I have not posted a blog for a couple weeks. There are reasons and at the risk of being called a whiner, I think they were valid. One reason was because my hard drive was on its last leg and actually was dying as the files were being transferred to my new drive. The second reason was the biggie – I had a fight with a wood splitter (with 26 tons of pressure) and lost. I also lost the end of my little finger. There was no pain, but it is a bother. And if you are wondering if I have learned why God allowed it, I don’t know. I am sure things like this happen for a reason, but as of yet, God hasn’t revealed it. And because it happened to the pinky (now known as stubby) of my left hand, and I am left-handed, it has really hampered things. It will probably take a couple more weeks for things to get back to normal.
Now, let’s get to the issue I would like to discuss. As always, your feedback is welcome.
When I mentioned that I wanted to talk about God’s authority, especially as it relates to what is authority in The Shack, it may have caused some of you to pick up a copy and read it. It is quite popular in some circles, and I am not here to judge anyone who thinks the book is the best thing since sliced bread. However we need to compare it to and judge it in the light of God’s Word. The Shack has much to say about authority and how God is not really big on authority, in fact disapproves of authority in most cases. Well, this flies in the face of my Bible. The more I read the Bible, the more I am convinced that God is a God of authority. It is in His nature, and He is the final authority in the universe. Since the creation of man God has let it be known that He sets the rules and that there are consequences if you break them. Adam was told of one fruit that was forbidden and that He would die if He disobeyed. So he ate and the sentence was passed. The initial death, separation from God, happened then. Of course we are all familiar with physical death, which passed to us all as part of the judgment, and more importantly it passed to us because we all have sinned.
There have been other times that God also gave rules and consequences for those who rebel against His authority. We have the 10 Commandments, our schoolmaster showing us that we have indeed fallen short of God’s expectations of us. The penalty of rebelling against God is separation from God forever in Hell. Then God gave many rules to the Israelites which those of us who are Gentiles were never subject to. And finally God has given two commandments that we all should heed. The Great Commandment: Love the Lord your God with all you have. The second commandment: love your neighbor as yourself.
All of this God sees as of paramount importance. Without the rule of law, respect for the lawgiver breaks down. God could never govern his creation without law and judgment for disobedience. And because He knows the necessity of this, He has also instituted governments that are the civil authority, He has instituted in marriage that the man is to be the final authority, and children are to be subject to their parents, God has placed pastors over us as spiritual authority figures, and God has given us bosses in the workplace. All this is good because God knows us intimately and knows that if we had no leadership there would be anarchy and misery.
In The Shack we are told God is much more interested in relationship building than in authority. Hey, I am all for relationship building, but the author William Young is just plain wrong. And many people believe that what ‘God’ says in this book has equal credibility with the inspired Word of God.
Although there are some good things to be said about The Shack, overall it has a lot of problems. I have written a brief critique for those who have read the book. Because there are pages referenced and written with the idea that you have read The Shack, it wouldn't make as much sense for those who haven’t read the book. I will be glad to email the critique to anyone who wants one. Just request it in the ‘comments’ section or email me at harold@graceplastics.com
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