In 2005, William P. Young wrote a fictional account to portray a conversation between a man and the Trinity in hopes to make sense of suffering in the world. Young never meant for the work to be published. He simply printed copies to give to his children for Christmas. As it turns out, the book got printed by a small publishing company, went through many prints, was picked up by a large publishing company, and is now on the USA Today bestseller list! I am referring to the growing popular work The Shack.
I was totally unaware of this grassroots explosion until a friend at church recommended that I read it. After that encounter, I witnessed a man giving a copy of it to a woman at the local YMCA. Those two experiences convinced me that this book is sweeping the nation under the radar.
While there are many evangelical voices like Eugene Peterson and Michael W. Smith praising The Shack, its content is visibly unbiblical. Even though it is fiction, it presents doctrine through conversation. The problem is that the doctrines of salvation and of the Trinity that The Shack presents are clearly contrary to the Scripture's presentation of these truths. This, of course, then presents a crisis for our understanding of revelation. Is God's inspired, self-revelation of Scripture sufficient or do we need "extra" revelation? The way you answer that question will result in two extremely different views of doctrine. And what you believe about certain doctrines, my friends, like God, man, sin, and salvation carry eternal consequences!
Having said all of that, I highly recommend to you the 17 page review of The Shack by Tim Challies. The review is very thorough and specific. Challies uses direct quotes to reveal The Shack's biblical inconsistencies. Due to the popularity of this work and its danger to true biblical understanding, I strongly encourage every minister to check out this review.
(In no way am I condemning the author of The Shack. I believe Mr. Young may be sincere and have the best intentions in mind and heart. However, I also believe he is sadly misled, and as a result of having his work published, has misled a multitude of others as well.)
Remember the words of exhortation directed to the leaders of the church from Paul in Ephesians 4:11-15, "And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body in Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ." ESV (emphasis added)
Brothers and sisters, let us be diligent to know the Word of God, love the Word of God, and gently correct and guide our fellow members of the Body with the Word of God! Let the tossing to and fro be gone!
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