Thousand Acre Church

The Shack is a postmodern (I’m not even going to discuss that term) book that takes for granted that a narrative or rhetorical style is a legitimate (or even preferred) mode for processing thoughts of God (doing theology).  Conversational theology if you like… the book is FULL of it.  If you think that theology dances better with a systematic/philosophical (modern) ordering of thoughts of God, then you (like my mate in the last post) will probably think that the author of The Shack has a “low” view of Scripture.

Personally, I think that doing theology in a narrative fashion is more consistent with how the writers of Scripture did theology.  Therefor, I think that The Shack has a “high” view of Scripture, or at least it honors the way theology is done in the Scripture by mimicking the Bible’s method of processing and communicating thoughts about God.

I would grant that The Shack presents a “low” view of the traditional interpretation of Scripture (or of the traditional authorities of interpretation), but that’s different than a “low” view of Scripture itself.  For example, Ghandi had a “high” view of Jesus, but a “low” view of people who claimed to speak (or live, or interpret “Christness”) on Christ’s behalf.  I think that’s fair.

Whatdayou think?

I had a weird experience this morning after our Sunday school class finished today’s discussion about The Shack. I started a conversation with the guy in FRONT of me about “some thing or other”, when I overheard the guy sitting BEHIND me make a comment that sucked me out. I tried sooooo hard to remain focused on the guy in FRONT of me; I wanted to be a good listener, you know. But, as I stared with great intentionality at the guy I was supposed to be listening to in FRONT of me, I listened with great intentionality to the guy BEHIND me. Here is what he said that wrapped up my attention: “When The Shack talks about the Bible, does it lower it down or raise it up?” [Read more →]

Shack-Shack-Bo-Back-Banana-Fana-Fo-Fack!!!! FACK! I got to admit… I like to think “I’m too cool for school.” (as Zoolander puts it) when it comes to trendy books that get passed around churches. The Prayer of Jabez? HA!! Never touched it! Please. The Purpose Driven Life? Whatever! (see my last post on “Whatever,God!”, okay I read that book, but only b/c the small group I was leading wanted to read it together… apparently I wasn’t REALLY leading that small group, huh?) Soooooooo… when I was told that we HAD to read The Shack in order to participate in the discussion we’re having about it in our Sunday school class, I cringed. My business coach gave Ang and I a copy several months ago… she bought a box of ‘em and was passing them out to friends and strangers alike. She’s not the type that would do that flippantly, so I should have given it more thought at the time; but it went on the shelf. Luckily, now that it was resurfacing in our class, I found it on iTunes in an unabridged format for $5.95. I listened to all 8+ hrs. of it during work last week. Now, I’m ready to admit I enjoyed it. [Read more →]

We had a discussion in Sunday school class this past Sunday that led to a comment from the teacher that went something like this, “You can be pissed-off  at God, you can be happy with God, you can be frustrated with God, etc.  BUT, don’t ever ‘Whatever!’ God.”  Have you ever “Whatever!”ed God?  You know what I mean, right.  You’ve at some point thought, “I’m tired of dealing with this… Whatever, God!”, “I don’t want to think about that… Whatever, God!”,  “I don’t get it… Whatever, God!”  When our teacher said that, my first thought was, “Whatever.”  We “Whatever!” God and people all the time.  But, I’ve been thinking about it… and I think he was on to something. [Read more →]

This is part 2 of a list from Beyond Guilt: Christian Response to Suffering by George Johnson.  I’ve been reading this book as part of a class on social justice.  It is packed with short and powerful chapters.  This list stirred me a bit, mostly because I think its a fair (if harsh) assessment of the shortcomings of the evangelical church’s perspective on justice issues.  For Part 1, click here.  As I asked in Part 1 of this two part post, please excuse the antagonistic title.

 Here ya go (straight from the book in bold with any of my comments in italics):

1. NEGLECT OF ECONOMICS - The church needs to be aware of the origin and significance of wealth as it relates to faithful living, and what greed has done to relationships.  Another book I just read addresses this weakness.  Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity by Ron Sider was called “required reading” by John Ortberg (and everybody’s an Ortberg fan, right?)  Did you know that most candy bars cost more in America than most cocoa farmers make in a day?  That ain’t right! [Read more →]