Book Reviews and their Practicality

I've decided I'm going to begin adding book/bible study reviews occasionally. I decided this as I was reading The Shack by William P. Young, and started thinking about it's practicality. First of all, I think every believer should read this book. While it may not be the most "Christian" book by some standards (it obviously can't be if it is a NY Times #1 best seller), it is based on one man's personal struggle with a great tragedy in life, and his following encounter with God.

The book has been an incredibly moving read. I've only ever felt someone's pain in a book once before (and that book will be reviewed at a later date) and scout's honor, had I not been reading on a plane, I would probably have cried. The reason being is two fold. 1.) You truly live this guy's pain through his human perspective, and 2.) You live this guy's pain through God's perspective. While this book certainly doesn't satisfy the age old adage of "Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?", it certainly gives the most satisfying answer.

This book will cause you to see God's love in a way that you've probably never thought before. For the first time in my life I kind of actually felt sorry for God (pity was not the emotion, purely just not being envious of his ultimate task). There comes a point in the book when Mack (the main character) is forced to judge his family, as God will one day have to. He was told that he had to choose 2 of the 5 children to go to heaven, and the other 3 to hell. All the while prior to this, you have seen nothing but the Trinity's love for each other. Then out of nowhere comes God's judgment. The point was that we judge God's actions (or lack thereof as we deem it) as good or evil, but who are we to judge? We are completely subjective and bias in our judgments. God is not. As a father could not condemn his own children to hell, God feels infinitely (and more so than we'll ever know) pain in condemning his children to an eternity of pain and torture. So he sent his own Son, who did nothing wrong and was completely blameless and pure, to die so that the rest of the world would not have to. I don't have children, but I imagined myself in Mack's shoes judging my friends and family.

While Jesus's return to earth will surely be a great celebration, I think we as believers often distance ourselves from non-believers. We think we'll be somehow separated from the judgment, and who knows, maybe we will. But we should not forget that their will be a great deal of pain and suffering on that day. People we've known and loved our whole lives will be condemned to an ETERNITY of suffering and torture. That thought scares me frankly, and causes my heart to break. At that point, we will know God's love to it's fullest extent, and while we have the capacity to hate and judge here on earth, I doubt we will when we get to that point. I think our hearts will break with God's as he condemns each and every non-believer. I'm no theologian, so please feel free to correct me if you feel otherwise. I have a feeling this could be a topic of great debate, and would love to read your inputs at the bottom of the page.

Anyways, as we experience pain and hurt in life, the book leads us to believe (and I don't know if I agree but it's certainly something to consider) that God experiences the same sort of heart ache that we do. He loves us so much that when we break,his heart aches for us. While God may not be shedding physical tears for us in heaven, I do believe that God can relate. After all, his son Jesus Christ was sent to die for us. While we can never truly understand the concept of the Trinity yet, God was Jesus, and Jesus was God. Therefore all the pain Jesus experienced at the cross, so God experienced also. So in effect, God does know pain.

The book is heavy no doubt. It will cause you to think and view things in ways you probably never have. I can't really say much more than that about it. It's a fantastic book, and you will cry, laugh, and be completely overcome with emotion (at least I was). This book has gotten me thinking about more spiritual principals and how they apply in my life in the last few days, than I have all year.

There is much more I want to share, and it all stems from this book. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend doing so. This book is for non-believers just as much as it is for believers. It breaks down pain in a way that only someone who has experienced that much pain can. I urge to take some time and pick it up. It's a very quick read, and once you start I promise you won't want to put it down.