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Exploring, “The Shack”-5- Meeting God
By Dan | September 4, 2008
So how do you think you’ll greet God? That’s one of the questions asked in this chapter of The Shack. There are a number of interesting points in this chapter, but this is the question that presses the hardest.
Mack is walking up the shack and he’s trying to figure out what a person should do or say as one expects to meet God. Do you fall down on your knees? Do you shake hands? Do you use a lofty term of respect or should you be less formal?
Mack doesn’t have the chance to decide as the door flies open and Papa/God pulls him on in. God chooses to reveal himself to Mack in the persona of a large African American woman who we’ll hear more of in chapters to come.
But what do you think of this initial contact. It makes me think a little of the song by MercyMe, “I Can Only Imagine.” (Check out the song here or the lyrics here). In some ways I’m not sure I do know how I’d react. In other ways, I do get a sense from Scripture that the person I am today would be overwhelmed. God is big. He’s holy. He’s awe inspiring and those words don’t scratch the surface. I think of Moses only daring to see the back of God or Isaiah awed by his vision. That’s the direction I’d tend to go. This is the direction that fully recognizes the transcendence and righteousness of God.
At the same time, what I sense Young is trying to do here is say that God can choose to reveal himself in that nearer, fatherly/motherly presence as well. If God were to sense you needed him to be more approachable, he could do that as well.
There’s truth to that as well. The question is- would God choose to reveal himself this way? He does reveal himself in a close and approachable way in the person of Jesus Christ. The father, however, is a distinct member of the Trinity. There is some danger that we start to blur their persons and the way they work in describing the Father in a similar manner. There is some danger that we start to lose the transcendent as we look for the imminent here.
It’s a difficult tension into which Young is walking, trying to describe the Trinity in the form of narrative. I appreciate his efforts and I like some of the truth he’s communicating though I might disagree with other parts.
So let’s hear your thoughts. How do you think you’d feel approaching God? What do you think of this first encounter for Mack? Any other thoughts on this chapter, maybe relating to his emotions, his anger at God, etc.
Topics: Exploring The Shack |
September 4th, 2008 at 11:49 am
I find it delightfully ironic that the difficulty with which Young is trying to describe the Trinity is a perfectly clear illustration of how indescribable our mighty God is!
I’ll admit that I haven’t read the book, but you should know that some things haven’t changed since high school, Dan. Good topic to get my mind going this morning!