Creekside Study: The Shack Blog

CHAPTER 11: Here Comes Da Judge

1) What does Sophia mean when she say knowing grows and loved expands to contain it? pg 155

2) What would that mean to the relationship between God and you?

3) How did God teach Mack to Love? How is he teaching you? pg 156

4) Why did Mack not truly believe God is good? What area in your life causes you to wonder if God is truly good to you? Be brutally honest with yourself even if you don’t answer out loud.

5) What judgment was Mack in the cave for? pg 157

6) What are your personal criteria for judging? pg 159

7) When was the last time you judged another person fairly? Unfairly? pg 160

8) What are the ways we usually judge God?

9) Was Mack’s anger with the man who killed his daughter justified? Why or why not? pg 161

10) Was the Little lady killer deserving of any compassion or forgiveness?

11) Is there a difference between Justice and forgiveness?

12) Would Mack be denying justice to Missy if he were to forgive her attacker? Explain.

13) If God is not condemning people to hell, how do so many end up going there?

14) Why couldn’t Mack chose between his children? pg 163

15) What did Mack discover about God when he pleaded to go in his children’s place?

16) What were they Judged worthy of?

17) Why was Mack ok with Jesus but still angry with God? pg 164

18) Did Missy have to die? Why did she?

19) What did Sophia mean when she said “Judgment is not about destruction, it is about setting things right”. What implications does that have for the cross?

CHAPTER 12: In The Belly of the Beasts

1) How did Mack find permission to move on?

2) How was Missy not alone in her captivity? Have you ever been alone, but not alone?

3) Why did Mack sink the second time he started to cross the lake? What is the lesson here?

4) How can a person “live loved?” pg 175

5) What did Jesus mean when he said “we’re meant to experience this life, your life, together”?

6) What was the point of the trout? Is it possible that the real Jesus wants to experience His life through us? pg 176

7) Why do people assume the worst of God when they are in pain?

8) Jesus told Mack the prior times he tried to talk to him were not a waste. Why? What does this say about how Jesus feels about us?

9) What is “the timing of grace”? How do we try to change the time table?

10) What is it to be truly human? pg 177

11) How does your picture of heaven differ from what Jesus describes to Mack?

12) How is Jesus the Pearl? What does that mean?

13) Why is the church not some place Jesus goes to on Sunday?

14) How does a person get to be part of the church Jesus is talking about? pg 178

15) Who builds Jesus’ church? How?

16) How is being with Jesus different from the well intentioned religious stuff? pg 179

17) Why would Jesus say he is not fond of religion, politics or economics?

18) What did Jesus come to give? pg 180

19) What happens when we live life apart from the REAL relationship with Jesus?

20) How are you free to love without agenda?

21) How can anyone be “in but not of” the world systems?

22) What did Jesus mean when he said ”who said anything about being a Christian? I’m not a Christian? pg 182

23) Do all roads lead to God or does God walk all roads to find his children?

24) What road are you on? Where is it going?

CHAPTER 9: A LONG TIME AGO IN A GARDEN, FAR, FAR AWAY

1) What do you think of the description of Sarayu? pg 128

2) What is a fractal? pg 129

3) God created all things good, are all things still good? Explain. pg 131

4) Detail how a good creation is being dragged down. pg 132

5) How and why is it happening?

6) Why is creation full of mysteries? Which ones fascinate you the most?

7) How does Sarayu define freedom? Based on that freedom, are you personally free? Free from what to do what?

8) What might the roots symbolize that Sarayu and Mack are digging up? Is it just good gardening or something more? pg 133

9) Why was it a disaster for humans to have eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

10) Why do people resist the biblical accounts of creation as fantasy and yet accept inconclusive or contradictory scientific theory as fact? pg 134

11) How is your process for determining good from evil different from Mack’s process?

12) What happens when there is no absolute reality to objectively define Good and Evil? pg 135

13) What did eating from the Tree do to man and creation?

14) How much time do you spend trying to acquire what you see as good and avoid what you see as evil? How’s that working for you?

15) What are the implications of “Both evil and darkness can only be understood in relation to Light and Good; They do not have any actual existence”?

16) How does light and good actually exist? What are the relationship implications of that?

17) Why does independent living always result in evil? Are there any exceptions?

18) What is the difference between personal rights and being loved. What are personal rights, where do we get them, how to we keep or enforce them? pg 137

19) What does Sarayu mean “rights are were survivors go, so they won’t have to work out relationships”?

20) What does the garden of your soul look like? Is it a mess or a fractal?. Why do you say that? pg 138

CHAPTER 10: WADE IN THE WATER

1) Was Mack wrong to ask for clarification before he stepped of the dock? pg 140

2) How do you clarify what Jesus is asking you to do?

3) Where do you spend most of your time living, the past, present or future? Explain.

4) What commands your sense of the future? How accurate is it likely to be? pg 142

5) Remember your past projections of the future. Were they accurate? Is life today what you thought it would be 5 years ago? Share the difference with us.

6) How is the earth like a child right now? pg 144

7) What has God demanded of you personally?

8) What marks a genuine relationship? Are your closest relationships like that? How are they different?

9) What is submission all about?

10) How can God be in submission to his creation?

11) What does this mean and imply?: “we want you to join with 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”? pg 146

12) How could Jesus be “Mack’s life”?

13) Is and if so how is submission natural?

14) What is the hard part for a woman in returning to God? Why is that hard? Is it hard for you? Why or why not?

14) What is the hard part for a man in returning to God? Is it hard for you? Why or Why Not?

15) What do women turn to instead of God? What are they looking for? Will they find it?

16) What do men turn to instead of God? How well is it working?

17) How is filling roles the opposite of relationship? pg 148

18) How is power the opposite of relationship? pg 149

19) Seriously now, doesn’t someone have to be in charge?

20)What is the only way anyone can submit?

21) Is WWJD a bad idea?

Chapter 7: GOD ON THE DOCK

1) Was there a message behind Jesus dropping a bowl? pg 104

2) Is there a difference between dropping a bowl and stumbling under the cross on the way to Calvary?

3) When Jesus and Sarayu cleaned up Papa and the mess, what did it reveal to Mack about their relationship? pg 105

4) Does God take delight in “seeing things through your eyes”?

5) IF “relationships are never about power, and one way to avoid the will to power is to choose to limit oneself—to serve” is accurate when applied to God, how could it be demonstrated from God to man?

6) Was Mack ever completely alone with Jesus?

7) Mack felt more comfortable with Jesus than with Papa or Sarayu. Jesus explained “I am the best way any human can relate to Papa or Sarayu. To see me is to see them. The love you sense from me is no different than how they love you. And believe me, Papa and Sarayu are just as real as I am, though as you’ve seen in far different ways”. Of the three, who do you feel the most comfortable with or know the best? Why?

8) Are we literally “in the very center of {God’s} love and purpose”? Does sin change that? pg 111

9) How did Mack’s questions about Jesus’ physical appearance make you feel? pg 111

10) Does being always transcend appearance? pg 112

11) IF Jesus were to appear to you in the flesh, would he actually be any more real to you or would it actually make him more limited to you? Why?

12) What is God’s ultimate purpose from the beginning?

13) How long will God continue to work with us until we understand? Are there any scriptures to support your view? pg 113

14) Why did Mack feel guilty about enjoying his time on the dock with Jesus? Have you ever had a similar experience? Why?

15) Is feeling lost and being lost the same thing? pg 114

Chapter 8: THE BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

1) How do you know God is especially fond of you? pg 118

2) How can Papa say “I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It is not my purpose to punish it, it is my joy to cure it”? pg 120

3) What captured Mack about the way Papa, Jesus and Sarayu communicated? pg 121

4) Who is the leader in the trinity? pg 121

5) What is the difference between a circle of relationship and a chain of command. pg 122

6) Is it always dangerous to chose independence over relationship? Are there any exceptions? pg 123

7) How does God work within our systems while trying to free us? What systems do you need to be freed from?

8) Why was man made in the first place? pg 124

9) What would life be like “unencumbered by structure and simply free to be in relationship with God and one another”?

10) In your life has “everything that has taken place …occurred…exactly according to this purpose, without violating choice or will”?

11) Why does God not stop evil? pg 125

12) Can any choice I make cause God to have to alter his plan or purpose? Why do you think so?

13) What is trust? How is it achieved?

14) What did Papa mean when he said it was not performance?

15) What did Papa mean when He said, “we’re not justifying it, we are redeeming it”? pg 127

Chapter 4: The Great Sadness

1) Is promising things to God dumb and irrational? pg 46

2) What else contributed to the “increased rift in Mack’s relationship with God” and the ensuing sense of separation. pg 65

3) Why did Mack embrace a stoic and unfeeling faith? What else do people typically do in the name of faith? pg 65

4) How long should a tragedy rob a person of Joy?

5) Has God stopped all overt communication with man since the completion of scripture?

6) Is it true that “nobody wants God in a Box, just in a book”? pg 66

7) Where can a person keep God? Where does God want to be?

8) “Gilt or guilt” edges: Why would a book about forgiveness produce such feelings of guilt?

9) Read the last paragraph of pg 66. How much of it do you identify with?

10) What question would you ask God right now if you could?

Chapter 5: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

1) Is there a bigger picture in life man cannot see? Who is in charge of painting it? Is it random or operating under some kind of control or plan? Why do you think that?

2) If God were to speak to you in some way, would people be skeptical? How could you prove it was God who spoke or acted? pg 70

3) Why did Mack link what happened to Missy with judgment for what he had done to his own father? Does God do that? pg 71

4) Did Mack Lie to Nan? pg 72

5) What does God look like to Mack? Does everyone have their own favorite mental picture of God? pg 73

6) Oswald Chambers Said in My Utmost For His Highest: ”My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me”. 7-13 What does Chambers mean by this?

7) What do you think about Willie’s promise to pray for Mack? pg 74
Since Mack is essentially angry with God, why does Mack pray to him at all?
Is this kind of praying beneficial? Does it show at least a shred of faith and hope?

8) “If God was really here he was more than ready to get things off his chest, respectfully of course”…Can someone really respect a God he does not trust? pg 74

9) Mack viewed God as the active killer of his daughter and at the same time being indifferent. What is his true heart attitude and hope. Why? pg 78

10) Agree or disagree: Anger at God is on the road to near perfect faith. It acknowledges the power and sovereignty of God while denying His love and purpose.

11) Mack sensed a pattern of rejection from God all his life. Was God rejecting him? Have you ever sensed a similar pattern of rejection in your life?

12) Mack was in some ways comfortable with the great sadness. Why did he accept it as a friend, painful as it was?

13) Why would God let Mack quit looking before he found Him? pg 80

14) Why was the Shack and surroundings transformed? pg 80

15) Can anyone really run away from God? pg 81

16) What was your initial reaction to Papa as a black nanny? Did you ever get comfortable with the image? Why or why not? pg 82

17) Papa acknowledges that Mack is hurt, confused and angry and encourages him to let it out. How is that different from David’s prayers in the Psalms? pg 83

18) Can we really hide what we truly feel from God? Find scrpiture.

19) Does God really let us do things on “your terms and time”? Find scripture.

20) How long does it take before God becomes impatient with us? Find scripture.

21) What was your reaction to the depiction of the Holy Spirit in Sarayu? Did it change? Why? pg 84

22) What was your reaction to the depiction of Jesus. Did it change? Why? pg 84

23) Why the name Papa for God? pg 86

24) Sarayu means wind (110). What does the name imply about her? pg 87

25) Papa and Sarayu are both pictured as women. Does this contradict or compliment any biblical depiction?

26) Mack asked which one of you are God. “I AM all three said in unison”. How can that be? Does the relationship of the trinity become clearer as the story unfolds?

27) How does this chapter compliment or contradict scripture?

Chapter 6: A PIECE OF PI

1) “Well Mackenzie, don’t just stand there with your mouth open like your pants are full”. How does the ‘earthy talk’ coming from God effect you? The story? pg 88

2) Is the real Holy Spirit full of surprises with perfect timing? Explain pg 89

3) Jesus had just told Mack he was free to do what ever he wanted and Mack volunteered feeling obligated to talk to Papa. Jesus instructs: “Don’t go because you feel obligated. That won’t get you any points here. Go because it’s what you want to do”. What is the message here? pg 89

4) How does the creator value things given? pg 90

5) How can Papa listen to music from a band that has not been born yet? What does this show about God’s character?

6) What does this mean in relation to how God might view all of life’s experiences?

7) How is time different for us?

8) Why was Mack uncomfortable with Papa manifesting as a woman? Why did Papa manifest that way?

9) “If you will let me Mack, I will be the Papa you never had”. How much does our earthly fathers effect how we view our heavenly father? How has yours? pg 92

10) Why does God allow the great gulfs that separate us from Him?

11) “Life takes a bit of time and a lot of relationship”. In your life, does relationship really triumph over answers?

12) What are the “head issues” that must be gotten out of the way that makes the heart issues easier to work on? pg 93

13) Is a relationship a head issue or a heart issue or some combination of both? Explain.

14) How big a part of the average Christian’s life is religious conditioning compared to genuine relationship?

15) List all the religious (or non religious) stereotypes of God you have heard of. Which are the most accurate?

16) If God is not male or female, why is he presented as Father in the Bible? Is his feminine side ever shown? pg 94

17) What are the limiting influences of life that limit freedom? pg 95

18) Why can’t freedom be forced?

19) How is a person ever truly free?

20) “Love always leaves a significant mark”. What kinds of marks does love leave? pg 96

21) Was Jesus alone on the cross, forsaken? Was that in his humanity only?

22) How did Jesus put himself completely in God’s hands? How do we?

23) What was man created for? What does that imply? pg 97

24) Can a person be loved with out feeling like they are loved? Why don’t they know they are loved?

25) How do people make up their versions of God according to Papa? pg 98

26) “Humans are not defined by their limitations but by the intentions I have for them”…Clarify.

27) Paraphrase Papas definition of the trinity. How does it differ from yours? pg 101

28) How does Papa’s explanation, “unless I had an object to love, or more accurately, a someone to love, if I did not have a relationship within my self, then I would not be capable of love at all…” effect your understanding of his nature and the trinity? pg 102

29) What are the implications of “the God who is….cannot act apart from love.”

30) Is it reasonable to believe that humans cannot possibly comprehend why God could allow a tragedy such as Missy’s death.

31) If Mack had been the only human, why would Jesus still have died for him alone? pg 103

As you go through these questions, search scripture and see what the Word says. Answers cannot be found in The Shack, only in the Bible.