BLOGGING TOWARD SUNDAY…

My favorite portions of the book are the ones in which Mack is in conversation with Jesus, represented as a homely carpenter in overalls. One of the best parts of the book is the one in which Jesus says to Mack:

Have you noticed that even though you call me Lord and King, I have never really acted in that capacity with you?  I’ve never taken control of your choices or forced you to do anything, even when what you were about to do was destructive or hurtful to youself and others.

Mack responds:  I would have preferred that you did take control at times.  It would have saved me and people I care about a lot of pain.

To force my will on you, Jesus repies, is exactly what love does not do.  Genuine relationships are marked by submission even when your choices are not helpful or healthy.

Why would the God of the universe want to be submitted to me?

Because we want you to join us in our circle of relationship. I don’t want slaves to my will; I want brothers and sisters who will share life with me.  (The Shack, pages 145-146).

Over and over while reading this book, I found myself struck by the book’s insistence that what God really wants of us is to be in relationship with Him/Her.  Our faith is not about doctrine, or believing 10 unbelievable things before breakfast every morning.  It is about being in relationship to the one who made us and desires communion with us.

If we were more concerned about keeping that  relationship vital and energizing, we’d find that the vertical relationship naturally spills over into our horizontal ones, and we’d be a lot more like Jesus…which is, to me, what it’s all about.

Filed under: Blogging Toward Sunday