The Shack surprised me with its deep theology and poignant spirituality. It is easily one of the best – if not the best – books I’ve read this year.

Mack experiences a profound tragedy in his life that centers upon a shack. He receives a personal invitation from “Papa,” that is, God, to meet him in the Shack. He reluctantly takes God up on the offer. Though his efforts appear to initially go unrewarded, God eventually shows up.

The God of The Shack is not a generic God, but soundly Trinitarian. This allows the theology presented to be deeply relational, rooted in intratrinitarian love. As such, it provides some of the most profound reflections on God that I’ve come across in Christian fiction. Because the essence of God is love – the eternal relationship of Father, Son, and Spirit – God cannot act apart from love!

In God’s discussions with Mack concerning his tragedy, we are privy to profound reflections on suffering that do not offer a “final” answer, but do call Mack to trust God. This is as it should be. The “problem of evil” does not allow for a “rational” answer, precisely because evil is irrational. It makes no sense. It does not accord with the divine will, and thus, is a parasite on creation. God desires sons and daughters, brothers and sisters who will share the divine life. The great mystery is that the divine purpose is greater than removing suffering. Mack realizes this and is ashamed: “And all I wanted was a God who will just fix everything so no one gets hurt” (146).

Though chaos and evil are often great, they are not afforded the final say. That is a privilege only granted to God’s sovereign and loving purpose for humanity. Mack has a hard time believing in God’s love, but God responds: “It’s because you have such a small view of what it means to be human. You and this Creation are incredible, whether you understand that or not. You are wonderful beyond imagination. Just because you make horrendous and destructive choices does not mean you deserve less respect for what you inherently are – the pinnacle of my Creation and the center of my affection” (190).

The book provides a profound reflection on God’s desire to embrace us with the divine love expressed between Father, Son, and Spirit. God is “particularly fond” of each person and has a unique relationship with every individual. In spite of our questions, doubts, and difficulties, we – like Mack – are always where we should be, that is, “[i]n the very center of [God’s] love and [God’s] purpose” (111). God’s love is so great that any price is worth paying to bring humans home into the divine embrace!

I came away from the book with a great sense of God’s presence in my life. God wants me to trust in the reality of the divine presence in all situations. In areas where I cannot understand, God calls me to trust. I am uniquely created to experience a unique relationship with God. One of my favorite lines occurs when God challenges Mack: “Mack, do you realize that your imagination of the future, which is almost always dictated by fear of some kind, rarely, if ever, pictures me there with you?” (142) I find this true in my own life. Now I have a better sense of how important it is to see myself with God in the end – no matter what occurs along the way!

My one quibble with the book is that it has absolutely no ecclesiology. The church hardly figures in God’s plan. And yet, according to biblical theology, Jesus clearly came “to build his church.” Sure, we can argue about all the shortcomings of “organized religion,” but eventually we must wrestle with God’s desire to build a community of faith that reflects the intratrinitarian life. To me, this is at the heart of God’s community of love. We are called to reflect together the internal relationship of Father, Son, and Spirit. Certainly, this occurs in individual relationships with like-minded people, but it goes beyond this. In order to truly encounter and love the “other” we must learn to live with – and love – those who are unlike us.

In many ways, this book is a lot like Pilgrim’s Progress. In that classic, the emphasis is also on an individual personal journey to God. Though this is a good place to start in spiritual formation, it is not the goal. Unless our personal journey integrates with the corporate journey of God’s people, we cannot possibly reflect the intratrinitarian heart. If we remain only captivated by our own personal journey, we fall short of truly being embraced by God’s goal of creating a people intentional bonded together by the Spirit to carry out Jesus’ mission to the glory of God the Father. In other words, our theology remains too individualistic – and thus, captive to the spirit of the age rather than the Holy Spirit. This anemic quality seems to pervade many contemporary books on spirituality. In short, I would have preferred an emphasis on the corporate nature of the divine journey, but alas, it was not there.

This quibble aside, this book is a profound reflection on the nature of God, the struggle and significance of personal suffering, and the need for deep healing in the deepest parts of the soul. I recommend this to all people – believer and unbeliever alike! Like the best of spiritual writings, this book holds the potential to radically transform its reader.

Quotes excerpted from The Shack by William J. Young
© Richard J. Vincent, 2007