The Shack by William Paul Young
Week 17: Chapter 17 — Choosing Home
Read Chapter 17 of The Shack.
Previewing Week 17 of The Shack
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 20-week guide when you’re ready.
The weekend is ending, and Mack must choose — not whether to believe certain doctrines, but whether to step into a new way of living with God.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.As the weekend draws to a close, Mack faces the moment of choice — to return to the Great Sadness or to step into something new. Young frames this not as a one-time conversion decision but as an orientation of the whole self. What is the difference between a decision and an orientation? Which do you think describes your own relationship with God?
2.Papa tells Mack that she will not be as visible when he returns to the ordinary world — that the weekend was a gift for a particular season of need, not the normal mode. How do you hold on to an encounter with God when the circumstances of that encounter are gone?
3.Mack says goodbye to Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu — and each farewell has a different emotional texture. What does the tenderness of this scene say about how God relates to the ending of seasons in our lives?