Revisiting the Theology of The Shack, by Paul Young
Mackenzie Allen Phillips's youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change his life forever.
In an age where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant, The Shack wrestles with the timeless question: Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?
My journey with the The Shack started many years ago when I listened to an audiobook and thought it was nonfiction. I remember enjoying it, but was super confused by black female God and Asian female Holy Spirit.
Then a pastor I used to respect called the book heresy. I specifically remember him mocking the black female God character, and while I wasn’t entirely sure what I thought about it, I remember thinking it was very kind of “God” to make himself not a man, because the main character Mack didn’t have a great relationship with God the “Father.”
Anyway, because I was confused by the book that didn’t present the God I was used to hearing about, I did what many of us do and went to a teacher who I respected to find out what he had to say about it. He mocked it as heresy, so I moved on and didn’t think about the book again until just this past weekend.
I watched the film version with a friend. It was pretty tense with an abusive father at the beginning and a child abducted and murdered in the middle. Then God (complete with Jesus and the Holy Spirit) showed up and the God character says to Mack, “You have no idea how much I love you.”
That started the waterworks, tears that didn’t end until the final scene of the movie.
I wonder now, why that pastor who I used to respect called it heresy. The story is fiction, based on one man’s experience and study of God.
Isn’t that what all theology is? Our understanding based on study and experience?
We study scholars and theologians from the past, who all base their understanding on study and experience. At least that was my experience in seminary, where I studied theology and culture and humanity.
But before I get into theology, I want to ask a question I don’t think was asked by the many people who called The Shack heresy.
Why did so many people flock to the book and find it refreshing and healing?
I think the answer has to do with something the character Jesus says, “Religion is a lot of work.”
why I cried whein watched the film twice, accompanied by the documentary:
· I cried because I want to be loved and I want to believe God is good, even when I’m surrounded by evidence to the contrary.
· I cried because I recently left a religious institution that taught false theology in word and deed, and that theology was used to bully and silence hurting, wounded people.
· I cried because even though a pastor I used to respect mocked black female Jesus, I still thought it was kind of God to not present as a father figure because God knew Mack would have a difficult reaction because of his relationship with his human father.
· I cried because I loved seeing the playful, joyful, laughing side of God, as God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus interacted with each other and Mack. I know God laughs, plays, and has a sense of humor. But we don’t talk about that much in church.
· I cried because I question the existence of evil and often ask God why he doesn’t intervene. While the film doesn’t specifically address why God didn’t intervene in the murder of a child and the abuse of another child, it does focus on the goodness of God. While God isn’t the author of evil, God is always moving to work good out of unspeakable tragedies.
· I cried because Mack asks God why he let someone get away with murder and God responds, “No one gets away with anything. There are always consequences.” This I know is true, as I watch one of my abusers suffer consequences over time. While he inflicted horrendous abuse on many people, it is nothing compared to the present twisted isolation he now lives in. As I’ve grown acquainted with my own sadness and pain, I’ve developed more compassion for a man who never addressed his sadness and pain, and now it eats him from the inside—like black, spreading tar. No one gets away with anything. Not even Mack, who had to confront his own judgment and propensity to play God, thinking he knew better than God. (Don’t we all).
· I cried because, while I’ve had a difficult time with God over the past few years—due to the trauma of Spiritual Abuse—for about two hours, I experienced a real fondness towards God. While I’m not anywhere near fully healed, I do miss God and wonder if God feels as fondly towards me as he claims in the movie.
Back to theology. So the pastor I used to respect, who called The Shack heresy, was Mark Driscoll, a person accused of bullying and abusive leadership, who stepped down from his church to start another church somewhere else. I was attracted to his teaching, unconsciously, because my own father was a bully and spiritually abusive and I, unconsciously, migrated towards something I was familiar with. While Mark Driscoll’s teaching did help me and he did have some good things to say (sometimes), I think—maybe—he didn’t really understand God’s love. In fact, I think it might have been offensive, so he found The Shack offensive.
I did what so many of us I do, I asked someone I respected to tell me what to think. I was told what I thought couldn’t be trusted. So I trusted someone else, and didn’t wonder why they were considered more trustworthy than me.
I’m so glad we can change our minds. I kind of hope God is as patient and as kind as he is presented in The Shack. While there are still some elements of the story that I disagree with, it is just a fictional story, based on one man’s study and experience.
Isn’t that what all theology is? An attempt at human beings to grow in knowledge of God?
Mark Driscoll might be right. Paul Young might be wrong.
All I know is, one of these men led me more towards arrogance in achievement of biblical accuracy and one of these men led me towards a deeper fondness for God.
I hope all theology does the latter.
Katherine Spearing MA, CTRC is the founder of Tears of Eden, a nonprofit supporting survivors of spiritual abuse and is a Certified Trauma Recovery Practitioner working primarily with clients who have survived cults, high-control environments, spiritual abuse, and sexual abuse. She also provides specialized trauma informed career coaching, as folks with trauma often need extra support for interviewing and networking.
Katherine is the author of a historical romantic comedy, Hartfords, a novel that challenges gender roles in a patriarchal society that will appeal to fans of Jane Austen. Her next book on Spiritual Abuse addresses the survivor’s recovery journey, coming in 2025.
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Photo by Glenn Haertlein on Unsplash