Author: HonorShame
resources for Majority World ministry
Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-45) speaks about shame in his book Ethics. Bonhoeffer’s unflinching zeal and brilliant mind generated great reflections on the topic of shame, which I’ve summarized in five points below. 1-Shame is the result of disunion/estrangementPeople perceive their …
The 3D Gospel – 50% off!
The 3D Gospel: Ministry in Guilt, Shame, and Fear Cultures is now available in paperback ($8.99 though Amazon). I’ve been encouraged to hear people’s positive responses and how organizations have adopted it in their training program. A 50% discount is offered on …
Honor & Shame 201–Training Video
I have created a new training video-“Honor & Shame 201“-for Christians ministering in honor/shame contexts. The video is 50 minutes long and includes 3 exercises that help people actively engage the topic. It covers honor/shame in 5 key areas of …
Charlie Hebdo, Being Human, & Gal 5
I happened to be in France the week after the Charlie Hebdo tragedy. Reactions to the events revealed the rather large gap between the cultural values of “individualism” and “collectivism.” Yet, the incident surrounding Charlie Hebdo reveals not only two distinct …
3 Fun Images
The last post explained the differences between individualism and collectivism. Here are three fun images on that topic. The first two are from The Far Side by Gary Larson, and portray two people with individualistic inclinations in collectivistic contexts. This third image …
VBS is Shame-less (Individualism vs. Collectivism)
My dear three-year old came home from Vacation Bible School eager to show me her activity poster (below). I read it, and complimented her work. Then as any good father would, I sat her down to explain the individualism of …
VBS is Shame-less (Individualism vs. Collectivism) Read more »
The Data on Global Culture Types
In the last three months, over 1,200 people have taken The Culture Test. Here is a summary of the data. The following bar graph breaks down the results by global regions.But that is not the entire story. To understand the …
How (Not) To Guest Well
Over the last year, our family has become friends with a refugee family from Russia (they are ethnically Central Asian, but lived in Moscow 10+ years and recently were resettled in Atlanta). Knowing that New Year’s is a huge Russian …
Honor & Shame 101 — Explainer Video
Honor & Shame 101 is an explainer video about honor & shame for Christian ministry. At 5 minutes long, it hits the main ideas for people being introduced to the topic. You could use it for: prepping a short-term ministry …
Mission Frontiers Issue on Honor/Shame
The current issue of Mission Frontiers “The Power of Honor” covers the topic of honor & shame. This journal from Frontier Ventures (formerly U.S. Center of World Missions) contains two lead articles from myself (“The Gospel the World is Waiting For“) and …
Top Honor/Shame Blogs of 2014
To celebrate the New Year, here are the top blogs posts (based on comments and views) from 2014. 8. Why Western Culture Neglects Honor & Shame – Learn why Western civilization is shameless. 7. 6 Places Honor & Shame Hide in …
Exodus: The Story Behind the Movie
For Bible-related movies like Exodus: Gods and Kings, Christians are often quick to note to what extent the movie is faithful to the biblical story. But, how faithful is our Christian retelling of the exodus to the biblical story? Do we …
LeBron Dishonors (Touches) The Royal Princess!
The media buzzed this week when LeBron James broke royal protocol—he touched the Royal Duchess Kate of Cambridge. The incident is a classic clash of honor codes.The USA Today reported: At the NBA game Monday night in Brooklyn, James either forgot, …
Guilt, Shame, & Fear in the Bible
The guilt-shame-fear trichotomy serves as a framework for interpreting Scripture and contextualizing theology, not merely understanding global cultures. Examining Scripture from multiple vantage points can help Christians acquire a fuller understanding of the gospel.In The 3D Gospel: Ministry in Guilt, Shame, and …
Theology for Guilt, Shame, and Fear Cultures – Free Resource
How can we reframe Christian theology for cultures of guilt, shame, and fear? I developed a “Theology Guide” which systemically charts 40+ theological categories in the language and values of each culture type. For example, the section about God reads: …
Theology for Guilt, Shame, and Fear Cultures – Free Resource Read more »
The Call of Abraham…to Honor (Gen 12)
The post concludes our series on Gen 1-12 (Gen 2, Imago Dei, The Fall, Gen 4-11). From the heights of glory and honor in Genesis 2, humanity has fallen to the depths of shame (Gen 3). Every self-directed effort to …
#HonorTheology – Join the Chat!
The topics of honor and shame have been in the shadows of Christian theology for too long. To foster a positive conversation towards an honor-shame theology, Jackson Wu and I invite you to use #HonorTheology on Twitter and Facebook whenever …
Worshipping God for Removing Shame
I spent last weekend with ethnic pastors worshipping God for His salvation for shame. It was an amazing time! We gathered church leaders from 8 different ethnic congregations (including Sudan, Eritrea, Egypt, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, and multi-ethnic English) to discuss …
New book: THE 3D GOSPEL
Learn how the gospel speaks to all cultures. Western theology emphasizes legal forgiveness of sins, but people in the Majority World seek honor or spiritual power. In today’s globalized world, Christians need a three-dimensional gospel. Learn how the Bible speaks to cultures …
Understanding Guilt, Shame, and Fear Cultures
“We have to reckon with three different types of reactions to transgressions of religiously sanctioned codes: fear, shame, and guilt.” (Eugene Nida, Customs and Cultures [1954], p. 150)Christian missiologists identify three responses to sin in human cultures: guilt, shame, and fear. …