Category: Ministry

ministry exploring a practical missiology for honor-shame contexts

By Posted on Posted in Honor, Ministry, Missiology, Theology No Comments Tagged with , , , ,
Since the 1950’s Christian missiology has used the phrase missio Dei (Latin for the ‘sending/mission of God’) to frame God’s missional, saving activity in the world.  What is the missio Dei in scripture?  How exactly is God working to save people? Honorification is missio Dei.  …

What is God’s Mission? Honor as Missio Dei Read more »

By Posted on Posted in Culture, Ministry, Shame 2 Comments Tagged with , ,
God has saved us from shame unto honor, we are called to worship our Great Patron and Exalt-er.  But how exactly?  Most public worship and liturgies emphasize confession of transgressions and assurance of pardon/forgiveness, perpetuating the guilt-innocence theological paradigm.  But …

Worshiping God For Salvation From Shame Read more »

By Posted on Posted in Culture, Ministry, Missiology, Relationships, Spirituality No Comments Tagged with , , ,
The two previous posts “How Stories Change Honor Codes” (here and here) examine how narratives can subvert and reorient a person’s honor code.  We talked about honor codes in the general and abstract.  How can they, on the whole, be reoriented …

How Stories Change Honor Codes (III) Read more »

By Posted on Posted in Ministry, Spirituality No Comments Tagged with , , , ,
A “code of honor” or “honor code” is the socially-shared value system defining what and who is honorable or shameful.  (In American English, ‘honor code‘ typically refers to an pledge of academic honesty and integrity, but I use the term more philosophical and ethically, …

How Stories Change Honor Codes (II) Read more »

By Posted on Posted in Culture, Ministry, Relationships 10 Comments Tagged with , , , , , , ,
Honor and shame is the soil bed in which various cultural traits grow.  In this post I mention eight cultural phenomena embedded in honor-shame values, and explain why those traits are associated with honor-shame.  If you fail to understand the subsurface connection, …

Understanding 8 Traits of HonorShame Cultures Read more »

By Posted on Posted in Communication, Culture, Ministry, Relationships, Shame No Comments Tagged with , , ,
How do we as Christians respond to verbal duels for honor? The  previous blog introduced ‘verbal jousting’; this blog explores practical ‘fencing moves’ for Christian workers in HonorShame contexts.  Once I learned about verbal jousting, I recognized it often (especially …

How HS Cultures Dialogue (II) Read more »

By Posted on Posted in Culture, Ministry, Relationships, Uncategorized 8 Comments
Relationships are paramount in honor-shame cultures.  Who you know is more important than what you know. Everything happens through family, neighbors, or acquaintances. These five relational keys are the unwritten rules of social interactions in honor-shame contexts.1. Give giftsWhen I …

5 Keys for Relationships in HonorShame Contexts Read more »