Why I’m Glad I Watched The Shack
Although I read The Shack, I did not see the movie when it was in the theatre. I did not boycott it out of theological concerns. The truth is that there are lots of science fiction and superhero movies coming out that I want to see and my movie budget only goes so far.
However, we recently rented The Shack. I watched it with my wife (who did see it in the theatre) and two of our children.
I understand that there are many conservative Christians who think The Shack is one of the worst things to come out of Hollywood and we must keep as far away from it as possible. But I will tell you that not only am I glad that I watched it, I’m glad that I watched it with my family.
Were there some theological problems with it? Sure there were. Some would be concerned that Papa (God the Father) had the marks of crucifixion. More serious was the apparent teaching of a kind of universalism.
Others saw a problem with the portrayal of the Trinity. Was it perfect? No. But I’m not sure that any movie could portray the Trinity and have it pass every theological test.
So what did I like about it?
The Shack portrayed and the struggle of faith in a way that held my children’s attention. I have never seen any faith-based movie provoke questions the way this movie did. It created a situation where we could talk to them about God as a Trinity. The discussion flowed from their questions and not from our plan to lecture to them.
Coming at this movie as a parent, I can say with confidence that watching The Shack with my children was a positive step in their faith journey and not a negative one.
I suspect that this is the case for many people of all ages.
We can criticize the theology of The Shack, but we should also keep our eyes and hearts open to how God is using it to draw people to himself.
Heya – have you interacted with Young’s new book, 28 lies we believe about God?
Mucho concerns – https://www.challies.com/what-does-the-shack-really-teach-read-lies-we-believe-about-god/
I also think you’re describing how God can use bad theology for His glory, rather than the movie having value on and of itself – which is anything, really.
Unfortunately we live in the west where people would rather recommend we read (or watch) The Shack, rather than Bible itself.
God can and does use anything for our good and His glory. But I dunno – I’d be wary of recommending a book or movie where the author is so anti-local church (totally unbiblical). More concerning would be his insistence that the Cross wasn’t God’s idea, and that we are not sinners, and that Christianity isn’t God’s plan for redeeming a fallen race.
I have not read his new book. To be honest, I’m not eager to. I do have concerns about Young and do think he’s a bit off the mark.