“The Shack,” being a work of fiction cannot claim to relate true events. It attempts however, to present a conversation about real things in a fictional setting. This is a fine premise to write a book upon, but read it with thoughtful discretion. I have not read “The Shack” entirely – I will not read a book riddled with falsehoods sold as enlightened spirituality. As for you dear reader, know this: I do not want you to be convinced because of my inflection and phrasing. If you are to be persuaded by clever speech alone, it would be misguided and impermanent (1 Corinthians 2:1-2). Instead, I want you to be convinced by something we should agree is inerrant and entirely true – the Holy Bible (2 Timothy 3:16). This being said, I will present an excerpt from “The Shack”, followed by scripture from the gospel of John, and then conclude with an argument and exposition.
The Shack
In this passage, Mack is conversing with the Holy Trinity. “The Shack” personifies the Trinity as Papa (Father), Jesus (Son), and Sarayu (Spirit). You can follow along on page 124.
“You know what I am talking about.” Mack was a little frustrated. “I am talking about who’s in charge. Don’t you have a chain of command?”…
“Mackenzie, we have no concept of final authority among us, only unity. We are in a circle relationship, not a chain of command or ‘great chain of being,’ as your ancestors termed it. What you’re seeing here is relationship without any overlay of power. We don’t need power over the other because we are always looking out for the best. Hierarchy would make no sense among us. Actually, this is your problem, not ours.”
“Really? How so?”
“Humans are so lost and damaged that to you it is almost incomprehensible that people could work or live together without someone being in charge.”…
“It’s one reason why experiencing true relationship is so difficult for you,” Jesus added. “Once you have a hierarchy you need rules to protect and administer it, and then you need law and the enforcement of the rules, and you end up with some kind of chain of command or a system of order that destroys relationship rather than promotes it. You rarely see or experience relationship apart from power. Hierarchy imposes laws and rules and you end up missing the wonder of relationship that we intended for you.”
The Bible
John 6:35-40 (Jesus speaking about the Father)
35Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
John 16:12-15 (Jesus speaking about the Spirit)
12"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Argument and Exposition
It is not possible to read the words out of Jesus’s mouth as recorded in the gospel of John and then read the words out of Jesus’s mouth as dictated by Young (author of “The Shack”), and then find them in agreement.
Submission to a higher power, a hierarchy, does not restrict us from experiencing a real relationship with God, the Holy Trinity. It enables us to boldly approach the throne of our gracious God because of the inner workings of the Holy Spirit and with Jesus as our High Priest.
14Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)
The Holy Spirit must submit to Jesus because Jesus must submit to the Father. We must submit to Jesus because He must submit to the Father! Colossians 1:15).
If I do not believe this message of submission; if I try and believe that Jesus must not submit to the Father, I have not believe Jesus’s message.
Why was Jesus radically different then what was expected of him? He came as a servant, not an earthly king. He spent his career on mission, not in a temple. He delivered a tough message, not one that is easily understood. His message: That Jesus is enough for anyone and everyone. Jesus is the only way to the Father, the only way to true life. We either accept Jesus and all that he says and does as the words and work of the Father, or we reject the Father himself. We will be held accountable to this.
Oh God, I pray that you would teach truth to your children. I pray that you would strengthen and protect all who love your name and seek refuge in you. I pray that you will renew my heart and mind to a state where I see you as my only good. Forgive my sins and deliver me from the sin that binds me. Break me free from submission to sin and give me the freedom to be bound to you. I submit to Jesus – Make me into a steadfast servant.
POST SCRIPT
I would like to address the last paragraph that I took from “The Shack” because it is a stark contradiction of God’s plan for His glory. Here the passage is again:
“It’s one reason why experiencing true relationship is so difficult for you,” Jesus added. “Once you have a hierarchy you need rules to protect and administer it, and then you need law and the enforcement of the rules, and you end up with some kind of chain of command or a system of order that destroys relationship rather than promotes it. You rarely see or experience relationship apart from power. Hierarchy imposes laws and rules and you end up missing the wonder of relationship that we intended for you.”
This is outright heresy, and Jesus would NEVER have said this. Let’s look at it claim-by-claim.
1. “Once you have a hierarchy you need rules to protect and administer it.”
God, as the supreme Creator, is the head of this hierarchy. Although He did create man in His image, He also established rules that would keep Him enthroned about all. We see this first in the 2nd chapter of Genesis when God establishes Adam as keeper of the Garden of Eden. Although Adam is given dominion of creation, God instructs him “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (vv. 16-17).
2. “Then you need law and the enforcement of the rules.”
God does not shy away from enforcing his law! He has given the law to establish Himself as supreme and also to guide us in our reverence for Him. This is a good thing. Once man had sinned, God remained faithful to His command. Check out God’s response:
22Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—" 23therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. (Genesis 3:22-23)
By enforcing His law, God remains the supreme power, to whom we are all accountable. It’s a good thing for God and it’s a good thing for us, because when left to our own devices, we will corrupt and pervert what is good.
3. “Hierarchy imposes laws and rules and you end up missing the wonder of relationship that we intended for you.”
To believe this claim one must also believe that there should be equality between man and God. This is a dangerous, unbiblical thing to believe. If we hope to share a relationship with the glorious, all-powerful God of creation, we must realize that any relationship with such a powerful God would be an act of immense love on His part. We simply to not merit God and God does not need us – There is no equality between man and God. The beauty of the relationship is that because of God’s unfathomable glory and power, He has chosen to display that glory and power through His love and pursuit of us.
God has used the full measure of the Trinity to reconcile us back to Him. The Father sent the Son, who did the work of the Father and became the necessary sacrifice for our sin. The Son, by extension of the Father, promised and sent the Spirit to dwell within everyone who loves the name of the Lord and believes. The Spirit’s submissive duty to the Father is to urge and guide believers in the pursuit of God, giving to them what the Son desires to give.
That’s it. That’s what I believe. And it is glorious.
