Expectations & Responsibilities: An Excerpt from 'The Shack'

I just finished 'The Shack' by Wm. Paul Young. Very intriguing read. In it the main character (Mack) engages in conversation with the Trinity. It certainly makes you think about our relationship with the Lord in a new way & challenges preconceived ideas about God. Certainly should be read with an open mind but taken with a grain of salt. Anytime a person (I find Wm. Paul Young quite bold!) dares speak for God it is dangerous, but if it is read with the right attitude this book is well worth the short time it takes to read it. I thought I'd share a passage that was especially interesting to me and give you a taste...

""But, argued Mack, "if you didn't have expectations and responsibilities, wouldn't everything just fall apart?"

"Only if you are of the world, apart from me, and under the law. Responsibilities and expectations are the basis of guilt and shame and judgement, and they provide the essential framework that promotes performance as the basis for identity and value. You know well what it is like not to live up to someone's expectations."

"Boy, do I!" Mack mumbled. "It's not my idea of a good time." He paused briefly, a new thought flashing through his mind. "Are you saying you have no expectations of me?"

Papa now spoke up. "Honey, I've never placed an expectation on you or anyone else. The idea behind expectations requires that someone does not know the future or outcome and is trying to control behavior to get the desired result. Humans try to control behavior largely through expectations. I know you and everything about you. Why would I have an expectation other than what I already know? That would be foolish. And beyond that, because I have no expectations, you never disappoint me."

"What? You've never been disappointed in me?" Mack was trying hard to digest this.

"Never!" Papa stated emphatically. "What I do have is a constant and living expectancy in our relationship, and I give you an ability to respond to any situation and circumstance in which you find yourself. To the degree that you resort to expectations and responsibilities, to that degree you neither know me nor trust me."

"And," added Jesus, "to that degree you will live in fear.""

If you want to know more, read the book and/or visit the website-- www.theshackbook.com