The Shack Attack

I was wrapping up my class entitled Answers for Life at church, and was talking about the Trinity. One of the classmates asked another one if he had read that awesome new book yet.

"What awesome new book? Oh wait, please don't tell me he's talking about The Shack," I thought.

"Oh yes!" Came the reply. "It was awesome! I was going to run out and buy it but my wife - she already had it!"

"Please, please don't say you're referring to The Shack", I thought.

"What book are you guys talking about?" I asked.

"THE SHACK!!!"

My heart sunk. "Oh really?" I replied. "Isn't that that book portraying Jesus as a stone throwing, enamored with his humanity young man, God as an old black woman, and the Holy Spirit as the maid?"

"Oh yes," chimed in a third class mate. "What I really love is how the author explains God."

"Well, maybe I should pick this up," came my safe reply. In actuality, I really have no desire to read the book, but I thought it safe to say that, since I may pick it up one day to see if my fears about the book are confirmed.

What I really need to work on is how to effectively phrase my concerns, instead of what I did do, which was to wimp out, and what I wanted to do, which was to say "That book is an abomination!" As a class leader, I just want people to think a bit. I should be asking questions like, "Do we really want to be reading authors who are putting words into God's mouth?" or "Doesn't the Bible say that we are not to be making any sort of representation of God?"

Here is a good article that represents some of the concers people have with such New Age Fiction.