We have become familiar with the honor killings that have taken place in some of our own cities in the West as people from south Asia and the Middle East have come to North America. In other words, we only see the dark side of honor-shame. When Westerners observe honor-shame values at work in other cultures, we normally see them as unethical. What are some of the blind spots that we in the West have toward cultures that have honor-shame as their pivotal cultural value? Honor shame-cultures do have laws, but there is a greater emphasis on relationships and how one is perceived in their community. In the West, our society is ruled by laws. Sometimes anthropologists call group-oriented cultures dyadistic-meaning the individual is embedded in the group.Ĭonsequently, laws are not as important as relationships in honor-shame cultures. But without a doubt, in guilt-innocence cultures, we are a lot more individualistic, whereas people in honor-shame cultures are more collectivistic. Now, to be sure, the West is not completely individualistic and guilt-oriented-neither is the Majority World is completely group-and-shame-oriented. They are so embedded in their extended family and community. This is far less common in an honor-shameĬulture. ![]() Kids grow up in the West with the phrase, What do you want to be when you grow up? Many of us have been raised to value individual dreaming and pursuit with minimal regard for the opinion of the extended family or community. In guilt-innocence cultures I would say we are more law-oriented and individualistic. What’s the difference between cultures that emphasize honor-shame and cultures more like ours that value guilt and innocence? This idea shows that in an honor-shame culture, people are really immersed and completely embedded in their community, and their sense of individuality is far less than how we perceive ourselves in the West. And one African theologian modified it to describe people in honor-shame cultures this way: I am because we are, and since we are, therefore I am. Western philosopher René Descartes coined the phrase, I think, therefore I am. What ties these two definitions together is the social, relational or public aspect of the dynamics. ![]() He says the “critical item is the public nature of respect and reputation.” Brené Brown says this about shame: It is “the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging. In Jerome Neyrey’ s book, Honor and Shame in the Gospel of Matthew, he describes honor as “the worth or value of persons, both in their eyes and in the eyes of their village, neighborhood or society”. What do you mean by a culture that is embedded in “honor and shame?” Just how do you define and describe these terms? Thank you, Marv! To God be the glory! –Werner Mischke Marv’s enthusiastic support is what led to this interview, which is posted here with permission. Vice President of Missio Nexus, has been an endorser and advocate for my book, The Global Gospel. Learn how to share it lovingly and in the form of a dialogue (the script is not a tool to cream people).The interview (below) was published in the October 2015 issue of Anthology, a publication of Missio Nexus. Practice it over and over on a napkin until you can explain it clearly at any given moment. I use the Bridge Illustration as I think it covers a lot of ground. My point however, is to pick a script and get very familiar with it so that you can explain the gospel clearly when given the opportunity. It’s not my point here to pick one over the other. Just get familiar with one and start.Įach script has its critics, and its endorsers. There are plenty of scripts out there one could use. Other gospel presentation scripts include ![]() Does the law have to be the starting point for the gospel? ![]() I came to faith and then came to understand the gospel later. My conversion was not through a law and gospel presentation.
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