Fiction Can Be True

I love movies. Going to the theater is something that I missed dearly in 2020. Speaking of movies and the theater, my favorite movie would have to be "The Shack." The way they portray the Father (or as they say in the movie, "Papa") and the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is beautiful. They give a new perspective of the heart of God.

One of the many parts that I favor would have to be when Papa God and Mack first meet. For most of the movie, Papa God is portrayed as a woman because of the tragedy that Mack went through. He needed a mother. Papa sees Mack and She embraces him with the love of a mother. As the movie continues, Papa God and Mack meet on the porch for breakfast. Mack walks onto the porch and Papa is singing a song by Neil Young. She asks Mack "Do you know Neil Young? I am especially fond of him." Then Mack says, "Is there anyone that you're not especially fond of?" Papa stops, thinks, and proceeds to say "Nope. I haven't been able to find any." How beautiful is that? The famous saying in that movie was God saying "I am especially fond of you." This movie may be fiction, but the message behind it is true. God is especially fond of everyone.

We could all could see this conversation from Mack's perspective. Mack probably grew up in a church where he knew the God that was full of wrath, loved everyone (sometimes), but only liked a few people. So for Mack to hear Papa God say that She was especially fond of everyone probably blew his mind.

When we study scripture, we mostly look at how another person felt, what happened to them, and how they were after their encounter with Jesus and the Father. One thing we rarely ever do is try to see or understand the story from the other person's or Jesus' perspective. It's like the parable of the Prodigal Son. I look at the Bible as a book of literature. In ordinary books, everything that's in there didn't happen. We call those parables. Parables are fiction. They're not real, but they're true. We focus on the son's side of the story, but today, let's look at it from his dad's perspective.

We all know that the youngest son asks for his inheritance, and the father gives it to him. He blows his money, remembers who he is in the hog pen, and returns home. The son already had his apology speech ready to beg his father to let him be home. His father already knew exactly what his son was going to do when he gave him his inheritance because he knew his son. The father knew he would return home. He just didn't know when his son would return. When his son returns, the first thing that he did was embraced him and kissed him. Then the son started with his apology speech "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son." I bet his father looked at him like he was crazy. Then the father said, "bring out the best robe, bring the rings, bring the sandals, kill the best calf, and let's celebrate my son's return."

The father didn't ask any questions. He didn't chastise him. He didn't send him away. Yet he embraced him. He kissed him on his cheek. He celebrated him and loved him just because he was HIS SON. The father was especially fond of his son. He didn't have to do anything to be loved by his father, and neither do we. The parable of the Prodigal Son shows the heart of Papa God towards us. We don't have to say a special prayer to impress Him. We don't have to do anything to make Him love us, and we cannot do anything to make Him stop loving us. We are His sons and daughters. We are His expressed image.

The father knew exactly what his son was going to do. Just as Papa God knows everything we will do, everything we will say, and everything we will think. It doesn't change His love for us. When we mess up, He doesn't talk down to us. He doesn't hate us. He doesn't make our lives miserable. He doesn't turn His back on us. He embraces us. Papa God is especially fond of you.