Starlightblog

If you haven’t read The Shack, you probably have a friend who has. It is currently one of the hottest books on the market. The novel, written by William P. Young and published by Windblown Media, has to date sold more than a million copies. It debuted on the New York Times bestseller list in early June and has stayed there ever since. No less a figure than theologian and author Eugene Peterson has given it high praise, saying, “This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his. It’s that good!”

The story line centres on the profound pain of Mack, whose young daughter, Missy, was stalked, abducted, and then murdered by a serial killer. As the story opens we are presented with a deeply wounded middle-aged man who endures each day with great sadness, deeply cynical that anything could ever help him. At the heart of his pain there is a deep reservoir of hostility and anger toward God, who has made him drink such a bitter cup.

The novel quickly morphs into an allegory. Mack receives a mysterious note that invites him to meet God in the very shack where his daughter was murdered. There Mack encounters a feisty African-American woman named Papa (God the Father), a smaller Asian-looking woman named Sarayu (God the Holy Spirit), and an unimposing Jewish man garbed in carpenter’s clothes (God the Son)! Yes, for an entire weekend Mack eats with, hikes with, converses with, works with, jokes with the Triune God of the Bible. Without spoiling the book for those who have not read it, Mack’s encounter with the “Trinity” brings deep healing, rest, and some answers to his disturbed soul.

The novel unfolds the person of God to the reader in unexpected, sometimes funny, and, on occasion, emotionally moving ways. I will not soon forget Mack’s first encounter with Papa. This rather large, energetic African-American woman launches herself at him, lifts him off his feet, and whirls him round and round in an exuberant embrace of pure love, shouting his name over and over. The key to the book is revealed when “Jesus” confides to Mack, “You were really stuck and we wanted to help you crawl out of your pain.” In fact, people tell me they found themselves reading this book with tears streaming down their face. It seems something extraordinary and perhaps transcendent has flowed from the author to his reader.

Lynn Garrett, senior religion editor for Publishers Weekly, notes, “People are not necessarily concerned with how orthodox the theology is. People are into the story and how the book strikes them emotionally.” I think Garrett is right on and this is deeply concerning.

Despite my appreciation for certain aspects of the novel I remain deeply troubled by much of the teaching that comes out in Mack’s conversations with the various persons of the Trinity. Does the God portrayed in The Shack speak with the same voice as the God of the Bible? Sadly, in many instances the answer to this question must be “No.” For example, Papa says, “When we three spoke ourself into human existence as the Son of God, we became fully human.” But Historic Christianity, based on the Bible, has never believed that the entire Godhead became incarnate. Only one person in the Trinity became fully human, the second person of the Godhead, the Son, who became our Lord Jesus. If the author can be so wrong on so basic a point, can he be trusted with the other words he puts into God’s mouth?

Again, Historic Christianity has always taught that God’s nature includes both love and justice, and that God one day will punish sin. But William Young’s God says, “I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment. . . . It’s not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it.” In fact, in various places Young implies that God will in the end reconcile everyone to himself, contradicting the biblical concept of final judgment and punishment.

In Christian circles, The Shack is causing considerable controversy. Though highly lauded by some, others such as Dr. Albert Mohler rightly insist it contains “undiluted heresy.” And this positive reception of the book by knowledgeable Christians is what is ultimately most disturbing: how can they praise such a work? And what does this say for the state of current Christian wisdom and thought?

“Hassan!” I called. “Come back with it!”He was already turning the street corner, his rubber boots kicking up snow. He stopped, turned. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “For you a thousand times over!” he said.

So opens the pivotal event in The Kite Runner, a book by Khaled Hosseini. The movie version was recently nominated for Best Foreign-Language Film of 2007. Amir and Hassan, inseparable; fiercely loyal friends have just won the annual kite-flying tournament in Kabul, Afghanistan in the winter of 1975, by cutting down all other kites in the air. Amir has just dispatched Hassan to retrieve as a trophy the last kite cut down. Hassan’s devotion will shortly be tested to its very limits. He is the best kite runner in the city. He finds the kite, but can he keep it for his friend?

This remarkable story is played out against the backdrop of events occurring in Afghanistan from shortly before the Russian invasion of 1979 up to and including the Taliban takeover. It is a poignant, bittersweet movie that in the context of Islamic life portrays undying friendship, love between father and son, and above all the themes of atonement and redemption. The foundation of the story is the friendship between Amir jan (the “jan” is always added when expressing affection) and his servant, Hassan. Amir is a rich boy of privilege and prestige while Hassan is poor and a descendent of the Hazerah people who are despised by the ruling classes in Afghanistan. Yet the boys, both motherless, raised in the same household, share a deep bond of friendship.

Three older toughs trail Hassan and demand the blue trophy kite. But, Hassan refuses to surrender his friends prize; for he loves Amir. Assef, their sociopathic leader agrees to let Hassan keep the kite, but he will exact a steep price. Brandishing brass knuckles, Assef then attacks and rapes Hassan as the boy is restrained by Assef’s accomplices.

Meanwhile Amir has come looking for Hassan. From behind a wall he witnesses the grave unfolding events. He has arrived in time; Assef has not yet thrown Hassan to the ground. Amir can intervene. But he makes no cry to save his friend. The reasons are complex and deep, but not as deep as his traitorous silence.

The Kite Runner has two recurring themes. First, there is the deep devotion that Hassan over and over again expresses to his friend Amir, captured in his memorable words as he runs off to bring home the trophy kite. In the face of such ardent devotion Amir’s betrayal is of the worst kind; and even in his new life in America he suffers remorse and inescapable guilt over the next two decades. The second theme in the story surfaces in an old friend’s cryptic challenge, “There is a way to be good again.” And the author in magnificent story-telling fashion weaves a tale of adventurous hope in which Amir seeks forgiveness, redemption and freedom from guilt by doing a good deed that he hopes will erase his evil past.

Psychology has taught us to disregard categories like sin and guilt. Given this framework of thinking it is surprising that this story of betrayal, consequent guilt and the quest “to be good again” should resonate with so many. Nevertheless the book is flying off the shelves. Perhaps the intellectual “faith” offered by psychology is not able to meet the real needs of people when they experience their dark moments of life. Indeed, any intellectual “faith” that rejects moral categories will always fail in the nitty-gritty of real life. Fails us utterly when we sting ourselves, and others by stealing, lying, lusting, betraying, and on…and on…and on….

And so the question of how to find “goodness” again is perennial among us. We do wrong… we commit evil…we find ourselves consumed with guilt and remorse…we ask over and over, “How can I be good again”? The Kite Runner portrays one way of attempting atonement – as old as the hills-that of doing good deeds that will cover our past wrongs. But, there is a totally different way to understand atonement. Yet another ancient way reveals that we receive forgiveness, and “goodness” from Another, as gift.

Ironically this second way might be portrayed in Hassan’s magnificent words of devotion to his friend. What if Amir had been able to hear in his native language these words from the One once nailed to a cross,

“Amir jan, for you… covering your betrayals, blotting out your lies, washing away your shame… for you, Amir jan a thousand times over…there IS a way to be good again”.

Who would have imagined we would see atheists outing fellow atheists
for the supposed good of the country? Well that is the thinking
behind the new Richard Dawkins, “OUT Campaign.” Dawkins, one of
the foremost atheists of our day and author of the best-selling The
God Delusion recently published a provocative piece on his website.
In The Out Campaign he challenges atheists everywhere to throw off
passivity and move into assertive mode.

Dawkins is convinced that the religiosity of America is greatly
exaggerated and that great numbers of unbelieving skeptics are out
there who must be found and then empowered to speak their unbelief.
He believes that the unbelieving, “choir is large, but much of it
remains in the closet.” He is convinced that atheists, “are
mouthing the words sotto voce with head bowed and eyes lowered.”

The campaign encourages coming out by publicly confessing unbelief;
reaching out to others who are contemplating such action; speaking
out by organizing conferences, writing letters, lobbying politicians
etc.; standing out by organizing or joining atheist associations,
deploying bumper stickers on your car, and even wearing T-shirts with
an atheistic message. The crusade even pushes breaking out where one
might celebrate the “coming out” of many and honor their courage
in breaking habits of a lifetime, breaking with tradition, and
breaking with religious conformity.

Richard Dawkins is nobody’s fool. He knows that social movements
(including religions) from time immemorial have become hugely
successful by employing precisely the type of strategies he is
suggesting. He is surely aware that in the late 1790’s infidel clubs
abounded in cities across America to such an extent that some thought
the national existence was in danger. To be sure, he doesn’t like
the idea that the community he seeks to build will be described as a
quasi-religious movement, but he is willing to take the flak for the
sake of having impact on society.

I doubt that in the short term there is anything to fear from
organized atheism. But there is certainly something here for
Christians to learn. Dawkins, in brief, wants to out atheists from
their closets, have them live open, confessionally unbelieving lives,
and get them actively pushing their values on the culture at large.
We’ve already seen homosexuals come out of the closet and push a sea
change on Canadian society by their demands for same-sex
‘marriage’, etc. Occultic beliefs exploded out of the closet in
the hippie movement of the ‘70s, and in the ‘90s the whole New Age
panoply of falsehoods erupted from its hiding place and won over a
goodly portion of our culture. Wiccans are no longer closeted, indeed
it has become chic for some women to openly proclaim that they are
witches.

It’s ironic, is it not, that now the only people left in secretive
closets are Christians? Ironic because unbelievers like Dawkins are
now openly aping what Christians have always been called to do. Jesus
described his followers as “the light of the world”, and compared
them to a city set on a hill that could not be hidden. He gave the
clear mandate, “Let your light so shine before men in such a way
that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in
heaven.” Jesus never intended that his followers would be secreted,
secluded and silent.

I would just love to see this wake up call for atheists become
instead a wake up call for Christians. But should believers ever
stoop to learn from the infidels? Well in this case the atheists have
simply stolen biblical truth and applied it to their own purposes.
Those in disbelief have become wiser than the children of light. But
it’s long past time for children of light to heed the simple call of
Jesus.

I call for believers in Jesus Christ to unashamedly out themselves
before friends, neighbors and, yes even enemies. I call for
Christians to pro actively stand out by taking open stands on issues
like abortion, and homosexuality. I call for Christians to speak out
by voicing their outrage with immoral sexual teaching infiltrating
the curriculum in our public schools.

Yes, it’s time we learned. Who would have thought that outed,
committed infidels would be the teachers?

On Monday, April 16, 2007 hundreds of students and faculty at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia were going about their usual duties. For reasons that remain obscure to this day, young Seung-Hui Cho, armed with two pistols, embarked on a killing rampage of fellow students and faculty that would leave 32 people dead, some 25 others badly wounded and the killer himself dead by self-inflicted gunshot. It was the worst mass killing of its kind in the history of the United States. 

The massacre, horrible though it was, instructs all those who reflect on it: life is fragile and uncertain. None of the victims knew that Monday, April 16, 2007 would be their last day alive. They went about their affairs confidently, perhaps even serenely, thinking they had many more years to live. Yet 32 were cut down, most of them in the full bloom of youth. The Grim Reaper neither waits, consults nor bargains. John Donne wrote, “Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.” God reminds us in his word, “All men are like the wild grass, and all their glory is like its flower. The grass dies, and its flower falls off, but the word of the lord remains forever” (I Peter 1:24).  

It seems to me that the person who most comforted and rallied the mourners was a diminutive Black Studies professor, Nikki Giovanni. Right at the end of a memorial service held the next day, Giovanni stood and read her poem, “We Are Virginia Tech.” The last few lines read: “We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness. We are the Hokies. We will prevail. We will prevail. We will prevail. We are Virginia Tech.”  With tears running freely and unashamedly, the auditorium exploded with shouts of  “Let’s Go Hokies” while Giovanni pumped her fists to the skies.

It was, for many, an electric moment encouraging the hearts of thousands. And I give credit to Giovanni for seeking to impart such courage. But for me, it was a moment of profound sadness. For these words, noble as they were, did not address the immediate enemy named Death.  

For the tragedy of these numerous deaths is a harsh reminder that death may come suddenly…unexpectedly…brutally, sweeping away unprepared people. But can we prepare? Is there anyone we can look to? Is there someone who has actually met Death and prevailed over him?  

 Yes, there is One who faced the Reaper and put him to shame. The God-man, Jesus Christ, took the full sting of death, died and was buried. But three days later he rose from the grave, defeating once and for all the power of death. Then Jesus ascended to God’s right hand where He now rules as Lord over all. 

 Through his word and his messengers, Jesus the ruling King, calls people everywhere to turn from sin and trust in Him. He calls us to abandon our various idols and become his followers. Yes, Death spoke eloquently at Virginia Tech, taunting us that life is uncertain and fragile.  But, 2000 years ago a King died, and in the dying rebuked an ancient foe. 

Let the ancient enemy do his worst.His sting is powerless.  King Jesus has routed him.  And all people linked to this King,who trust in Him, who turn from sin,shall prevail. They shall prevail!

They shall rise­ from Death to life never-ending.