The Shack

I just finished reading The Shack by William P. Young. I decided to read the book on recommendation from my sister. When I looked it up on the web, I found out it has been somewhat controversial, which made me want to read it more. (As a teen, the preacher preached against the movie The Last Temptation of Christ--my brother and I went and saw it that afternoon.)

The book is good on many levels. First, it is a pretty good story. It makes you think about your relationship with God. I felt like it was pretty much in line with my "theological" views--which may offend some people. I think it is controversial because it makes a lot of people uncomfortable. It brings into question who God is and how He appears (or doesn't appear) to people. I believe that God can be many different things to many different people. You and I may have a different picture of who God is and that's okay. It doesn't matter what He looks like, just that we have a relationship with Him.

I also think it is good to ask questions as the search for answers can cause our faith to grow and expand. There are, however, many "theologians" out there that would like for us to believe that God is rigid and only the way they teach us that He is. That he couldn't possibly be different to different people. They'd like us to believe that Church is what is important. Perhaps we get so involved in the politics and workings of the church we actually forget the real purpose of the church.

I've rambled enough without giving away the book, I'd love to know what you think about it if you read it. I won't be offended if you have a different view than I do. Who knows, we might learn something from one another. We could at least have adult conversation about it.