Holiness vs Love in The Shack

Most all of all the criticisms I have heard or read of the Shack need no real apologetic because they were groundless. Most challenges were answered on the same page or the comments were taken out of context. One earnest critic of The Shack commented that while He loved the portrayal of the Love of God, he wished the author had spent more time on God’s holiness. Actually, I think the Shack paints a beautiful picture of God’s holiness from cover to cover. I believe the problem arises from an incomplete understanding of the very nature of God and creation. Before I give my reasons, let me give a brief over view of the Story Over view of
The Shack.

Mack is a man in great pain for many reasons, some his own doing in his youth and most from a horrible attack on his family. He has all the struggles and emotional battles one would expect of anyone who found themselves in this situation. He is angry with himself, God and most of the world. So angry he is driving himself crazy. He is hanging on to his emotions and sanity by the finest of threads as best he can, but he knows he cannot go on like this forever. He is so desperate for some kind of resolution, any kind actually, that he accepts an offer from what may be from God or his Daughter’s killer to meet at a deserted cabin in the dead of winter in a remote wilderness. He hides what he is planning to do from all but a trusted friend and heads for the Cabin. Arriving at the cabin he meets the Trinity of Papa, Jesus and Sarayu and later Sophia. They are not at all what he expected. At first he resists and challenges, rejects and wrestles with everything he is discovering. In the end he finds that he deeply desires the love and light Papa and all bring into his life and the book closes with Mack at peace with God, himself and the world. The best part of the book is that although the story is pure fiction, the light of understanding was the actual experiences of the author, Paul Youngs.
Why I feel that both the Holiness and Love of God is in balance in the book is because real ugly life and tragedy are exposed in all the characters when they are walking outside the light of God. Horrible feelings and actions abound, as it does anywhere there is darkness. The ugliness of darkness in it’s varied forms is contrasted with the Love and light of a heavenly Father who deeply cares for all his children, offering the light of understanding, but never forcing anyone to walk in that light. This is reinforced over and over again in every conversation. Sophia reasons it one way, Sarayu visualizes it another. Jesus humanizes it, Papa personalizes it. Nowhere is the holiness of God injured, everywhere the brilliance of his Love brings the light of true understanding to the heart of Mack. Mack chooses to live in the Holiness of God by walking in the light revealed. He seeks and offers forgiveness and the Holiness of God is satisfied again as it was on the Cross.
Many people could relate to the anger of Mack, but Not the Love of God. This God of the Shack is just too good to be true. They have read of the actions and accounts of the wrath and anger of God in scripture and have been told since they were in diapers that God was really going to be mad at them if they didn’t straighten up. They are looking for the HOLY God, THE God of wrath and anger to come through to scare people out of hell, or vise versa if you wish. Someone here really needs to get a good beat down if God has any holiness left in him at all!
The problem here is a incomplete understanding of God. The God most people think they know is NOT the God of revealed scripture. I believe He is more like the God in the Shack than the God in last Sunday’s sermon. Let me share with you my understanding of the nature of God which I have gleaned from the writings of Jacob Boheme from the 1600’s who greatly influence William Law and the great preachers of the 1700 and 1800’s.
To understand the scriptural accounts of the “anger or wrath” of God, His nature and creation must be understood. Scripture clearly teaches that God is and always was light and love and is His sole source of being.
Consider this:
1JN 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Since darkness is not in God, where is it? It cannot be in Him because there is darkness in Him at all. Darkness is found in the absence of light. It is perfect nothingness. Before God created anything, there was no such thing as Darkness and there was nothing around to know the darkness, there was only the Light of and in God. John speaks of this:
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. John 1:3-5

All life and light of any description, metaphorical or literal, exists only in and through the infinite power of the God of Creation. In the ultimate sense there are only two things, God and not God, the Creator or the Created. Can you guess which one you are? The gulf between the created and the Creator is infinite and cannot be crossed by any effort on the part of any created being, be it man or angel. At the core of creation no light exists in any sense apart from God so it can be said that God “created” darkness. This was not a problem for the original creation because the light of God coexisted with the creation and there was light. Inside the creature God placed will, desire, want, need, anger, wrath all those things that live in darkness. All were fulfilled and satisfied in the light of God, but when Lucifer and the angels fell and when Adam went his own way they were separated from the light they had and were destined to live in darkness. The creatures now had knowledge without understanding, desire and need with no power to fulfill them and the resulting frustration, wrath and anger that previously was dispelled in holy living in the light and love of God. BUT because of the darkness, the creatures do not know all this. Lucifer and Adam rejected the light and lost it and all mankind sense have wandered in darkness and called it light because they have never seen light. Jesus recognized this problem and warned the people:

MT 6:22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Man has become so attuned to this condition of darkness Jesus went on to say:
JN 1:6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

Man in his darkness, outside the light of the gospel of Christ can only speculate in his darkened mind about the attitudes and activities of God and thus describe God as Wrathful or Angry, when nothing could be further from the truth. When the LIGHT and LOVE of God is shed in the heart and mind of the creature, the creature will ONLY see love and Light because wrath and anger do not exist in God.

Allow me this personal illustration / explanation:
When one of my sons was nearing 18 he left home for a cross country road trip, unannounced, and was gone for several weeks. My wife and I were terrified with his sudden and unexplained disappearance. After a few weeks of intense searching we came to believe he had probably gone east with some co-workers who disappeared at the same time. A speeding ticket mailed to the house from across the country confirmed our suspicions. Since he was under 18 we asked that he be returned to us as a runaway, but force if necessary. I was prepared to fly cross country to get him. In the weeks he was gone we had tons of advice and suggestions on how to handle the situation when and if he came home. Most were from the “teach him a lesson” view of life. What we wanted more than anything in the world was to hold him in our arms and love him. Teaching him a lesson was the furthest thing from my mind and NO WHERE in my heart. NOTHING we could do to him in the way of discipline or punishment would or could compensate for the pain we had already endured in his absence. We knew that, should God return him to us, we would accept and love him in any condition. We learned much of the Father’s love for us during those painful weeks. After several weeks our son did return to the valley where we live but was scared to death to come home. He was sure he would be in a great deal of trouble and that we would be very angry with him, which from his point of view was totally reasonable. He had totally deified us and felt he deserved to be in big trouble…a point that needs no debate. He contacted some friends in the valley, but was not sure how he should come or even if he could come home. Two policemen stopped him late one night in the parking lot where a friend lived. Their check showed he was listed as a run away minor and they called in the middle of the night asking if they could return him. There was absolutely no anger resentment or any such thing, only an overwhelming joy that my son would soon be home. When the police brought him to the house, he was timid and scared, not knowing what kind of reception he would get. His brothers and sisters soon arrived in the middle of the night to start the homecoming party! HIS mind was darkened by his own thoughts of how we would react and he assumed the worst. He was sure we would be very angry. It took a while for him to be home to finally really believe we were not angry with him, that we loved him completely and wanted the very best for him. He had to come into the presence of our light and love to dispel his attribution of anger in us. He has lived in the security of that Love ever since them.

Let’s recap: At the center of creation itself is NO LIGHT, but darkness. All creation depends on the light of God for whatever light it has. In the original union there was no problem but man turned FROM the light of God to the “light” of the darkness of creation and called the darkness light, but it was not. The attributed and assumed anger of God is in the darkness of the creation and visible only from the created side, it does not exist in the God side. When you only have darkness you assume it is IN GOD but when HE turns on the light it is only love. All these metaphors of God’s wrath and anger are spoken of from the created perspective, not the creator’s perspective. It is impossible for the created to understand that anger and wrath do not exist in the Creator God because they HAVE NO LIGHT. They can only see and understand wrath and anger from the darkened created side.
Paul explains: 2 Co 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
John adds: JN 3:19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

When the creature attributes anger or wrath to the creator OR when the creator speaks of anger or wrath towards the creature, it must be understood that the anger and wrath exist ONLY on the created side and then only because the created has rejected the light and love of the creator. Light and Love dispel wrath and anger.

Consider these scriptures with this understanding in mind:

PS 4:6 Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?" Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.
PS 13:3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
PS 18:28 You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
PS 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid?
PS 43:3 Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. PS 76:4 You are resplendent with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game.
PS 89:15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.
PS 97:11 Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.
PS 104:2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent
Mat 6:22: "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
John 1: 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. JN 1:6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
JN 3:19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 Butwhoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
JN 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
JN 12:35 Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. 36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
Rom 13:12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
2 Co 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

2CO 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
EPH 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." 15 which God will bring about in his own time--God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

2Ti1:10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
1PE 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 JN 2:8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. 1JN 2:9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.
FINALLY HOW IT WILL BE IN THE FUTURE:
Rev 21; 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.
REV 22: 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever