I got into a discussion today about books just before I left the office today. I love books, so I’m always ready to talk about those. However, I was asked about a book that has been going around the Christian circles that has caused a great uproar (hint: it rhymes with “Da Black”).
Because I have very deep convictions about the importance of being grounded in solid biblical theology, I truly believe its important to both protect yourself from reading damaging books and be very discerning in everything we read. I gave my very honest concerns about the book and was asked: What would you say, then, to someone who has read the book and enjoyed it or gotten a lot out of it?
Simply this: I love you and I don’t want you to be deceived. I don’t want you to be confused and start believing ideas about our great God and Saviour that simply aren’t true. I am concerned about my friends reading certain books because I love them and I want the best for them.
This left my coworker a bit dumbfounded.
Regardless of where you stand on The Shack, almost everyone admits that there are some pretty serious problems in it (I’m not going to get into them now because that’s not the point). While some say “yeah, it’s wrong on some major points, but it’s fiction, so go for it” and others denounce it as heresy, I think you have to ask yourself the question:
If I know this isn’t truly good for my brother or sister, but I say nothing, do I really love them?
