Verbs are Cooler than Nouns

I'm reading the book called THE SHACK. Maybe you have read it. Maybe you have heard rave reviews or maybe you have heard the cursing of the book. I am definitely not the first or last to spit about this book. One element of the story is the portrayal of the Trinity as a big black lady named Papa as the Father, a man of middle Eastern descent as the Son, and a little Asian woman named Sarayu as the Spirit. UNDERSTAND THIS and put in that mush pooling in your skull: all portrayals and analogies of the Trinity ultimately fall apart and introduce a less that perfect perception of God...period...I think God intends it to be that way, so that we don't get cocky. He remains a beautiful mystery that we progressively experience as we live in relationship with the Son, Jesus. I get that people can commit the heresy of Modalism or the sin of making God into a graven image from the images stirred by reading this book. BUT, (and "but" is the strongest word in the English language, because it subordinates the prior statement to the following statement.) if you can wrap your brain around the fact that we will never accurately describe the Trinity, you can still acknowledge that there are invaluable truths in Mack's experience at the shack. I honestly and wholly think that if the Church would embrace particular concepts in this book, we would lead countless people far from Christ into abundant life in Him. Oh and people that already associate themselves to the person of Jesus, would actually live that abundant life instead of ones mauled by judgmental attitudes, relentless addictions, petty lies, dead relationships, and on and on.

At one point Sarayu tells Mack that God much prefers a verb to a noun. For example: Responsding instead of responsibility and expecting instead of expectation. Jesus desires for us to live our lives moment to moment in RESPONSE to his endless, creative goodness rather than being burdened with the guilt of HAVING to be a "clean Christian." Responsibility requires us to fake it, to grit our teeth to just get through the the weight of the world. Responding to Jesus, however, enables us to acknowledge I'm not strong enough, pretty enough, smart enough, nice enough, wealthy enough...that my swagger and humor sometimes are annoying...but Jesus makes up for it...He has called us from death to life--HIS LIFE in us. Expectations deplete us, but expectancy motivates and invigorates us to deep creativity. I remember as a freshman in high school chasing my wife who was in college, and the expectancy of time with her drove me freakin nuts all week. Expectations and responsibility usurp life and love replacing it with resentment and numbness--believe me, I know this all too well and it hurts, but God is counting down our encounters in expectancy until I am I just "get it" (You have to read The Shack to get this).

Imagine a community of sinner/saints who move in expecting response to the goodness of Jesus? Your mind is exploding isn't it?




Wrap me in a bolt of lightning
Send me on my way still smiling
Maybe that's the way I should go,
Straight into the mouth of the unknown