirt clad carpenter, and the Holy Spirit as an Asian woman called "Sarayu.")

Sarayu continued, "When you choose independence over relationship, you become a danger to one another. Others become objects to be manipulated or managed for your own happiness. Authority, as you usually think of it, is merely the excuse the strong use to make others conform to what they want."

"Isn't it helpful in keeping people from fighting endlessly or getting hurt?" (Mack asked.)

"Sometimes. But in a selfish world it is also used to inflict great harm."

"But don't you use it to restrain evil?"

"We carefully respect your choices, so we work within your systems evil while we seek to free you from them," Papa continued. "Creation has been taken down a very different path than we desired. In your world the value of the individual is constantly weighed against the survival of the system, whether political, economic, social, or religious - any system actually. First one person, and then a few, and finally even many are easily sacrificed for the good and ongoing existence of that system. In one form or another this lies behind every struggle for power, every prejudice, every war, and every abuse of relationship. The 'will to power and independence' has become so ubiquitous that it is now considered normal."

"It's not?"

"It is the human paradigm," added Papa, having returned with more food. "It is like water to fish, so prevalent that it goes unseen and unquestioned. It is the matrix; a diabolical scheme in which you are hopelessly trapped even when completely unaware of its existence."

(The Shack by William Young. Windblown Media, Los Angeles. 2007. Pages 123-124.)

Strong image. What do you think? An unrealistic assessment of things, or prophetic words? Let's see what the next bend of the river brings.