Category: Communication
Raising Support in Honor-Shame Cultures: 5 Tips
As the global Church expands, there is a growing need for money to fund ministry. The Church in Asia, Africa, and Latin America has a vision for global missions, and this vision requires financial resources. Traditional fund-raising models are often…
Posted in Communication, Culture, Honor, Ministry, Relationships, Shame Tagged with: finances, fundraising, gifts, support
The Problem with Bible Translations: Your Culture
Anyone who reads the Bible today faces an unavoidable fact—Scripture was originally written in and for a culture different than our own culture. This makes the Bible difficult to understand. Consider the meaning of these words: He whistled at her,…
Posted in Bible, Communication, Culture, NT, OT, Theology, Wesetern Tagged with: community., HSP, individualism, interpretation
New Training Video about Ethics and Discipleship
“Transforming Honor” is a new training video about biblical ethics, morality, and discipleship in honor-shame cultures. My aim with this video is to (1) transform Western misconceptions about honor cultures and (2) transform honor into a positive source for moral change. The 33-minute resource is…
Posted in Communication, Culture, ethics, Honor, Ministry, Missiology, Resources, Spirituality, Wesetern Tagged with: ethics, morality, resource, training, video
Stetzer, Moreau, & Kärkkäinen at the Honor-Shame Conference
Three leading missiologists will join us at the Honor-Shame Conference (June 19-21) at Wheaton. Ed Stetzer is the Billy Graham Professor of Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College, Executive Director of the Billy Graham School of Evangelism, and blogs at The Exchange…
Set of 30 Bible Stories about Honor & Shame
Biblical writers communicated God’s honor for the shamed through stories. Narratives recount how God saves his people from disgrace and displays honor.Here is a story set of 30 biblical narratives that address honor and shame. For a more complete list ,…
Posted in Bible, Communication, Evangelism, Ministry, Missiology, Resources Tagged with: bible, ministry, NT, OT, resource, story set
The 5 (Unwritten) Rules of Honor-Shame Cultures
During my years in Central Asia, I always dreaded being pulled over by a policeman. No matter how much I tried to demonstrate my innocence according to all the traffic rules, the officer usually showed little interest in concepts like…
4 Benefits of Learning about Honor & Shame
Why learn about honor and shame? Here are four benefits.1. HermeneuticsI once saw a Turkish person read Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son (Lk 15). He read the opening verse about the son asking for his inheritance, closed the Bible, and declared, “That…
Posted in Bible, Communication, Honor, Relationships, Resources, Shame, Spirituality, Theology Tagged with: bible, ministry, relationships, resources, spirituality
Honor & Patronage Among Church Leaders
Patricia Toland (Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies, Biola University) has served in Africa and Latin America since 1990 mobilizing the Latino church and training Latino Missionaries. She also lectures, trains, and ministers internationally to missionaries on the field and in universities.Church…
Posted in Communication, Culture, leadership, Ministry Tagged with: latin, leadership, ministry, patronage, power
INFOGRAPHIC: How Cultures Clash
We all judge other people cultures according to our own cultural values. This is fine when two people share the same culture. But when people from two different cultures interact, using your own culture to judge others can be disastrous.The cultures of…
Posted in Communication, Culture, ethics, Relationships, Resources Tagged with: culture, infographic, relationships, resource
6 Keys for Relationships in Honor-Shame Cultures
For people to understand, you must speak their language. Obvious, huh?But most Westerners ignore this basic rule of communication in their cross-cultural relationships. To meaningfully communicate love and honor to people, we must use the cultural “grammar” of honor-shame in…
Posted in Communication, Culture, ethics, Ministry, Relationships, Resources Tagged with: culture, ministry, relationships, resource
The 3 Kinds of Honor
The three types of honor are bad honor, good honor, and eternal honor. People use the same word “honor” for all three, and this causes confusion. Failing to note the three kinds of honor affects our discipleship and theology. So here…
Posted in Communication, Culture, Evangelism, Honor, Theology Tagged with: culture, definition, Honor, theology
How Honor-Shame Cultures Confess Sins
How should people confess their sin? What form should confession take?I was raised Catholic, so the the word “confession” means reliving those experiences as a mischievous little boy shuddering in a confessional booth saying, “Forgive me father for I have…
Posted in Communication, Culture, Ministry, Missiology, Relationships, Shame, Spirituality, Theology Tagged with: confession, relationships, repentance, theology
To Be, or Not To Be … a Patron?
This post is part of the online conversation “Leading and Ministering in Honor-Shame Contexts” in April 2016. Click here to read reflections and insights from mission practioners. In many countries, patronage is the de facto socio-economic system.Patronage can be defined as “a reciprocal relationship between unequals.” The…
Why Muslims Defend God’s Honor
Bruce Sidebotham (D.Min., New Geneva Theological Seminary) spent 7 years doing cross-cultural ministry in Indonesia. He directs the ministry called Operation Reveille that helps service personnel with cross-cultural relations. Why do Muslims attempt to defend the honor of Islam against insults? Amidst the…
An Answer for Addiction
What is addiction? How is addiction healed? This new TED talk—“Everything You Think You Know About Addiction is Wrong”—connects these questions about addiction to shame and honor (granted, it uses language besides “honor” and “shame” to do so). Research shows…
Posted in Communication, Culture, Honor, Ministry, Missiology, Relationships, Resources, Shame, Sin, Spirituality Tagged with: addiction, ministry, relationships, salvation, sin
How to Give Aid…Without Shaming
Last month, I heard this story from Bob Lupton, founder of Focus Community Strategies and author of Toxic Charity. Their ministry adopted a “Toys for Tots” drive during the holidays. Churches would gather presents, then bring them to people in…
Posted in Communication, Culture, Evangelism, Honor, Ministry, Resources Tagged with: aid, development, haiti, ministry, outreach, poor
Putting Honor Into Action
Christian mission mediates God’s honor into the world. The church is the very means by which people experience and understand the glory of God. We are God’s instrument for overcoming shame. Communicating God’s honor happens relationally, not just verbally. How…
Posted in Communication, Evangelism, Honor, Ministry, Missiology, Theology Tagged with: Honor, ministry, mission
5 Shameful Things Westerners Say
Readers enjoyed Colin E. Andrew’s earlier post “5 Rude Things Honor-Shame Cultures Say.” In this post, he turns the tables. Here are 5 “rude” things Westerners say, even when trying to be polite. 1. “My friend!” “Hey Rafshan! This is my…
Posted in Communication, Culture, Ministry, Relationships, Shame Tagged with: culture, relationships, shame, West
More Honor-Shame Videos
I recently updated the video gallery at www.HonorShame.com. The new gallery now includes a collection of 20+ curated videos related to honor and shame. There are other videos out there, but these are all nicely produced, so are worth viewing (and using in teaching/training).…
New book: Honor-Shame & Orality, by ION
The International Orality Network (ION) recently released Beyond Literate Western Contexts: Honor & Shame and the Assessment of Orality Preference (eds. by Samuel Chiang and Grant Lovejoy). This book compiles the papers presented at 2014’s ION consultation in Houston, TX.…
Posted in Communication, Evangelism, Missiology, Resources Tagged with: missiology, orality, resources, story
