Welcome! Last week we began our new
series on Shame and Honor. We discussed the idea that one can characterize
cultures by the degree to which they exhibit guilt-innocence characteristics,
fear-power characteristics, and shame-honor characteristics. We learned that
our culture leans strongly towards guilt and innocence, whereas many cultures
around the world, especially in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, lean towards
shame and honor. We learned that the cultures in which the Bible was written,
both in Old Testament and in New Testament times, were themselves primarily
shame-honor cultures, and thus it is of value for us to better understand this
kind of culture so that we better understand not only the Bible, but the very
heart of God. I also explained that becoming better acquainted with this kind
of culture can equip us to be better able to share the good news of the gospel
with people who live in this culture – including many people here in America. Last
week we also developed the ideas of shame and honor as two ends of a spectrum;
to be high in honor is to be low in shame, and vice versa. We talked about the
fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis as the beginning of our story of shame; when we
disobey God, we bring shame to ourselves, but not only to ourselves, but also
to God who made us.
