Evangelical Reformation

William P. Young’s The Shack was destined to be an evangelical best seller. Eugene Peterson’s endorsement on the cover asserts, “This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his. It’s that good!”

An interesting evangelical trait is to brand books that convey concepts already embraced by the popular evangelical culture as bold and prophetic and groundbreaking. That’s what Peterson does here. I must admit that I am not a sufficiently adequate historian to know what Pilgrim’s Progress did for that generation, and I wonder what Peterson thinks The Shack will do for ours.

It has sold so well because it expresses in fiction form the contemporary evangelical mindset. Its popularity rests not in its presentation of some theological truth that we need to embrace but in conveying so graphically what we already believe.

We find God reduced to a jiving black woman. How more politically correct could he make God out to be? I am not suggesting that God is white. However, neither do I find Scripture characterizing God as being hip and cool.

And no doubt Young wants us to get in touch with God’s feminine side, even though Scripture portrays Him as a male. Yes, He can relate to us as a nursing mother at times, but if this inclination represented the essence of who He is, the Bible would have presented Him as a woman.

I had a professor at NYU that observed that, “God created man in His own image, and man has been returning the favor ever since.” Though this view of God does not reflect the one given in Scripture, it does match the God of today’s evangelical community.

This portrayal of God constitutes just one aspect of The Shack that corresponds to contemporary Christian culture. The whole book might be considered a commentary on the current evangelical mindset. Note, for example, the distain for the church. Even the format, the narrative, reflects the contemporary culture.

Therefore, what the book serves to do for us is further petrify us in our unbiblical view of God and life. The book is not ground-breaking but ground-hardening.

This acceptance of The Shack despite its unbiblical orientation reveals another facet of the evangelical approach to life. Of course, as with the secular world, the hallmark of contemporary evangelical thinking is acceptance. God accepts unconditionally, and so should we. Therefore, even though some aspects of the book might miss the scriptural mark, we are not of the narrow-minded, Pharisaical orientation that makes an issue of such minutia.

Rather, the wizened response of the thoughtful evangelical reader looks past those theological misrepresentations and reflects, “I believe I understand what he is trying to say.” In other words, if his intentions are good, we can overlook some heresy for the sake of making the point.

This approach to sanctioning fiction or nonfiction literature makes for a toxic theological climate. In our commitment not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, we have left the baby to wallow in some very polluted water.

But the worst issue resides in our failure to apply this spirit of understanding and acceptance and tolerance evenly. While we have all he toleration in the world for someone advocating heresies compatible with our culture, secular and evangelical, we extend no such latitude to those who are out of step with the culture.

When is the last time you heard someone say, “I don’t agree with some of the positions they take at Bob Jones University, but I think I know where they are coming from”? Contemporary evangelicals possess the capacity to swallow the heretical camel to their left, but strain at the gnat to the right.

This bias in toleration toward the left relentlessly shifts our thinking in that direction. Just as the frog in the kettle, the baby is not aware of how toxic the bathwater has gotten even though it has inflicted on him a life-threatening disease.

You’ve probably seen the lament on a coffee cup or elsewhere, “Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most.” Though meant to be humorous, the point is profound. As human beings, we can lose almost anything else and still function. But if our mind goes, little is left to life.

In a large sense, losing wisdom is tantamount to losing one’s mind. The essence of wisdom is the capacity to respond to the practical issues of life effectively. Knowing how to deal with life is the ultimate function of the mind. Whatever else our mind does, if it can’t do that our lives will be messed up.

In this practical sense our society has lost its mind. We lack the wisdom to deal effectively with the practical issues of life. A glaring example is found in the choice of a President totally lacking in experience for the job. I hope President Obama succeeds, and he might. However, even if he does, it was still a foolish risk to elect someone without the necessary qualifications. A person might spend all his money playing the lottery. Even if he wins, it was still a foolish idea.

Other examples of our societal loss of wisdom abound. Our economy is out of control, and no one seems to know how to fix it. More government spending seems to be a recipe for long-term decline rather than a solution. We lack the wisdom to establish and maintain marriages and families. We have more marriage and relational support than any time in our history, and yet we have never done worse. In fact, it’s difficult to think of a major facet of our culture at which we are not failing—where we do not manifest a lack of wisdom.

What is the cause of this bankruptcy of wisdom? Both David (Psalm 111:10) and Solomon (Proverbs 9:10) tell us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. One implication of this assertion is that every major field of study and every major component of culture requires a biblical beginning or foundation.

Ethics, for example, must be founded on scriptural wisdom. If our ethical system is built on the sand of our own understanding, our moral edifice will collapse. Sanctioning abortion, celebrating homosexuality, and having school children put condoms on bananas represent just some of the more flagrant examples of our ethical ruin.

Psychology requires a biblical foundation. Some Christians are hostile toward psychology; however, the problem is not with psychology (literally a study of the soul) but with bad psychology, that is, psychology not founded on biblical principles. This “we can do it ourselves” psychology has produced a full array of misguided remedies from primal scream to the bankrupt self-esteem movement.

Likewise, every field of study and endeavor, philosophy, science, etc., requires biblical underpinnings. That foundation leads to wisdom and its lack to foolishness. Our post-Christian culture, being too wise to need the wisdom of God, now wallows in its own foolishness and failure.

What led us to abandon the fountain of wisdom for the polluted waters of our own devices? For the answer we must go back to the assertion of David and Solomon that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A failure to fear the Lord cuts us loose from the guidance of Scripture to follow our own impulses. The recognition that we cannot abandon God’s wisdom and get away with it keeps us on track. The absence of that fear results in an arrogance of intellectual self-sufficiency.

The lack of fear of the Lord by our educational system, news and entertainment media, government, and other elements of our society, has led to the abandonment of His principles that has produced the cultural foolishness that is destroying our nation.

Hopefully, our failures on every front will turn us to the fear of the Lord and the principles of His Word.

What if Congress Feared the Lord??!

For those who think that fear is always bad, think about how different the “stimulus package” would be if Congress feared the Lord.

What if Jesus, clothed in His majesty, was seated at the committee table as bills were being formulated or at the front of the House and Senate when they were being debated and voted on?

According to Rev. 1, the scene would look like this. “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” (Re 1:12-16 NIV)

When He walked into the room, they would probably not need a gavel to call the session to order. The response of the Apostle John is recorded in the next verse, “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.” (Re 1:17 NIV) I would say that this response conveys some fear, wouldn’t you? If the apostle closest to Jesus at the Last Supper, the one who stayed near Him at His trial and at the cross, responded with such dread, how much more might those who have substantially more reason to fear?

Imagine the scene in the Senate if Jesus walked in at the beginning of the session on the stimulus package!! Sen. Barney Frank suddenly remembered another meeting that took precedent. However, he got trampled while trying to get through the door and ended up in the emergency room.

As the senator arose to introduce the bill for the funding of abortion, the flaming eyes turned toward him and a quavering voice was heard saying, “Mr. Chairman, we have decided to send that bill back to committee.”
The sponsor of the pro-homosexual bills could not be found. A colleague reported that he had to use the restroom.

By this time, fear of the “Presence” in the front of the room had cleared heads and focused minds to the awareness of their ethical responsibility to make decisions for the benefit of the country and not their self-serving agendas. This led to the tabling of the political payback bills such as those funding ACORN.

The “pork” bills began to be introduced, but when the a senator began to list reasons why these were really for the benefit of the country, it appeared that Person in the front of the room was about to stand to His feet. The debate stopped immediately and the remaining 52 senators, just one over the quorum, unanimously voted down the bill.

It was now 9:30am, and it appeared that all of the discussion on the stimulus package ready for discussion had been addressed. Senator Harry Reid looked anxiously over at the glorified Christ and asked nervously, “Do you plan to be joining us tomorrow.” His burning gaze turned toward Senator Reid as He pronounced, “I plan to be here every day.” Senator Reid wilted under the gaze and with the all his remaining strength mumbled that the committees had a lot of work to do and that the session was adjourned.

The reality is that Jesus is at every session of the Senate and House. But because the members of Congress cannot see Him, most do not fear Him. Just think of the difference that it would make if they did. That would provide that ultimate stimulus for our nation.