The 3D Gospel after 10 Years

The 3D Gospel was published over 10 years ago. The initial idea was to create a two-page PDF handout. When it mushroomed into 70 pages, I thought, ‘Well, if I put it on Amazon, maybe a few people might buy it.’ It remains a top-selling missions book.

Based on various conversations, here are five reasons people appreciate the book’s guilt-shame-fear model.

1. Simplicity. People can easily remember the three concepts. Once you learn the basic ideas, they are easy to apply. Sometimes, there’s a tendency to overapply the three categories to everything, but over time, people’s understanding becomes more refined.
2. Insightfulness. The model presents a paradigm for interpretation (not a ministry technique). More than anything, people appreciate the newfound ability to better understand the Bible in its context. The concept allows people to attain fresh insights.
3. Accuracy. As any hiker knows, no map perfectly describes the terrain, but some maps are more helpful than others. The same is true about cultural models—some describe of cultural values better than others. I think guilt-shame-fear resonates with people because it is fairly accurate and generates valuable insights.
4. Interest. People enjoy learning and discussing cultural values. Almost everyone has a good story on the topic, so conversations are fun. This makes guilt-shame-fear (or just honor-shame) an easy topic to teach.
5. Theology. Guilt-shame-fear is not merely a cultural paradigm, but also a theological framework. Essential categories such as God, sin, Christ, salvation, etc., are better understood when appreciated through all three vantage points. This generates profound and transformative spiritual insights. For more, see this two-page Theology Guide.

Here are five reasons why I believe The 3D Gospel has had a positive reception.

1. Brevity. People like short books. When I ask people what they enjoy about the book, at least 80% say, “It was nice and short.” Personally, I appreciate short books and wish most books were much shorter.
2. Price. Self-publishing allowed me to set my own price point ($9.99) and offer bulk discounts (50 copies for $225). Like everything else, books are becoming expensive, so people appreciate affordable pricing. I would not recommend self-publishing, but if you do, a major advantage is the freedom to set your own price.
3. Translations. The book has been translated into 10 languages: Russian (3D Евангелие), French (L’Évangile en 3D), Vietnamese (Phúc Âm Ba Chiều), German (Mit anderen Augen, publisher), Spanish (El evangelio en 3D), Arabic (free PDF), Chinese (三維福音), Tamil (free PDF),Portuguese (O Evangelho 3D), and Italian (Il Vangelo in 3D). This allows training to occur in multiple languages and helps cross-cultural workers learn the necessary vocabulary to discuss honor-shame concepts in their host culture.
4. Timing. The book landed at the right moment and caught a wave. Brene Brown gave her viral TED Talks on shame in 2010 and 2012, making shame a national talking point. By 2015, honor-shame had become “trendy” in mission circles. In a short time, people were reading Andy Crouch’s cover article in Christianity Today, the special issue of Mission Frontiers, and books by Jackson Wu/Brad Vaughn, Werner Mischke, and others. In my estimation, honor-shame has become less trendy, but not less important in mission circles.
5. Experience. The book helps people understand their own cross-cultural experiences. The experiential knowledge acquired through the challenges of cross-cultural relationships predisposes people to appreciate the ideas. They come to see their mistakes, frustrations, challenges, and successes in a new light.

Many thanks to those who have engaged the topic and trained others.