The Shack on God and Evil

Once again the centeral message of the Shack is an attempt to reconcile God's love and power with the existance of evil. This is no small task. It's a question that has plauged the faithful and philopsophers alike since at least the time of Job. So how does the Shack ease the tension?

Before I answer that quesiton let's look at possible solutions related to the existance of a loving, all-powerful God who allows evil and suffering. Since the tension exists in relation to these three beliefs a solution appears to reside in the modification of one or more of them. Thus one way of easing the tension is to tinker with God's power, a second would be to modifty the meaning of God's love and the third and final option would be to modifty the meaning of evil.

So where does the Shack stand? As I said in my last post, the Shack does not deny the existance of Evil. In fact it's the Shack's graphic depiction of true pain which makes this book so compelling. Mack, the main charachter of the book, is given every reason in the world to believe in a God who is either less than loving or less than powerful. So which does the Shack choose? Does William Young, the author the book, modify our understanding of God's power or does his modify our understanding of God's love?

If you 've read the book I'm sure you can tell.

I think the answer can be found in Mack's dinner conversation with the Trinity. During dinner one member of the Trinty (Papa, Jesus, or Sarayu) ask Mack about his family. At first Mack complies as if the the question was raised by just any friend. But half way through his description he realizes that God should already know.

"Now here I am telling you about my kids and my friends and about Nan, but you already know everything that I am telling you, don't you? You're acting like it's the first time you heard it."

Sarayu reached across the table and took his hand. "Mackenzie, remember our conversation earlier about limitations... Remember that choosing to stay on the ground is a choice to facilitate a relationship; to honor it. Mackenzie, you do this yourself. You don't play a game or color a picture with a child to show your superiority. Rather, you choose to limit yourself so as to facilitate and honor that relationship. You even lose a competetion to accomplish love. It is not about winning and losing, but about love and respect."

"So when I am telling you about my children?"

"We have limited ourselves out of respect for you. We are not bringing to mind, as it were, our knowledge of your children. As we are listening to you, it is as if this is the first time we have known about them, and we take great delight in seeing them through your eyes."

Although this conversation revolves around the issues of why we need to pray, It's clear in this scene that William Young believes that God willingly surrenders his power in order to fully express his love. The Shack dosn't teach that God is powerless to deal with evil rather it teaches that God has willingly surrendered this power in order to enter into a relationship with us.

There's much that's compelling about this solution.

First, it's has biblical support. The heart of the Christian message is that God gave sacraficially, willingly surrendering His power, His Son and His life for the world.

Secondly, it gives us what we most desire. Our need to know God's love is so deep that we're willing to sacrafice almost anything to experience it. And certainly after reading the Shack you feel God's love more.

Third, it explains not only our present situation but gives us a compeling reason why we should pray to a God who already knows our needs.

There is a flip side to these blessing however.

For instance, there are other passages in scripture which firmly establish the power and might of our God. And even the Bible's teaching about Jesus willingly surrendering Himself does not seem to teach that God always does so. God's giving seems limited to the gift of His Son, who by the way is no longer hanging upon a cross, but is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Secondly I must ask, in our rush to modify God's power for his love have we abandoned the God we truly desire to be loved by? The very reason we want to know God's love is precisely because He is the all-powerful God of the universe. When we diminish His power we also diminish Him.

Finally, I must ask is a God who is not willing or able to answer my prayers, a God truly worth praying to. In the scriptures God tells us to pray and expect to receive that which we pray for. But the God of the Shack, diminished in his capacity to perform, seems only content with hearing and not meeting our needs.

The problem of evil is a very difficult issue to address. The Shack has offered a great portrait of the love that God has for us. However in reading it, we must recognize that it is only half of the solution. The Shack has presented us a very clear picture, but it's as if we are only looking at God with one eye. He is the same no matter what we beleive about him but I would rather see all of Him rather than only a part.

What do you think? Is there something I'm missing?