This is the Faith Debate, a theological roundtable gab fest, a free-for-all forum with faith community leaders wrestling over the truth. In less than one half hour, learn more about what really matters than what most others learn in a week. The Faith Debate is on the World Wide Web at WFMD.com, keyword faith. Are you ready for the clash of ideas? Are you ready for the sound of freedom? Let's get ready to rumble in this corner, weighing in with a master of divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary, the Faith Debate Master of Ceremonies, Troy Skinner. Thank you, Mr. Announcer Man. Yep, that's me, Troy Skinner. Thanks so much for listening to the Faith Debate here on 930 WFMD. We got one of those special shows today, buying ourselves some time, because we've got a really special series of shows lined up that are going to start next week. And so what we're going to hear this week is the first portion of a message I had an opportunity to preach in the region in 2017, last year, built upon a foundation from 3 John chapter, well, there is one chapter, 3 John, verses 13 through 15. And the title is Shackin' Up. focusing a lot using as an extended illustration and commentary on the book The Shack and the movie The Shack. So we'll get into that and then we're not going to finish it because where I preach they like their sermons to be a little bit longer than 20 or some odd minutes and so we have to abide by the rules of the locals on that sort of thing. So we're going to hear the first half now, and then we'll hear the second half in about a month, all right? So you've got to hang in there with me. I apologize for that. It's just the way one of those things worked out. So anyway, here's the first half of a message shacking up based on the last part of 3rd John. Well, good morning. It is good to be with you all again today. Thank you for allowing me to stand in your pulpit. In a few weeks, we are going to walk through God's Word together, traveling along with the Apostle John as he writes a letter to Gaius, a disciple of Christ who is faithful to walking in the truth. This letter is known to us today as the Third John, or the Third Epistle of John. It is the shortest of the Bible's 66 books, containing just over 200 words. And six of these words are the word truth, another time the word true shows up. John is committed to the truth, the truth in love, the love in truth, and he wants to make sure that all of Christ's followers are also committed to the truth, that we know the truth, believe the truth, profess the truth, live the truth. And truth be told, I'm doing things a little bit out of order today. The message I intended originally to share with you today, focusing on the first 12 verses of 3 John, I'm going to share with you on Labor Day weekend. The message I intended to share with you next week is what I'm sharing with you today. And the message I thought I'd be sharing with you on Labor Day weekend, I'll be sharing with you next week. I have my reasons. But regardless, we are focusing on the tail end of that letter to Gaius. So let's ask the question, who is Gaius? We can't be sure. The name Gaius is very common back in the Roman Empire, kind of like Matthew or Michael or Robert or Joseph in today's America. Very common, and so there's likely several different Gaiuses that show up in the New Testament. The name shows up recurringly, and these are probably a bunch of different Gaiuses. But we do know that this Gaius is beloved by John. He uses the word beloved four times in the letter. It's the shortest book in the Bible. And actually, if you want to study this book on your own later and dive in, a little note for you might be helpful. The word beloved serve as the section breaks in the Bible. So that might help provide a roadmap for you. But anyway, the first 12 verses will be covered next month. And when we do that, we are going to see this familiar theme from John. Truth. It's what's for dinner. Truth, the other white meat. Where's the truth? Just truth it. You deserve the truth today. Snap, crackle, truth. Plop, plop, fizz, fizz. Oh, what a relief the truth is. I'd walk a mile for the truth. Finger licking truth. Give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the truth. Traffic and truth together on the 8th. This is John's thing, the truth. Again, the truth in love, the love in truth. You notice on Facebook, people kind of have their thing. You kind of count on certain people to over and over give you kind of the same thing from them, right? They focus on cute and cuddly posts over and over, that's their go-to thing, or polarizing political posts, that's their thing, or Unfortunately, cynical and snarky posts, that's their thing. Well, Facebook existed way back when. If John had Facebook, he would have posted an awful lot about the truth. That's his thing. For example, in Second John, which we focused on just a few weeks ago, He warns us against helping false teachers who are enemies of the truth. And in 3 John, which we'll be examining more carefully in a few weeks, he commends those who help teachers of the truth. And so we're going to now read the final few verses of 3 John, and then we're going to talk about the truth as it is impacting the church right now this year in 2017. So if you would, turn to 3 John. verses 13 through 15, and as you turn there, don't be confused by me saying that there are 15 verses in this book, if you're reading from the NIV or the King James or something like that. Some of our Bibles have 14 verses, some of our Bibles have 15 verses, but this is merely a numbering question. All the words are the same. There's just a different way of handling the versification. Some of the editions split verse 14 into two verses. It's a very rare oddity in our Bibles, but it's there. But it has absolutely no bearing at all on the content or the meaning of the letter. And keep in mind, when John wrote this letter, there were no verse numbers that were included. Those were added hundreds of years later to make it easier for reference and for study. So the versification is not inspired. And even though we're reading from the Pew Bible, the NIV, which does not have the number 15 there, I'm saying 15 to be honest, mostly because I spent a lot of time in my Greek New Testament and trying to process what John is saying in his letter, and my Greek New Testament says 15, so I got that stuck in my head. It's not just my Greek that has it, the NASB has 15, the ESV has 15 verses, but again, no worries, the words are the same regardless, okay? So here we are, 3rd John, beginning with verse 13 through to the end. I have much to write you. But I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name. Before we go any further, let's pause for a moment of prayer. Father, we thank you for bringing us together today as your collective people in this congregation to praise you and worship you and acknowledge your greatness, your awesomeness. We ask that you would give your people a boldness, a boldness to love more strongly and earnestly and to declare your truth more strongly and earnestly and not to do one at the exclusion of the other. Help us be true to your revealed word, to proudly proclaim the finished work of your Son, and to trust in the leading of your Holy Spirit. in illuminating your word for us. It's in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, that we pray. Amen. You mostly like me, right? Some of you even love me, maybe. Possibly. I hope so. I hope you love me or at least like me because I am going to need your good will this morning. I am not looking for a fight. But I think that a fight has found me and I think it has found all of us whether you acknowledge it or not. There is a fight in the church going on this year. Not the regular kind of fights that the church has had along typical denominational lines. This is a civil war kind of a fight. This is evangelical versus evangelical. Baptist versus Baptist. Professing conservative Christian versus professing conservative Christian. Therefore the stakes are rather high. And so I would like you to think about where you stand on some of these things. Think about where the Apostle John would stand if he were standing here in this spot where I find myself standing today. What am I talking about? The shack. I know, it's just a movie. It's just a book. And before that, it was just a collection of imaginative thoughts in the mind of William Paul Young. But the shack has become much more than this in the church. in recent years and particularly this year with the movie coming out and not because the movie has raked in millions of dollars at the box office and has recently been released on DVD and will likely be a very popular stocking stuffer item this holiday season and not because the book was at the top of the bestseller list for a long time now having sold an estimated 22 million copies although that is a lot of books The Shack has sold more copies than The Godfather, Jaws, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, more copies than The Grapes of Wrath, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Old Man and the Sea, more copies than The Exorcist, more than Catch-22, The Cat in the Hat, The Joy of Sex, to name a few. The Shack has had Nearly unprecedented historic success, but not more success than who moved my cheese. Thank goodness for that. Despite all of this commercial success, it is possible that you are not familiar with the story. And so here it is in a nutshell. There's a little girl who is abducted and she is taken to a shack in the woods. And as my wife so beautifully sang, I started getting emotional. I was reflecting on the truths that are in this book as I was hearing her sing, and I thought I'd regathered myself, but obviously I've got some leftover emotions from the song. But anyway, this little girl is brutally killed. And her father, Mackenzie, or Mack for short, he is devastated. Can you imagine something worse than your innocent child being brutally tortured and murdered. There's a Christ-likeness in this. Mac has a few questions for God, but he doesn't really go to God with these questions because he's always struggled to find a closeness with his Heavenly Father because of abuse that he suffered as a child at the hands of his earthly father. And then he receives an invitation in his mailbox for Mac to meet Papa. In the woods. At the shack. The place of his deepest hurts and depressing pain. It's a good setup, right? It's emotionally tugging, it's easy to connect with personally. wrestling with questions that we all grapple with, at least sometimes. What will Mac, the main character in the book, what will he find? Who will he meet? What will he learn when he goes to see Papa in the woods at the shack? These are compelling questions. And through the use of a simple plot with simple characters, the author reveals his answer to these compelling and challenging questions. Why is there evil in the world? Where is God when there's a tragedy? What is the meaning and purpose of our life? Are you ready for Mr. Young's answers? Are you sure? Because this is where we enter the battlefield of the Civil War. Let me start with some of the volleys that are lobbed by supporters of the book. And if you hated this book, please bear with me because I agree with what these supporters have to say. The story of the shack honestly exposes the gaping and raw wounds that so many of us have, festering under our facades. I haven't had a daughter brutally murdered, praise God. But I have a son who faces significant challenges that affect my daughter and others in his sphere. And he likely will face these challenges until the end of this life for him. You had your own version of this story. And like Mac, I am the survivor of abuse as a child. You probably have. your version of this story, or at least perhaps you have your own version of that story. Like Mac, the person sitting next to you has struggled during their life to feel closeness with God. And you probably have your own version of this story. This is the brilliance of the shack. Paul Young is telling your story, my story, all of our stories. And so we can relate. And we read with interest, open to the possibility of a new emotional connection with God. And this is good. Really good. The dilapidated building in the shack, the shack, it is a metaphor for our lives. There's a metaphor in the shack for our hearts, filled with aching, hurt, and yet so much wondrous beauty, a standing contradiction almost. This is good stuff. Really. Good. Very relatable, very real. I mean, it is an imaginative and fantastical tale, but the emotional chord that's struck is very real. In a way, we might say that Paul Young has met people where they are. This is good. We should all, could all, do better at this. It's good stuff. Really good. This is part of what bothers the critics, believe it or not. And it concerns me a bit, too. There's an old saying, win the heart and the head will follow, and Paul Young wins the heart in The Shack. He offers salve to bleeding blisters. He, with every turn of the page, brings a warm hug to a hurting reader somewhere. The Shack is a shoulder to cry on, a bending ear that listens, a quiet friend who's there for you. And this has me on high alert, because I have the Apostle John on the other shoulder, whispering in the other ear, peace to you. And it is a peace that comes from true understanding. The Apostle John teaches us his readers, or teases us rather, his readers sometimes, by saying, like he does in the tale in here of 3 John, that he has so much more he wants to write, but there isn't the time or the space or he wants to wait to tell you what he has to say in person, face to face. Such a relational, loving communicator of the truth. What a great example for the rest of us. So it has me wondering, if John came here right now, and greeted us all, one by one, by name, or stood where I am right now, what would he say? Well, given that Christians are arguing with Christians about this darned book and movie, I want to know what John might say about the shack. And given his always present emphasis on the truth, I think I know a few things that he might point out to us. Now, to those who say, What's the big deal? It's only a book, just a movie. I think that John would point out that authors have a point of view, even an agenda when they write. And the shack is no different than this. You don't have to take my word for it. In the acknowledgements in the back of the shack, the author says that the book shows, quote, the ways in which God works. Elsewhere, we read in the back pages of the book that it offers a magnificent glimpse into the nature of God. It offers one of the most poignant views of God and how he relates to humanity. These are theological claims. Paul Young is intending to teach about God. Who God is, what God's like, why God does what God does. It's not just a story. It's not ambivalent. It has a purpose. If you read it, take it seriously. If you watch the movie, watch it seriously. If I write a book and then I make a movie and I tell you that it's about your wife, or your husband, or your mother, or your father, or your child, or someone else close to you, important to you, you would read that book seriously, wouldn't you? You'd watch that movie seriously, right? That's the case with the shack. Now, it's not about your spouse. It's about your Creator. It's not about your earthly parents. It's about your Savior. It's not about your children. It's about your beloved King. And Paul Young teaches in the shack that your Creator, Savior, King is a warm God. Warm within the Trinity and toward others. The shack teaches that God is personal and powerful and all-knowing and all-good. This is a God who acknowledges the reality of pain, of suffering, grief and evil. In response to all of this bad stuff, the God of the shack is gracious and forgiving. This God argues against legalism, emphasizes grace and mercy and love. Some have said that the shack has changed their life by drawing them into a closer, more intimate relationship with God. And we can see why. There is much truth in the shack. Much truth. It even touches upon familiar biblical motifs, like foot washing and walking on water. And therefore, because of all of this, if the Apostle John were here right now, speaking instead of me, he might tell you, read the book, watch the movie, and unquestioningly love it. And we're going to pause there. Wait for the other shoe to drop. And you're going to have to wait five weeks. And I apologize for that. Part two of this message will come in five weeks on April 15th, if you want to mark your calendars. It might be easier to listen to it on the podcast, for all I know. But anyway, the reason we're doing that is next week we begin a four-series arc, a four-show series. A four-show arc? How do I want to say that? A series of four shows, which I call an arc of shows, on the state of the dead. When we die, Are we alive? In other words, is there life after death upon death? I mean, is there life after death at all, but is there life after death upon death is kind of what we're going to be focusing on. John Switzer, co-founder of The Faith Debate, will be on the panel beginning next week for the next four weeks. A representative from Frederick Seventh-day Adventist Church will also be on the panel. By the way, the Frederick Seventh-day Adventist folks are presenting a musical called The Unfolding or The Glorious Unfolding. It's free to the public. evenings of April 6th and 7th. Showtime 7 o'clock both nights on April 6th and April 7th. It is free, but you'll need to have a ticket. So you can get your ticket for free by visiting the church's website. That's the Frederick Seventh-day Adventist Church here in town doing that. Thank you so much for listening. Again, we've got our panel discussion coming up next week and the next few weeks after that, and then I'm gonna finish off this sermon message that you just heard, beginning back on with that on April 15th. You can check us out online at wfmd.com, keyword faith, brings you to the Faith Debate page. You can find links to the podcast and a listing of upcoming shows there as well. Thanks so much for listening. Until next week, 167 and a half hours from now, God bless.