Regrets The Shack
Artist ‘Deeply Regrets’ Designing ‘Shack’ Cover, Says A Loving God Must “Judge”
Apr 10, 2017 by Will Maule
The graphic artist who played a central role in designing the cover for the controversial novel ‘The Shack’ has said he deeply regrets working on the project, now disagreeing with the book’s contentious theology.
“[O]ver 10 years ago, I was captivated by the story and felt honored to be part of the graphic creation of the book. I was so drawn into it, wanting to know the God it portrayed,” Dave Aldrich of Aldrich Design posted on Facebook. “The Shack’s story wonderfully painted this picture to me of an incredibly knowable and loving God, one full of forgiveness, but without being judgmental.”
Aldrich began to read Rob Bell, Brian McLaren and others, and quickly realized he was on a path to holding universalist beliefs. “I thank the Lord that He pulled me back from that edge,” Aldrich wrote. He realized that if God is full of love, he must also be a righteous judge.
“The fact is that there are two inseparable sides to God. He is both love and judge,” he said. “The movie release of ‘The Shack’ has brought all this back to my mind and I felt the need to apologize to all who I may have led astray by my promoting the book,” he wrote. “I look back and see how little discernment I had. And I regret and apologize also for waiting this long to publicly share this.”
“Many will still say that the book was intended as just a work of fiction, but the author himself, William Paul Young, is quoted as saying, ‘The Shack is theology. But it is a theology wrapped in a story,’” Aldrich noted.
This article appeared on the website Hello Christian at https://hellochristian.com/7153-artist-deeply-regrets-designing-shack-cover-says-a-loving-god-must-judge
Surrender and Captivity
Today I’m reflecting on the 10th chapter of 2 Corinthians, verse 5; especially the part on “…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ..”. It is a passage that seems to be nearly impossible for the common man since most of us have so many random thoughts throughout any day.
Yet every thought should have some light shed on them; whether they are of God or honor Gim or whether they are of evil character. Every thought should be illuminate with the divine light of our Lord. So how is this done?
By reading the word of God, the Bible; for there is no other written text that contains God’s Word and his truth to set us free from evil and sin. Each of us need to receive and eagerly accept all of God’s truths and doctrines with faith and love, and obey them deeply from the heart. All His commands and ordinances are to be submitted to happily and without complaint.
I have taken by the grace of God which is his free and unmerited favor; none of which I deserve. As an enlightened and regenerated soul by the work of the Holy Spirit, all of my strongholds, reasonings, and high thoughts are now demolished by the power of God in the gospel. I find myself carried away captive, but not against my will. For I have chosen to be a voluntary subject of Christ and to cheerfully, happily, and willingly be submit to the sovereignty of Christ Jesus and to the deceptive of His Kingdom forever more.
Thank you to the writings of John Gill on this subject.
The Fortress I Built…
Sometimes spiritual fortresses are a man’s own self-righteousness, his own holiness, his good works, and moral duties that he performs. He entrenches himself there and thinks himself to be safe. He has established in his mind a belief so firmly that change is very difficult; if not unlikely by his own strength and will.
Only a total surrender to Jesus Christ, where the man opens the barred door of his life or the gate of his fortress where Jesus is knocking and calling his name (Revelation 3:20).
Sanctification – my journey
One day while contemplating the seemingly difficultly of living as Christ would have me live in purity of thought and action and in holiness, I believe that the Holy Spirit clearly placed message to my mind, “You are in the sanctification process.” I realized that I didin’t clearly understand much about being sanctified. Like many in my generation, I had heard the word, but never had any one explain this process to me earlier in my Christian walk. So, I began to do some research. The good news is that there is much written on the subject. What follows is hopefully a brief and understandable explanation.
What is Sanctification?
“It is a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.” Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem, chapter 35, page 746.
Grudem goes on to say that God and man cooperate in this process of sanctification. That both God and man have roles, but those roles are not equal. So what role does God have and what role do I have?
God’s role in Sanctification
This progressive change within me is the primarily work of God. In His role, God will do the following things for me.
God will discipline me as his child as well as others going through the process of sanctification. (Hebrews 12:5-11). He disciplines because he loves us. He causes me to want his will in my life and gives me the power to do his will in my life. (Philippians 2:13). I don’t have that power within myself. I’m naturally too self-centered.
Jesus Christ earned my sanctification for me. (I Corinthians 1:30). And He is also my example. (Hebrews 12:2). He is the “perfecter” of my faith.
The Holy Spirit is at work within me as a believer to change me and to sanctify me, which gives me greater holiness of life. He produces in me the “fruits of the Spirit” as found in Galatians 5:22-23. As I “walk by the Spirit” or as I am “led by the Spirit”, I become more and more responsive to the desires and promptings of the Holy Spirit in my life and character. Something that is a new realized experience for me.
My role in Sanctification
Of course, I have a role in this process also. My role is both passive and active. In my passive role, I must trust God to sanctify me. This is not something that I can just start on my own. Prayer is also something that I do. I should pray and ask God to sanctify me.
In my active role, there is an expectation that I will put to death the deeds of this body. I can only do this by the Holy Spirit, but I must do it. This is my personal responsibility. Obedience is the way in which I “work out my own salavation (sanctification)”. (Philippians 2:12-13).
What is ‘putting to death the deeds of this body’? It is to set my whole life (every aspect of it) to the task of learning and applying the instructions that God has given in his Word, and constanting seeking His help in absorbing and fulfilling them. We constantly examine ourselves, our hearts, our motives, our desires. We already know and have experienced that self-effort is utterly worthless in bringing our flesh into subjection so that we might fully obey the Lord. We are called to put to death, the sin that we practice. Some of those sins we lived and walked in before we knew God (Colossians 3:7).
Choice has been a gift given to each of us. I will either choose to be obedient or choose not to be obedient to God. I will either choose to say NO to the sin in my life or I will choose to sin. God never forces me to make the right decision and He never leads me astray and He never tempts me. This issue of choice must be done continously.
So, do I come to faith in Jesus Christ but yet choose to live as if I haven’t? May that never ever appear to be the case. God, in all His love and wisdom, has faithfully given every believer the power to obey Him, but it falls to each of us to continually choose to do so.
Let me encourage you to delve deeper in the subject of sanctification and your role in that process. May the Lord God watch over you and lead you and love you until you’re home.
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The Revelation (2:8-11) – Smyrna (persecuted believers)
Smyrna (the Persecuted Church) – Christ watches what they are doing and knows of the coming persecution they face. “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Revelation 2:8-11 NASB
[8] “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this: [9] ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. [10] Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. [11] ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’
The church at Smyrna was in continual persecution. John McArthur wrote, “Throughout its history, the more the church has been persecuted, the greater its purity and strength.” We can be assured that the church at Smyrna had a strong fellowship and pure in their faith. Notice that they received no condemnation from Christ. Take notice of how many Christians today are persecuted and killed for their faith in the Middle East now.
But why the persecution of the church in Smyrna? The city was founded by Alexander the Great. During the decades that followed, there were many wars and battles fought that left parts of the old city destroyed and rebuilt over time. However, by John’s writing of the Revelation, it had become one of the most beautiful cities in Asia; called “the Crown of Asia”. As a center of science and medicine, Smyrna had a large public library and a museum.
It also was a center for pagan and emperor worship as many of the cities listed in Revelations. Annually, the citizens were expected and commanded to ofter a sacrifice to the emperor. Those not doing so could be executed or fined or both. So all citizens and thus the Christians of Smyrna were confronted with the need annually to choose between saying, “Jesus is Lord,” or “Caesar is Lord.” It meant a great deal of pressure and persecution to not say “Caesar is Lord.” How would many of us respond if we were required to say “Allah is Lord”? Just a thought.
There were two extremes that these Christians lived with constantly. On one hand, they had a very rich, warm, and loving fellowship within the church which strengthened their faith. But on the other hand, outside the church, they were faced with continuous hurtful and unfair treatment by the citizens of Smyrna which resulted in persistent hostility. The Smyrna Christians were considered ‘rebels’ because they refused to offer sacrifices in emperor worship and as ‘athesits’ because they refused to participate in the pagan religious. All this cost many of them the loss of their possessions and livelihoods; hence the “your poverty (but you are rich)” reference in verse 2:9.
Lesson for me
True Christians are meant to persevere regardless of the personal cost by keeping their eyes on the eternal rewards mentioned in James 1:12. Or will the Western culture so influence me that I remain silent when I should be bold?
POEM: Author Unknown
I counted dollars while God counted crosses.
I counted gain while He counted losses.
I counted my worth by the things gained in store,
But he sized me up by the scars that I bore.
I coveted honors, and sought for degrees.
He wept as he counted the hours on my knees.
I never knew till one day by a grave,
How vain are the things that we spend life to save.
I did not yet know, ’til a Friend from above,
Said, richest is he who is rich in God’s love!
Bill Wyler
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