A few weeks ago with my family, I saw the movie, The Shack. It is based on the fiction novel, The Shack, by William P. Young. I am glad to see it is still being shown in the local theater which means it has been receiving a steady stream of viewers. I have been busy doing some research for my PhD dissertation so have been away from the blog but recent events brought the movie back into my mind. Here is New Braunfels the news has been filled with the tragedy of a group of women senior citizens from local First Baptist Church. Coming home from a prayer retreat a bus with 14 senior citizens was hit by a young man in a pick-up truck killing all but one person. The truck driver survived as well. It turned out he was texting and ran into the mini bus. I could go off on texting suffice it to say “put your phone away when you drive!”.
A tragedy like that causes some to wonder why God allowed that to happen. A group of senior saints coming home from a prayer retreat die? Many of us often have events like that in our lives. The texting aspect of the story reminded me of a young college student I mention in my book, Living More Than OK. His dream was to be a welder to help his mom and brother. That dream was ended by a young girl driving paying more attention to her phone instead of Heath riding his bike across the street to his dorm. At first he was paralyzed and then due to poor healthcare he died much too early a couple years later. Where was God in that? I in my past have had life events where in my depression would hear myself say Why God? If honest -- most of us have had moments like that.
That honesty is one element of the story line I appreciated in watching The Shack. The story the author is telling in the movie reaches out to us whether presently in a time of doubt; or remembering times of doubt in life. It is an excellent movie to encourage those going through times of grief and spiritual doubt.
Another aspect of the movie I appreciated was thinking through who God is. That is one area where there was much Christian debate about the movie. At first I had some difficulty with it but then I remembered the book the movie is based on is a work of fiction. I have looked into the author’s blog and he does not equate his book on equal par with scripture. Considering that this movie is based on a work of fiction, I felt and those with me believed he provided a helpful look into the relational aspect of the Trinity. The Christian concept of the Trinity is difficult to fully explain and will be a mystery this side of heaven. Yet the story line does provide a glimpse into the relational aspect of the Godhead. That relationship carries on with the importance of God’s desire to reach out to fallen man with grace and mercy to live in a relational fashion with his creation of humankind.
After watching the movie the discussion revolved around how the messages from the story were better than we had expected. The Shack is a powerful story to help those who are seekers think through the possibility of having a relationship with God. As well it is an honest story that seeks to deal with some of the harsh pains and difficult situations we face this side of heaven with grief and questioning God. It is worth seeing but go with a friend so as to continue the discussion afterwards.
Reflection: Think through times of grief or difficulties in your life. What feelings and thoughts came to you? What brought you out of the depression or low feelings? What does it mean to you to be in a relationship with God?
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