Faulty Weights and Measures

Proverbs 20:9-10

“Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?”
“Diverse weights and diverse measures, they are both alike, an abomination to the Lord.”

FAULTY WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

The book of Proverbs can be puzzling. Sometimes there appears to be no logical pattern in their progression, glorious variety prevailing from verse to verse. Like precious gems poured down from heaven’s treasury, each Proverb is attractive on its own, though not clearly tied together. But maybe like the secret slender string that holds together the necklace of pearls, the connections exist in more subtle and less obvious ways. A golden thread woven by the Holy Spirit tying more of the smooth stones together than what first meets the eye. The two Proverbs above may be such a pair. I find it intriguing that a verse that speaks of man’s delusions of innocence (“I am pure from my sin”) is immediately followed by man’s inclination to false weights and measures (“Diverse weights and diverse measures”). It is as though the Holy Spirit was pointing out the fatal folly of fallen man who measures his own soul by a ruined ruler of his own depraved devising. Mankind, desperate to measure up, but finding God’s standard of holiness too straight, has invented novel appraisals by which to weigh his worth. “Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts (Proverbs 21:2).”

I should like to consider what are some of these false weights and measures by which man flatters himself that his “heart is clean” and he is “pure from my sin.”


1) Men weigh and measure themselves by comparing themselves to worse men or even the worst of men. We think we are pure enough, so long as someone filthier can be found. We judge ourselves by the standard of the worst and vainly believe that numbers us among the best. As long as a greater sinner can be summoned, we surmise that we are safe. As long as there is some heinous crime we have not committed, we conjecture our case is not so corrupt. Like the hypocrite who stands in the temple and prays “Lord I thank You I am not as THAT sinner…” so we vainly assume that God accounts us pure so long there is someone viler to be found.

But oh my soul this is a false weight and false measure! The Lord God does not measure our souls by the worst, but by the best. He does weigh us not by the lightest standard of holiness, but by the heaviest. “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” It is not the flawed nature of fallen man that the Lord has fixed as His measure, but the perfect holiness and obedience of His Son to which all men shall be compared. Oh what shall come of you one day, dear reader, when you must stand before a holy Judge and be lined up with His standard of goodness, purity and truth? If left to stand on the scales alone, we shall all be without hope. We shall be “weighed in the balances and found wanting (Dan. 5:27).”

2) Men weigh and measure themselves by comparing their good works to their evil works and think the balance is in favor of the good. This is because we ascribe much weight to our good deeds and very little weight to our wicked deeds. We assume one small good deed, though done rarely, is of great weight in God’s scale, but our wicked thoughts, our daily neglect of His law, our ignorance of His Word, our absence from His house, our prayerless life, our misuse of His name, our dishonoring of His day, our silence concerning His salvation…all these we imagine are but small things and of little weight. We think one small coin thrown into the coffer of mercy weighs more than our infinite sins which are piled higher than the sun and weigh more than all the water of the seas. We think our good works are so heavy, but “if they are weighed in the scales, they are altogether lighter than vapor (Psalm 62:9).” All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

Oh what delusions we embrace! We think our attendance at one religious service shall tip the scales in our favor though most of our days are spent without the slightest thoughts of God! We think that one donation to a worthy cause shall erase a whole life devoted to our own pleasures and plans. What rule is this? It is the diverse measures employed by our sinful hearts to justify our souls…and they are an “abomination to the Lord.” Oh how many souls blindly march toward eternity, confident that this false measure will fair them well in heaven’s court! Oh sinful surveyor that thinks his crooked life will pass as straight when measured by the plumb line of the Lord (Amos 7:8)!


3) Men weigh and measure themselves by ascribing much importance to any religious sentiments, expressions, beliefs or activities. Maybe it’s a Bible in the bureau that strikes within your soul certain spiritual sentiments. Maybe it’s the years of service in some Sunday school, your pleasant prayers of past or present, your rigorous respect for religious icons on relics, or your delicate discussions of diverse doctrines. All these you ascribe great weight unto, and by this diverse measure you expect the Lord will surely acknowledge and accept your ways. We imagine the Lord will measure us by our religious exercises rather than by a renewed heart.
Oh that men would perceive how inadequate such a standard is before the eyes of a heart-searching God! “Rend your hearts and not your garments” (Joel 2:12) is His command. The Lord looks not for the tongues of angels but a heart of grace born love (I Cor. 13:1). Man looks on the outside, but God looks on the inside. How many shall claim diligence in the outward forms of religion who shall one day hear from Christ “I never knew you (Matt. 7:23)?” Tears and hopes and prayers in you will never save, but “Christ in you” is the only hope of glory (Col. 1:27). Oh treacherous tools by which we exaggerate the security of our souls, utterly unmindful that the Judge of all the earth employs a more exacting measure than we imagine.

4) Men weigh and measure themselves by comparing their own failures to the greatest failures of holy men. How many have lulled their souls to sleep by simply remembering and focusing upon the failures of otherwise godly men? We think to ourselves “Noah was drunk, and he was saved. David a murderer and an adulterer and he was saved. Abraham a polygamist and a liar and he was saved. Sarah a doubter and she was saved. Jacob a deceiver and he was saved. Moses was angry and he was saved. Peter a coward and denier and he was saved."
“Ah”, we flatter ourselves; “surely we are not as bad as them!” If they made it to heaven then so shall we. Oh malicious measuring that focuses only upon their faults and not upon their faith. Yes, they had great and grievous sins, but they also had a grand and glorious Savior! They have in Christ provision for their transgressions, though many. But you have in yourself no such provision, even though your sins be few. Faith in Christ can make the foulest clean, but unbelief will never cover even the tiniest transgression, the smallest sin, the most miniscule misdeed. Do not comfort yourself because saved men have sinned, but only comfort yourself in the Savior of these great sinners, Jesus Christ. “O wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25).”

5) Men weigh and measure themselves by the perceived difficulty of their circumstances as compared to others. Thus they declare themselves clean and pure for they have only done what their circumstances demanded. Men say to themselves that they only have done what others would have done under similar straights and situations. They excuse their lack of spiritual activities by the busyness of their lives and the demands on their time. They have no time for the Bible because they are engaged in so many toilsome tasks. They pray little to their heavenly Father, because they were crippled by the deficiencies of an earthly father. They steal, but only because their own means were so slim. They curse, but only because their life is hard. They lie, but only because the truth is more than some could bear. They ignore Sundays because they couldn’t improve their Saturday. They dishonor parents because of hardships as a child. So it was in our Lord’s parable of the Great Supper, “they all with one accord began to make excuses (Luke 14:18).” Men think that God will overlook their faults because faith and obedience is harder for them than others.
Oh wretched weights and measures men employ! We think somehow God’s holy standard shall sink in the shifting sand of our circumstances. Sin is sin, no matter how painful our present position and however hard our hand. James says clearly “Therefore to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17).” No excuses will lighten the demands of God’s law upon your soul.

Dear reader, are your hopes and dreams of heaven founded upon any of these faulty foundations? There are many more that we could name, for every man seems to carve his own ruler by which to measure him. Do you think that you are pure and your heart is clean from sin? Let this truth ring loudly in your ears: only the Lord can do this. Only God can cleanse a filthy heart. The Psalmist knew this well, and prayed “Create in me a clean heart, O God. (Psalm 51:10)” And this God does only by the blood of Christ. “And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)” Have you faith in the Son of God? Then, and only then, shall we know the full joy of forgiveness; the pleasure of a pure heart the wonder of redeeming love. Do not trust in your scales of self-righteousness. The only weight and measure that will avail on the day of Judgment is the weight of Christ’s righteousness applied to you, and the measure of His blood to wipe away your sin. Oh reader, trust in Him alone!

"But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise....But he who glories let him glory in the Lord. For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends (2 Corinthians 10:12, 17-18)."

What God Cannot Endure

“And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel”
Judges 10:16b

O my soul. True words are like windows…they help us see. Like paint and brushes in the hands of a skillful artist, good words create pictures in our minds; they focus our thoughts, and enlighten our understanding. “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver (Proverbs 25:11).” In the text above, the Holy Spirit has crafted a window of words through which the spiritual reader may catch a glimpse of the very soul of God. Take heed however. The clearest glass avails nothing for those that are blind. How many hold the Bible with open hands but veiled hearts? “The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:14).”

We see here, dear reader, a glimpse of the God who appoints sufferings to humble His people. According to our inspired text, the Lord “could no longer endure.” Thus, we see, there was this period of persevering which the Lord had prepared. There was a chapter of chastisement that needed to be written upon the hearts of His rebellious children. “He sold them into the hands of the Philistines… (Judges 10:7)” He who appointed this discipline also had to endure it. O my soul, am I mindful of this manner of my Makers plan? Do I improve my sufferings rightly by allowing them to humble me for my sin? Though not every trial is the consequence of my personal transgression, nevertheless every pain should cause me to ponder what the just punishment of every sin is. Some seem to foolishly say that sufferings and misery are no part of God’s plan. In trying to protect God’s holiness, they assault His sovereignty. “If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it? (Amos 3:6)” Let God be true, and every man a liar. Though God is not the author of sin, He is the Sovereign Appointer of suffering. Dear reader, what is that suffering or affliction with which you are burdened today? I tell you the truth, it comes from the hands of a wise God whose thoughts are not our thoughts, and whose ways are not our ways. Trials, troubles and tears are tools of the Almighty by which He plows the soil of our souls for the planting of the seeds of grace. Our thorns in the flesh are appointed to focus our thoughts on the fragrant rose of His glory.

But these words also display the infinite compassion of a Redeeming God toward His repentant children. “So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel. (Judges 10:16)” Do these words shock you? God is omnipotent. All power belongs to Him. If all the weight of all the worlds were resting in His hand, it would be lighter than a feather to our heavenly Father. It is easier for God to hold the whole universe than for me to hold a single hair. But the words of our text describe one thing which (though speaking with language intended to accommodate our human capacity) is hard for God to bear: our misery. “His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.” Dear reader…do you comprehend the comfort these words convey? He that can easily carry the cosmos cannot long endure the anguish of His blood-bought creatures. Jesus Christ endured the cross…because He could not endure your misery! He bore our transgressions, because He could not bear our tears. Oh if this does not move our soul to repentance how hard must our hearts truly be? Does not the love of Christ constrain you? O put away the idols of indifference and impiety, the statues of sin and selfishness, and the pillars of pride, the temples of transgression, and the gods of greed. He who cannot endure the misery of those that repent invites you today to believe upon Jesus Christ and be saved. And dear suffering child of God…know that the Lord will not long endure your present misery. He has accomplished in Christ your soul’s delivery from all that sin destroyed. Right now the trial is hard, the trouble is heavy, and the tears hurt. All this is true. But let this little window into God’s soul lighten your load, and may it be that you can say with that blessed Apostle “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).” You, if you belong to Christ, also belong to Him who cannot much longer “endure the misery of Israel.”

Getting Inside The Shack

Getting Inside The Shack

A brief review of The Shack by William P. Young
By Jason Poquette

Indisputably popular, The Shack has been hailed a modern masterpiece of Christian fiction, a moving and gripping story that describes a man’s surprising encounter with the Triune God he never heard about in Sunday school, sermons or seminary. The Shack, however, is more than a story. Any attentive reader will acknowledge that Mr. Young believes he has a message for our generation, a burden on his heart to correct, as he perceives it, misrepresentations of God which have arisen from within certain circles of Christianity. The problem of an all-good all-powerful God and an evil world is no new challenge facing the church, and The Shack presents Young’s attempt at a creative theological response to a deeply personal and often emotional issue. This article is an attempt at a fair-minded and balanced review of Young’s perspective on man’s problem, his portrayal of God, and his answer to the problem of evil.

I feel obliged to say a few things before I begin. First, let it be said that I have actually read The Shack. It would be unfair and disingenuous to offer any perspective without having taken the time to read it myself. Second, I deliberately refrained from reading any reviews of this book until after I had read it myself and formed my own opinions. Third, having finished the book and read a few reviews, I have been a little disappointed with some critics who seem to exaggerate the faults and failures of Young’s work beyond measure. But also, there is an equal disappointment with others who seem to applaud it with a sort of blind appreciation that refuses to even consider a closer look at the theological concepts and doctrines it contains. I want to be kind, but also careful; fair, but also faithful. I have no doubt that what I say will not be mean enough for some folks…nor kind enough for others…c’est la vie! Finally, let me acknowledge that many far more qualified than myself have argued both for and against the message of The Shack. I encourage the curious reader to search out other insights and consider carefully the thoughts of those whose education, experience and insight make them far more qualified than myself to evaluate this book.

I will start with some honest appreciation and sincere compliments. I found this story gripping. Rarely in my adult life have I come across a book I was truly reluctant to put down. Granted, my reading tastes tend toward genres that typically are not written to arrest the emotions and engage the reader’s imagination upon a journey in the way that The Shack was designed to do. Some books are more like digging than driving. This book was a drive, and I found myself increasingly curious about what was around the next corner as the story unfolded. There were spots in this story that brought tears to my eyes. Maybe it is because I’m a father, or maybe I’m just a sap, but I cannot imagine a more devastating tragedy than that experienced by Mack, and which some have had to face in bitter grim reality.

I also feel compelled to credit the author with what is, I believe, a courageous book. It is far less difficult to wrestle with evil when the problem is simply presented in the form of physical illness, common disappointments, financial failures, or civil injustice. It is an easy thing to justify God from an ivory tower. But it takes a special boldness to plunge into a theological explanation for an evil as horrific and hateful as Mr. Young presents in The Shack. Not that a brutal murder of an otherwise innocent child is the greatest imaginable evil, but almost anyone will acknowledge that it admits no easy answer, even for the ablest of apologists.

Finally, I would like to offer a word of thanks to Mr. Young for writing a conspicuously clean book that does not pander to baser lusts to promote sales and allure readers. In a world that offers increasingly fewer forms of wholesome entertainment, this is a book that is utterly innocent of any suggestive or seedy sentiments. Even the details of the murder itself was handled with measured and modest discretion which is such a stark contrast to the modern media milieu which boasts in brutality and glories in all that is gruesome.

These things being said, I would like to respectfully draw some attention to areas of concern. I do this, I hope, with no ill-will toward the author or his appreciative readership. I hope to bear in mind the words of one whose works I admire, the Rev. John Newton, author of “Amazing Grace” who said on the issue of controversy “What will it profit a man if he gains his cause and silences his adversary, if at the same time he loses that humble, tender frame of spirit in which the Lord delights, and to which the promise of his presence is made?” Any fool can make a career of finding faults in others. I can say with sincerity I have no real heart for that occupation. Yet I feel compelled by the popularity of this book, and potential confusion it may create, to offer a few comments to those who may have questions.

Before any particular points are presented, one must really raise a more general question in such a review, which is this: Does it matter who God really is and if I know Him? I ask this question in earnest and with the deepest sincerity. When life is done, when our last breath has been taken, when this brief existence of several dozen years comes to a close and eternity stands open before us, will it matter who God is and if I have known Him? I dare say that any sober soul reading these words will have to agree that there is truly no matter of greater moment than the nature and character of the God whom we shall all one day have to face. Who can offer any priority of greater importance than that of really knowing God? Will it matter if you die the richest man or woman on earth…if you never knew God? Will it matter if you die the most loving parent, faithful friend, or sacrificial server…if you never knew God? One man put it this way “The final goal of the blessed life, moreover, rests in the knowledge of God.”[1] The Bible itself holds out the knowledge of the true God as the one great thing we should aspire for. David’s dying words to his son Solomon began this way “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father (1 Chronicles 28:29). ” The Lord said through the mouth of His servant Jeremiah “But let him who glories, glory in this, that he understands and knows Me (Jeremiah 9:24).” Yes, and it was Jesus Christ Himself who said “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent (John 17:3).” To quote another author “What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God….What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight, and contentment, than anything else? Knowledge of God.”[2] Dear reader…do you believe this? Do you understand that God, the living and true God, desires for you to know Him MORE than anything else? That is precisely what He says “For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6).”

How then are we to know Him? By what means and method are we to acquire this precious understanding of God? Here, sadly, many have gone astray. Let me ask you a question: Has anyone ever misrepresented you? Have you ever had your ways or words falsely described or misconstrued so as to detract from your character and integrity? This, dear reader, happens to the Lord all the time. We create a god suitable to our comforts and agreeable with our desires. The Bible calls this idolatry, and it is very serious. Here the words of Deuteronomy “They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; they have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols…for a fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn to the lowest hell (Deut. 32:21ff).” And this idolatry is not limited to stone images or golden calves. We can create idols in our minds with our words. A man by the name of Elihu misrepresented God to Job and the Lord said to him “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right…(Job 42:7).” The true God has made Himself known, and we may know Him. He shows Himself in Creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1).” He has revealed Himself more clearly still through His Word, the Bible. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).” And finally, and most gloriously, God reveals Himself through His son. “He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).” In the words of one of the church Fathers “We must learn from God what we should think of Him”[3] When we seek to know God in some other way than this, by some other means or representation, we have invited an idol into our heart. To quote the previous author again “all man-made images of God, whether molton or mental, are really borrowings from the stock-in-trade of a sinful and ungodly world, and are bound therefore to be out of accord with God’s own holy Word. To make an image of God is to take one’s thoughts of Him from a human source, rather than from God Himself…”[4].

Having introduced this review thus, I now must turn to humbly and sincerely ask another important question: Is the God of The Shack the God of the Bible? I know that some will not like this question. They will say it is harsh, unkind, critical and mean-spirited to ask such things of a fictional book in this way. They will say that if I have any concerns I would do best to keep them to myself. They may say “Who are you to ask such things, what rights have you to question?” They may say that any evaluation of the work in this way arises from nothing but self-righteousness and sinful pride. Let me state simply that I know there is enough evil in my own heart to be guilty of all those things, and much more besides. Allow me to put it this way. What if one should come to your home to sell you precious stones and jewels? He tells you they will afford you a rich retirement, as their value will increase a hundred fold in years to come. Spend a mere $10,000 dollars now and reap a million upon which to take your rest in days to come! Should you account me an enemy if I tell you that what he declares are diamonds are really nothing more than glass…although they shimmer and shine? Would he not be a faithful friend who points out an imposter to your eyes? And so I ask again: Is the God of The Shack actually the God of the Bible? I do not ask if He is the God of your tradition. Our traditions may be wrong. I do not ask if He is the God of your imagination. Our preconceived notions, ideas and thoughts of God can nothing more than foolish fancies, as says the Scriptures “…the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth (Genesis 8:21).” I ask only if He is the God of the Bible. And so I beg your patience to allow me to draw your attention to several tendencies that appear in the God of The Shack which raise questions in my mind whether this is truly the God of the Bible. I will speak of “tendencies” rather than “teaching” for the book is a work of fiction. But the fact that it is fiction does not free the book from promoting a particular perspective on God, and it is that perspective that we must evaluate in the light of the Word.


Tendency #1: A diminished emphasis on God’s Holiness, Glory and Majesty.

In Scripture, when mortal men (even the most ‘righteous’ of men) find themselves in God’s presence the sense of awe and fear of God’s holiness and majesty is always evident.

Consider Isaiah’s vision: “In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” This is what Isaiah saw: a glimpse at God, a moment in His presence. And listen to Isaiah’s response: “Woe is me, for I am undone…for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts (Isaiah 6:1ff).”

This response of Isaiah is the repeated experience of those who come into God’s presence in Scripture. Moses had to be hid in the cleft of the rock as the Lord passed by, presumably unable to bear the full measure of the Lord’s exposed Majesty on that mountain. When John, exiled on the isle of Patmos, saw in a vision the unveiled glory of Christ, we read “when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead (Rev. 1:17).” It appears even fallen angels have the sense to shudder: “You believe there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe – and tremble! (James 2:19)”

God’s majesty, glory and holiness saturate seemingly every page of sacred Scripture. But listen to what Professor David Wells has said about the modern abandonment of God’s holiness. “It is this God, majestic and holy in his being, this God whose love knows no bounds because his holiness knows no limits, who has disappeared from the modern evangelical world. He has been replaced in many quarters by a God who is slick and slack, whose moral purposes turn out to be avuncular [as from a friendly uncle] advice that we can disregard or negotiate as we see fit…”[5]

The holiness and majesty of the Lord is both Biblical and vital to our conception of God. “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty (1 Chronicles 29:11).” Though God invites us into His presence through Christ, having made a way by the cross, yet that presence into which we go is always and ever a holy presence. The Puritan John Owen put it this way: “It is a throne of grace that God in Christ is represented to us upon; but yet it is a throne still whereon majesty and glory do reside, and God is always to be considered by us as on a throne.”

Dear reader, is it your honest experience that the God of The Shack is such a God as thus represented in the Bible: Holy, Majestic and Glorious? Was the overwhelming impression one that tended toward a reverent fear and awe of God? Or were you left with a sense that this God of The Shack is strangely quite like you and I…wiser…but frankly quite familiar. I am reminded of some recent words by Carl Trueman of Westminster Theological Seminary. His comments were related to the problems of modern worship, but this particular thought is relevant here as well: “…what is expressed through the idioms of particular cultural manifestations of the church should be awe, reverence, and, above all seriousness - not a colourless and cold miserable seriousness but a fitting amazement at the greatness of God and his grace.”[6]

Tendency #2: Dissatisfaction with God’s own disclosure of the Trinity in Scripture

Undoubtedly one of the most shocking elements of The Shack for many Christians is the author’s decision to present both the Father and Spirit in human forms, not to mention that both persons are additionally represented by the female gender. The author, through “Papa”, does offer some justification for this feminine presentation. It was said that Mack, the main character, was not ready for the presence of a male “Father” given his paternally abusive childhood. Also, there was a stated purpose to dismantle the “stereotypes” that Mack was apparently burdened with, presumably put there by the church or from his seminary education.

I do not wish to engage in debate over the legitimacy of these justifications. I would remind every reader that abusive and inadequate fathers are nothing new or unique to the 21st century. Why “Our Father” has been sufficient for 2000 years, but was somehow unsuitable for Mack is at least a fair question to ask. I would also point out, just for your own reflection, that one must weigh the benefit of replacing one inadequate stereotype or image (whatever that may be) with another equally inadequate stereotype or image. I cannot appreciate the inherit benefit of shaking up our conceptions of God by simply inserting another flawed and feeble representation that would, presumably, also need to be shaken up in time. If we wrongly conceive of God as an old man with flowing white beard…I see not how that tendency is destroyed by replacing such an image with a black woman.

The question I want to focus on, and the question that is central to this review, is this: would the God of the Bible do this? Another way to approach this question is this: would some physical incarnation of the Father and the Spirit actually help mankind to know God better? This question has been raised before. In fact, Jesus Himself was once received this very request from His disciple Philip. “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us (John 14:8).” Here was an earnest and sincere request by one very close to our Lord. It would seem a rather simple supplication for One who had previously walked on water, dueled with the Devil, and even raised the dead. How hard could one quick glimpse of the Father made flesh really be? But Jesus makes clear that such a disclosure, in His presence, is unnecessary. With all tenderness our Savior addresses Philip and says “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father (John 14:9).” There is the answer. Any disclosure of God the Father in any form could in no way enhance their apprehension of Him, because in Christ “dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9).” In reality, any such attempted manifestation would be an insult to the Son. Jesus is God the Son, one Person in the Holy Trinity. Yet He is nevertheless, by God’s design, the FULLEST disclosure possible of God to man.

The image of God the Father & Holy Spirit, not only suggests some measure of inadequacy in the Son, but in presenting them in the feminine form suggests to some degree a dissatisfaction with God’s own choice of disclosure. God is not male, He is not female, He is spirit. But for reasons best left to the depths of His wisdom He has chosen from the very beginning of time to disclose His being to mankind in the masculine gender. Centuries of Scripture consistently adhere to such language. Brilliant authors like Bunyan and Lewis have, with creative genius, been content to maintain that distinction. But in The Shack the author has seen fit to tear down that wall which it seems God Himself has built. One cannot help but sense that this transition was greatly influenced by modern liberal theology. I offer to the honest reader this definition of “Christian feminism” from Wikipedia “Christian feminists believe that gender equality within the church cannot be achieved without rethinking the portrayal of God as a masculine being.”[7]

Tendency #3: Skepticism about the Church

One cannot read through The Shack without noticing the author’s skeptical and sometimes cynical attitude toward organized religion. Jesus Himself is portrayed as no fan of religion. Christ’s church, according to The Shack, has more to do with relationships than with structure; it is about personal fellowship not an organized institution. Mack, even after his supposedly face-to-face encounter with God, is still not much fond of actually going to church.

Now, one must admit that no small amount of mischief and madness has gone on in the name of religion and throughout the history of the organized church. Christians and Christian churches have plenty to be ashamed of. Many individuals can relate stories of monstrous injustice, deception, abuse and hypocrisy for which the visible church here on earth ought to be ashamed. Nevertheless it would appear that Mack, and potentially many readers of The Shack, need to be reminded that the organized church was God’s idea! No one walking the earth ever endured more injustice at the hands of religious leaders and the organized church than Jesus Christ Himself! But He loved the church and was regularly found teaching in the synagogue of His day. “And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day (Luke 4:16).” It was Christ Himself who instituted the sacraments of the church: baptism and the Lord’s supper. “…Christ loved the church, and gave Himself for it (Ephesians 5:25).” Think of Saul, that angry Pharisee who hated the Christian church and persecuted it until that day he encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. From that point on he served the church of Christ night and day with tears, enduring all manner of opposition for the sake of the church that he now loved, saying even “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you (Colossians 1:24).” In 2 Corinthians 8:24 the organized church is called “the glory of Christ.” The Holy Spirit who inspired the entire Bible so orchestrated it that most of the New Testament is arranged as letters to…you guessed it…organized churches! We could add to this the countless biographies of servants of Christ throughout the past 2000 years who suffered as missionaries to see Christ’s church extend into new frontiers, pastors who preached and taught and wrote selflessly, Christians who risked their lives to meet together in organized churches under threat of persecution, and on and on. They loved the church! With all her imperfections, flaws, and yes…sadly…even blatant hypocrisy and deception at times, believers have always loved the church of Jesus Christ. It is His church, and His Word is preached, and His praises sung, and His body is gathered to worship Him! The church, from our limited perspective, often appears like a rundown dilapidated shack in the woods…but our Heavenly Papa sees the blood-bought body of His Son.

Dear reader, this fact alone convinces me that our dear friend Mack from The Shack did not meet God that weekend in the woods. I’m not sure who he met. I don’t know who he was talking to. But I do know this: those who meet with God love His church.

Dear reader, there are other tendencies that also concern me and convince me that the God of the Shack is not, in fact, the God of the Bible. Mr. Young is, I believe, a talented author with a gift that I hope he continues to use. I don’t suspect this review will ever encounter his eyes, but if it did, I would want to encourage him to keep writing, keep reading the Word, keep praying, keep himself in the love of God, and keep going to church. I would love to buy you a cup of coffee (or is it tea you prefer?) and discuss your books and writing some more. Dear reader, do you really want to meet God? Do you want to see Jesus Christ? Have you endured great sufferings and pain and sorrow? Listen to these words of Peter as I close: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:6-9).”

[1] Calvin’s Institutes, Book 1 chapter 5, section 1 (p. 51)
[2] Knowing God, J.I. Packer (p. 29)
[3] Hilary of Poitiers, Day by Day with the Early Church Fathers (p. 19)
[4] Knowing God, J.I. Packer (p. 44)
[5] David Wells, No Place for Truth
[6] http://www.reformation21.org/counterpoints/wages-of-spin/look-its-rubbish.php

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_feminism

Truly Blessed

“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord”

PSALM 119:1

Oh my soul. What catalog of persons do you covet more than any other creatures upon this earth? Is it the wealthy, the healthy, the popular, the powerful? Whose estate do you secretly esteem? Whose circumstance is the most seemly in your sight, whose position the most preferred, and who in your opinion has the greatest advantages of all? Is it he whose riches seems to soar beyond the reaches of worldly wants and worries? Is it she whose beauty seems to beckon every eye? Is it those carefree creatures you covet, whose love of life and energy to enjoy it is seemingly insatiable? Who is living right now the life you want to live?

Listen to the Psalmist’s inspired assessment of the most enviable individuals in all the earth: “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.” Do you hear who it is that has the most favored position from heaven’s perspective? It is those whose ways are blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. “Blessed” are they, says the Psalmist. It is not whose way is popular but whose way is pious that have the better portion. It is not those who are followed by loud crowds but those who follow the Lord’s commands that the Holy Spirit pronounces “blessed.”

Our text describes their way as “undefiled.” They must live in the flesh, but not in the lust of the flesh. They travel through Vanity Fair but they want not the wicked wares of this world. Many fancies they willingly forgo, many pleasures they simply pass by. They have put on Christ’s white robe of righteousness by faith and have their eye fixed on their journey’s end and are determined to keep the soil of sin from spoiling this garment of God’s grace. But our text calls their way blameless not sinless, pure but not perfect. Evil often entices them, and they live no day without some dirt of defilement leaving a stain of sin upon their sorry souls. They are undefiled not because they haven’t sin, but because they hate their sin. “A righteous man may fall seven times and rise again…” (Proverbs 24:16) They bring their guilt to the throne of grace. They cry “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin (Psalm 51:2).”

But how keep they this blameless way? By what method do they manage to keep their footing undefiled? Do they simply make conscience their guide? Oh how many have followed that unreliable leader into the very pit of hell! Is tradition their teacher? Many have pledged their allegiance to tradition, only to find this inconsistent instructor has taught them to stray. “Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition” said the Lord (Matthew 15:6). But what of government and civil law? Are not good citizens of this or that country a sufficiently blameless bunch? What? Shall he who curses the Lord with his lips, but pays his taxes on time, be accounted blessed by God? Yes, by all means “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” but do not forget to also “render to God the things that are God’s (Mark 12:17).” Do not put your trust in princes. How shall they keep this blameless way? How shall you know these blessed ones? Our text says they “walk in the law of the Lord.” It is to God’s commands, and all His commands, they pledge their hearts and souls and minds. Here is the only highway to true happiness. “How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word (Psalm 119:9).”

O my soul…do you boast of blessedness and think thyself approved of God? You deceive yourself if you love not the law of the Lord. “He who says ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him.” What think thou of God’s commands? What of His command to be first in your heart? Is He your dearest delight, His presence your passion, His glory your goal? Have you put away all those idols of ambition? Is His holy name so precious that you banish all that even borders on blasphemy from your common conversation? Do you call the Lord’s Day a special delight? Lovest thou thy neighbor? O my soul, if you wish to ignore the commands of God then you cannot know the blessing of God. Where there is no holiness there can be no true happiness. Obedience is the only path to blessedness. And this path is only open for those in Christ Jesus, for He said “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except by Me.” Dear readers…are you “in the way?” Have you come to know Christ by faith and cleansed your guilt-stained soul in His precious blood? Then His law is no longer your enemy and cannot condemn you, and blessed are you who walk in it now!

The Soul's Guardian

Psalm 127:1b
“…unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”

I think it would be no improper interpretation to say, on the basis of this text, that the Creator of the cosmos is also the Shepherd of the city. “Unless the Lord guards the city…” He who sees every star in the sky also visits the small village in the valley. He, who buckled the belt on Orion, bends down to behold a Bethlehem. And yet, as I pause upon this passage, I think perhaps more than merely ramparts and roads are meant. Jerusalem may have been in mind. And yet I happen to hold that the Holy Spirit was pointing to more than just a piece of Palestine. By “city” I suspect the Psalmist signifies the soul of man. It is our hearts and souls that need constant “guarding.” The spirit of man is under abiding attack from the world, the flesh, and the devil. “Keep your heart” (Prov. 4:23) is His command. But how shall we succeed when the enemies seemingly outnumber the sand on the shore? “For there were many against me” (Psalm 55:18). We need protection from our Potentate, guarding from our God. “Keep my soul and deliver me” (Psalm 25:20) is our desperate cry.

Dear readers…to whom are you entrusting the protection of your most priceless possession…the city of your soul? Who will watch for you what is worth ten thousand worlds? Who could you confidently confide in as the custodian of that which is infinitely costly? Who shall stand as your soul’s sentry and keep safe that which if ruined can never be regained? “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul?” Surely nothing indeed!

All of my strivings to safeguard my soul have fallen short. Have you not found it so? I rise with pointed purpose to protect the purity of my heart…but profane plans pursue my mind and wicked ways assault my spirit. I try to fix my thoughts on things above, but I’m bombarded by these burdens from below. I want my heart to habitat in heaven, but the arrows of earth’s anxieties pierce my ineffective armor. I seek to fortify a holy frame, but every feeble fence I fashion simply falls. Every temptation seems to take me down. Who is on guard? I seem to succumb to every strike, am taken prisoner by every ploy, defeated by every drive. Who is on guard?

Oh weary watchman…don’t you hear the wisdom of these words? “Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” Unless! Unless! Unless! All your watchfulness is worthless and attentiveness to no avail...UNLESS! Unless the Lord guards the city! All thy earnest efforts end up empty…unless the Lord watches the city. All your precious plans are pointless…if God is not the Guardian of your heart. Turn to Him whose sleepless eyes have never lost a single soul. Commit your case unto His care. Appeal to Him whose people are the apple of His eye.

But how do we engage this glorious Guardian? Pray and pray on. Cry and cry on. Call upon Him in the day of trouble. “Lord, I cry out to You…let my prayer be set before you…set a guard, O Lord! (Psalm 141:1-2)” Prayer is the great enlister of heavenly help. Prayer is our ever-present access to ever-needed assistance. Cries upon earth kindle compassion in heaven! Jesus directed His disciples in this when prescribing this petition: “Deliver us from the evil one.” There is more safety supplied to a single saint upon his knees than could be secured with all walls and weapons of this world. Return to thy rest O my soul, for the Lord is thy Shepherd and Guard! “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)