Author: HonorShame
resources for Majority World ministry
People often assume Africa is a “fear-power” culture. The animistic and magical practices of African Traditional Religions (ATRs) reflect the values of fear-power. Although Africa ranks higher in the fear-power category than other regions of the world according to The …
A Fourth Category of ‘Pain-Pleasure’?
Along with guilt-innocence, shame-honor, and fear-power, should there be a fourth category of “pain-pleasure”? This post considers the merit of this idea. The Idea of Pain-Pleasure Philosophers have long considered the feelings of pain and pleasure to be part of …
The Meaning of ‘Fear-Power’—3 Options
The label “fear-power culture” has various meanings, depending on the perspective of the speaker. This posts explains the three ways people have defined “fear-power culture.” 1. Religious: Fear-Power as Spiritual Control The worldviews of Majority World cultures, especially tribal religions, …
The Model of Guilt-Shame-Fear—A Short History
The idea of “guilt vs. shame” has a long history in 20th-century scholarship (see previous post). But how did the cultural model of guilt-shame-fear develop? Here is a super short history of the cultural trichotomony. In 1954, Christian anthropologist and …
A Quick Patronage Survey, Please!
Patronage is a common reality in global ministry, but it is rarely discussed in missiology. So unfortunately Christians struggle to navigate patronage. To help us learn more about people’s understandings and perceptions of patronage, please take this survey. There are …
The Meaning of ‘Shame’—A Short History
Where do these categories of “guilt-shame” or “shame-honor” come from? Like all ideas, the notion of “shame” has developed over time. This post summarizes the main currents of shame research in the 20th century. The Beginning: Ruth Benedict The binary …
Guilt-Shame-Fear & Other Cultural Models
There are many models that explain how global cultures differ. They all simplify reality in different ways. This post shows how the guilt-shame-fear paradigm compares to other well-known cultural models. 1. Hofstede’s 6 Dimensions An organizational anthropologist named Geert Hoftstede …
The Value of Cultural Models
In 2015 I taught a course in Chad, Africa. I considered bringing gifts for the 12 Chadian students, but we had a very tight luggage allowance. The school director suggested instead that I buy a goat at the end of …
3 In 1: Integrating Guilt, Shame, and Fear
People often voice the concern that reducing cultures down to “guilt,” “shame,” or “fear” is oversimplifying reality—“Aren’t cultures a combination of these factors?” Most certainly. Cultures are too complex to be isolated into just three boxes. These are not three …
The Story Behind ‘The Culture Test’
What is the providence of The Culture Test? People have asked this question, as it impacts the validity and authority of the results. The short is: Jayson Georges developed The Culture Test as a ministry training tool. If you want …
The 3D Gospel: Updated and Revised
The 3D Gospel started in mind as a 2-page PDF that would help people understand the results of The Culture Test. But it mushroomed into an 80-page book that I published on Amazon. Since then, The 3D Gospel has become a …
3 Problems with The Culture Test Results
I developed The Culture Test in 2013 to help people better understand cultures. The test is generally helpful in that regard—in five minutes people can get a snapshot of any culture. To help people learn about cultural differences, it is …
New Resource: Interactive Global Map of Culture Types
If you like maps and cultures, you will love the new Interactive Global Map of Culture Types. This interactive map visualizes the anonymous data from 25,000+ results from The Culture Test. Of all the resources I have developed at HonorShame.com, …
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Guilt, Shame & Fear: Revisited
The notion of guilt, shame, and fear cultures has become a common topic in mission conversations. Ministry organizations and teams around the world are discussing the topic. Four years have passed since I published The 3D Gospel and developed TheCultureTest.com. …
“Honor Restored”—New Evangelism Tool from Cru
Last summer several Cru staff members attended the Honor-Shame conference in Wheaton. After the conference, they began discussing and designing a new honor-shame evangelism tool that could used in a smart-phone app. Their new tool “Honor Restored” launched in December …
The Honor of Salvation – 11 Tozer Quotes
In The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer offers powerful insights about the role of shame in sin and honor in salvation. The following quotes are from Chapters 8 and 9 of the book, which is available for free in PDF and Kindle. Chapter …
Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies: Recent Issue on Honor-Shame
The latest issue of Asian Journal Pentecostal Studies focuses on “Biblical Refections on Shame and Honor in Asia.” The entire issue can be downloaded for free at http://www.apts.edu/aeimages/File/AJPS_PDF/18-1Rev-Interior-file-vol-21-1.pdf. The articles include: Amanda Shao-Tan, “Spirituality for the Shamed Tsinoys with Disabilities: The Shamed Jesus in …
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6 Great Sermons on Shame & Honor
People often ask me about good sermons on the topic of shame, but there are not very many. Recently I’ve listened to an amazing 6-part sermon series “He Covers Our Shame” by Dr. Beau Hughes at The Village Church of …
A Hermeneutics of Honor: John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom, the archbishop of Constantinople (353–407), was famous for his eloquent preaching (the moniker Chrysostomos means “golden-mouthed”). His eighty-eight exegetical homilies on the Gospel of John read much like a social-science commentary. I will explain a few ways that …
The Patronage Symposium: 3 Quick Must-Knows
The Patronage Symposium will gather people to examine the gospel for patron-client contexts. To learn more, visit www.HonorShame.com/patronage. Here are three related announcements: 1. Registration Ending Soon (Feb 10) The Patronage Symposium will be limited to ~40 people to foster substantive …