Good, Bad or Best...

As I mentioned before, my husband and I have been listening to the audio book of The Shack and while it would not be something that I handed someone who is young in their faith it is still so good. In theatre it is called the theory of the suspension of disbelief which involves the audience to accept certain things for the sake of the story. Now I am not saying that with reference to flat out heretical ideas but rather some of the perspectives of the author. With that said, there are many points that the author makes that cause one to think about their own relationship with God, The Holy Spirit and Jesus. I know that it has caused me to think!

The book makes no qualms about being fiction but like many good books it can sometimes be easy to forget that and get enveloped into the story. I know some of the statements made have been rolling around and around in my head since hearing them days ago and now they are rolling out of my fingers and into my blog.

One of the thought marbles rolling around in my brain was from the conversation that the main character had with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit asks him what makes something that happens to him good or bad. Mac, the main character, responds by saying that how he perceives something determines which category it falls into. The Holy Spirit pointed out to him that that is his relative subjective opinion. Now, I know that this isn’t brain science here but when God is working on something within you (i.e. post from yesterday for one) and a seemingly simple truth like this crosses your ears and heart it sounds somewhat different. Mac then responded by stating that basically he determines if something is good or bad to which the Holy Spirit more or less reminded him of Romans 8:28. It was the way in which the author wrote the dialogue between these two that caught me and got me to thinking. It is SO easy to look at something and immediately cast it to one side or the other. The author made the point that really to God it isn’t so much good or bad as it is for our betterment.


AHHH! WHAT? YOU ARE REALLY MESSING WITH MY BELIEFS HERE!!

Nothing is really good or bad but is simply for us to become more like Christ?? Man does that make your head spin! And if able to be swallowed man does that make for a whole new perspective on well, EVERYTHING! Whether you have read, listened to or protested The Shack I think it is worth a little bit of your time. Once you get past some of the uniqueness of the authors personifications and realize that it is through his view and how he sees God and then when you realize that this started out as a book for his children it all makes it a little easier to understand. Let me know what you think about the book!