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 …

Raising Support in Honor-Shame Cultures: 5 Tips Read more »

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, …

The Problem with Bible Translations: Your Culture Read more »

Dr. Philip D. Jamieson is President of the United Methodist Foundation (Memphis and Tennessee Conferences) and author of The Face of Forgiveness: A Pastoral Theology of Shame and Redemption (IVP, 2016). I recently saw Martin Scorsese’s new movie, Silence (based …

“Silence” and the Shame of the Cross Read more »

In 2001 I taught American literature at a university in Central Asia. It was my first year living overseas, and the experience of teaching cross-culturally caused many instances of culture shock. I enjoyed the friendships with students, but I resented …

Teaching in Honor-Shame Cultures: 5 Must Knows Read more »

This article, co-authored with Jackson Wu, was originally posted at Christianity Today on Ed Stetzer’s blog (Feb 16). Shame is getting exposed, finally. Commentators now observe how Western culture, especially the millennial generation, is becoming more shame-prone. Consequently, more Westerners are …

Exposing the Truth about Honor and Shame: The 4 Dimensions Christians Must Understand Read more »

Anselm’s satisfaction theory (explanation here) has shaped Western atonement theory. Unfortunately, Anselm’s theology “went wrong” in two ways: (1) Anselm himself overlooked key parts of biblical theology, and (2) then latter theologians misinterpreted Anselm.  Making Anselm More Biblical Anselm’s Cur …

Improving Anselm’s Atonement Theory Read more »

In terms of honor and shame, how does Christ’s death atone for sin? This question got answered 1,000 years ago by Anselm, a Benedictine monk and archbishop of Canterbury who developed the “satisfaction” atonement theory. Anselm’s work Cur Deus Homo …

Atonement for Honor-Shame Cultures Read more »

Last year Christian publishers released 4 books titled “Unashamed.” These are Christian efforts to speak to a popular topic in Western culture—the longing to be free of shame and to “be myself.”  While inspiring and encouraging, these books assume the distorted, Western …

Super Duper “Unashamed” Read more »

The latest issue of the Lausanne Global Analysis includes my article “Honor & Shame in God’s Mission.” This short primer (1,600 words) is available online for free, so functions as a 5-minute introduction to honor-shame. The article explains: (1) the meaning of honor & shame, …

Lausanne Article: “Honor & Shame in God’s Mission” Read more »

How might we define “honor-shame cultures”? Many people implicitly associate “honor-shame culture” with “violence.” Westerners perceive honor-shame cultures as aggressive and combative. This reason (proposed in my prior post) is because the Western mind perceives honor-based violence as “senseless” and “incomprehensible,” unlike the …

A Better Definition of Honor-Shame Cultures—”Connection” Read more »

“Cultures of honor and shame are violent.” This common assumption is a myth rooted in a pejorative cultural bias. Westerners often define honor-shame cultures by their violent retaliation against personal slights. People in honor-shame cultures are sensitive about their reputation, …

A Western Bias: “Honor-Shame Cultures are Violent” Read more »

“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 …

New Training Video about Ethics and Discipleship Read more »

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 …

Stetzer, Moreau, & Kärkkäinen at the Honor-Shame Conference Read more »