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.

We tend to see fear in a totally negative light. As noted in our last message, fear can be a destructive emotion. However, the Bible asserts that some fear is necessary and beneficial. How so?

In Proverbs 1:7, Solomon teaches us, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.”

Consider the importance of knowledge to your life and wellbeing. If fear really is the fountainhead of knowledge, fear is of vital importance—it is a source of great blessing.

But what is the connection between fear and knowledge?

The relationship between the two begins with the unflattering reality that we are all inclined to pursue the various forms of self-gratification. John summarizes these as the lust of the flesh and eyes and the pride of life. We all crave the good feelings that stem from these sources.

Sometimes this gratification is legitimate. A good meal or making love with one’s spouse are God-given sources of pleasure.

However, we tend not to be satisfied with self-gratification only when God says it is okay. We desire it whenever we can get it. People tend to eat too much or desire pleasure from someone who is not their spouse, even it that entails an indiscrete analysis of the anatomy of an indiscrete NFL cheerleader.

Since God’s Word tells us where those boundaries are, why do we need fear to gain knowledge? We can get knowledge right out of the Bible, and we can also glean it from observing what does and does not work in life.

Well, that’s true as far as it goes. That is the way it should be. However, this does not consider the human malady cited above. The reality is that our thirst for gratification incites us to rationalize.

I can easily give you five reasons why I should eat that second piece of chocolate cake. The hostess made it especially for me, and I want her to know how much I appreciate it. Or the second coming may occur tomorrow, in which case I would have missed the opportunity needlessly. Etc.

If they sound like a stretch, I guarantee you that both of us have employed rationalizations more idiotic than those and really believed them to be valid at the time. And as time goes on those irrational rationalizations become well-established principles for living.

In other words, we have corrupted knowledge. We are guiding our lives based on lies devised by our rationalization and that of other people. Our favorite Bible teachers are those who can validate our rationalizations with Scripture.

This is where fear helps us. It keeps us from trifling with God’s Word. If we really believe that God deals severely with those who bend His teachings to enable self-gratification, we tend to be more honest with His Word. In other words, we develop a worldview based on genuine knowledge rather than self-serving lies.

In contemporary society, when Christians legitimize watching movies containing nudity or assert that it is okay to be angry with God, they manifest a lot of truth bending that reveals the absence of fear.

Though fear may be an unpleasant emotion, it would clear their heads, straighten out their worldviews, and save them a lot of trouble in the long run.

Next week’s topic addresses another benefit of fear.

But what about fear of poisonous spiders or crossing unsafe bridges? The point is that some fear is healthy.

FDR told us that “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.” For the approximately 418,500 American who died in WWII, his assurance rang hollow. They did have something to fear as did their families.

Fear is not necessarily a psychological illness but rather can be an indication of health. The person with the “No fear” sticker on his truck probably misses that point. But most Americans do as well.

On the eve of the inauguration of a new President who will head up the most liberal government this country has ever known at a time of great national peril, my greatest fear today is the lack of fear among Americans over the condition and future of our country.

Most conservatives think that we are headed in a bad direction, but they convey an underlying attitude that ultimately things will come around. It’s sort of like watching a movie. The situation tends to get scary in the middle, but no need to get scared because you know that it will all work out in the end.

What is the basis for this confidence? Some would say, “Well, it always has worked out.” They overlook the reality that history, including recent history, is full of accounts of populations that have fallen prey to terrible plights.

Others place their confidence in our national character. “We’re Americans. We are survivors. We always have and always will.” To quote the investment disclaimer, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” A case could be made for the position that we are not the nation we used to be, morally, economically, and in many other categories, and therefore we have no basis for expecting the same outcome as before.

Some place their hope in the Lord. We need not fear because we are trusting in God. I have even had Christians get angry with me and label me as faithless because of my fear. However, I fear because I do believe. Scripture tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the beginning of knowledge.

Many evangelicals are not fearful because they have concluded that the fear of the Lord means “reverential awe.” As one well-known Christian writer stated, “We should never fear God.”

However, the biblical words related to the fear of the Lord are the plain old Hebrew and Greek words for fear. Many skilled expositors have tried to make the fear of the Lord mean something else, but it does not.

Others set up a straw man by asking, “Are you suggesting that we should be cringing in God’s presence? I had a wonderful father. When I was playing it straight I was perfectly comfortable in his presence. However, when I was living in disobedience I was fearful. That is what Scripture is telling us about our relationship with God.

In 1965 Billy Graham wrote a book entitled World Aflame. In reading the chapter on the sinful condition of America, his wife, Ruth commented, “Billy, if God doesn’t come soon and bring judgment upon the United States, He’s going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah!”

Our nation is far more wicked today than in 1965. However, we are far less concerned about God’s judgment than was Ruth Graham. Why?

Sometimes fear is a phobia, a sickness. Sometimes a lack of fear indicates pathology. I would challenge you to read the 27 passages in Scripture that speak of the fear of the Lord and decide whether our lack of fear indicates whether we are healthy or sick.