Big Shame or Big Honor? Exploring the Dynamics of Honor and Shame in Cross-Cultural Partnership (Mac OS Keynote)

2012 COSIM Conference

Big Shame or Big Honor?
Exploring the Dynamics of Honor and
Shame in Cross-Cultural Partnership

Werner Mischke
©Copyright 2012 Mission ONE. All rights reserved.

Honor & Shame
in Cross-Cultural Relationships
Free 30-page article combines
• honor + shame lens
• ﬁve basic culture scales
• explained through examples from
Scripture
• practical suggestions for cross-
cultural partnerships

beautyofpartnership.org/about/free

2009
LEBANON
Exploring
honor and
shame in
Philippians

Baalbeck:
a top tourist
attraction in
Lebanon

Every culture has these features
in varying proportions

Five basic culture scales
According to Brooks Peterson,3 there are five basic culture scales: 1) Equality/Hierarchy, 2) Direct/
Indirect, 3) Individual/Group, 4) Task/Relationship, and 5) Risk/Caution. These may be
diagrammed as follows:

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Equality Hierarchy
Direct Indirect
Individual Group
Task Relationship
Risk Caution

What I intend to do in this article is to outline these five culture scales one at a time, and further,
Knowing about honor and shame helps you
to enhance our understanding of each of them by viewing them through the lens of honor and
shame—using primarily biblical illustrations.
understand the ﬁve basic culture scales

Westerners usually read
God’s Word through the
cultural lens of guilt/
innocence. But…

Reading God’s Word
through the pivotal
cultural value of
honor and shame …

Reading God’s Word
through the pivotal
cultural value of
honor and shame …

… helps Christian
leaders from the West and
Majority World understand
each other better—to build more
fruitful cross-cultural partnerships.

Examine key dynamics of
1
honor and shame from a
social-science perspective—
with examples from Scripture.

Explore honor and shame
2
as the pivotal cultural value
• of the Bible … and
• of most of the Majority World /
unreached peoples.

Examine applications
3
to cross-cultural ministries
and partnerships through
understanding the dynamics of
honor and shame.

1. Key dynamics of honor and shame
from a social science perspective.
1
• Love of honor • Challenge and riposte
• Two sources of honor: • Patronage
ascribed and achieved
• Kinship
• Image of limited good (win-lose)

Deﬁnition of honor

Honor: “the worth or value of persons
both in their eyes and in the eyes of
their village, neighborhood, or society.”

“The critical item is the public nature
of respect and reputation.”

(Neyrey, p15)

Love of honor
“Athenians excel all others not so much in singing
or in stature or in strength, as in love of honour”
–Xenophon
“For the glory that the Romans burned to possess, be it known,
is the favourable judgment of men who think well of other men.”
–Augustine
“The ancients name love of honor and praise as their
premier value.”
–Neyrey, p.17

“Now the greatest external good we should assume
to be the thing which we offer as a tribute to the
gods and which is most coveted by men of high
station, and is the prize awarded for the noblest
Aristotle deeds; and such a thing is honour,
for honour is clearly the greatest of
external goods … it is honour above all else
that great men claim and deserve.”
–Aristotle (Neyrey, p5)

Love of honor EXAMP
LE
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to
him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked
him for something.
And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to
him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at
your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”
(Matthew 20:20–21 ESV)

Two sources of honor

1. Ascribed
2. Achieved

Two sources of honor EXAMPLE
Ascribed


The book of the
Ascribed
genealogy of Jesus
Christ, the son of
David, the son of
Abraham.
(Matthew 1:1 ESV)


The book of the and behold, a voice
Ascribed
genealogy of Jesus from heaven said,
Christ, the son of “This is my beloved
David, the son of Son, with whom I am
Abraham. well pleased.”
(Matthew 1:1 ESV) (Matthew 3:17 ESV)


The book of the and behold, a voice
Ascribed
genealogy of Jesus from heaven said,
Christ, the son of “This is my beloved
David, the son of Son, with whom I am
Abraham. well pleased.”
(Matthew 1:1 ESV) (Matthew 3:17 ESV)

“encomium”— or eulogy

Achieved

Achieved
Therefore God has highly exalted him and
bestowed on him the name that is above
every name, so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, in heaven and on
earth and under the earth, and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-12 ESV)

Image of limited good
The belief that
everything in social, economic, natural universe…
everything desired in life: land, wealth, respect and
status, power and influence…
exists in ﬁnite quantity and is in short supply
If you gain, I lose: “zero-sum game”
–Neyrey, p18

Image of limited good

win-lose
The belief that
everything in social, economic, natural universe…

vs.
everything desired in life: land, wealth, respect and
status, power and influence…

win-win
exists in ﬁnite quantity and is in short supply
If you gain, I lose: “zero-sum game”
–Neyrey, p18

Image of limited good EXAMPLE

This was why the Jews were seeking
all the more to kill him,
because not only was he breaking the Sabbath,
but he was even calling God his own Father,
making himself equal with God.
(John 5:18 ESV)

Image of limited good EXAMPLE

“as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will
not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage
now as always Christ will be honored in my body,
whether by life or by death. For to me to live
is Christ, and to die is gain.”
–Philippians 1:20-21 ESV

Challenge and riposte
Four steps to this social code of “push and shove”
(Neyrey, p20)
1. claim of worth or value
2. challenge to that claim
3. riposte or defense of the claim
4. public verdict of success awarded to either
claimant or challenger

EXAMPLE

Jesus heals the
man with the
Note the withered hand
public
nature –Matt. 12:8–16
of this
encounter

8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.

9 He went on from there and entered their synagogue.

10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him,
Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?—so that they might accuse him.
11 He said to them, Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into
a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?
12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is
lawful to do good on the Sabbath.
13 Then he said to the man, Stretch out your hand. And the man
stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other.
14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

15 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he
healed them all 16 and ordered them not to make him known …
23 And all the people were amazed, and said,
Can this be the Son of David?

8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. 1. Claim of worth or value

Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?—so that they might accuse him.



Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?—so that they might accuse him. 2. Challenge to that claim



12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is 3. Defense (or
lawful to do good on the Sabbath. riposte) of the claim



12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is 3. Defense (or
lawful to do good on the Sabbath. riposte) of the claim

Can this be the Son of David? 4. Public verdict of success

Patronage
North American view of patronage is negative:
• “It’s not what you know it’s who you know”
• “We sense someone has an unfair advantage over us”
• “Violates our conviction that everyone should have equal
access to employment opportunities (being evaluated on the
basis of pertinent skills rather than personal connection).”
• “Under the table” … nepotism … keep it quiet (it’s bad)
See David deSilva: Honor, Patronage, Kinship, Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture, p96

Patronage
“The world … of the New Testament, however, was one in which
personal patronage was an essential means of acquiring access
to goods, protection, or opportunities for employment and
advancement. Not only was it essential—it was expected
and publicized! The giving and receiving of favors was,
according to a first-century participant, the ‘practice that
constitutes the chief bond of human society’
(Seneca, Ben. 1.4.2).”
deSilva: Honor, Patronage, Kinship, Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture, p97

Patronage
“Jesus and his first disciples moved among
and within patronage and friendship
networks, for patronage was as much at
home on Palestinian soil as in Greece, Asia
Minor, Egypt, Africa, and Rome.”

See David deSilva: Honor, Patronage, Kinship, Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture, p121

Patronage EXAMPLE

And he said to them,
“The kings of the Gentiles exercise
lordship over them,
and those in authority over them
are called benefactors.”
(Luke 22:25–26 ESV).

Patronage EXAMPLE

“Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point
of death … When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him
elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And
when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him … “He is worthy
to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he
is the one who built us our synagogue.”
(Luke 7:2-5 ESV)

Patronage EXAMPLE

For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him
should not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16 ESV)

Patronage
“God’s grace (charis) would not have been
of a different kind than the grace with which
they were already familiar; it would have
been understood as different only in quality
and degree.”

David deSilva: Honor, Patronage, Kinship, Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture, p122

Patronage
Distinct, speciﬁc honor code about
how to give and receive.
• Benefactor: wise, not self-serving, that
their gifts were given to honorable people;
examples of excellent stewardship
• Client: show proper gratitude and honor
to the benefactor or patron.

Patronage
Distinct,
speciﬁc GRACE
honor code
• Benefactors gave out of grace
Benefactor • The gift itself is grace Client
• Client’s response of gratitude
• “Dance of reciprocity”—grace honorably
given … grace as the gift … grace in gratitude
and honor bestowed back to the patron.

Patronage
Distinct,
speciﬁc GRACE
honor code
“This single word
Benefactor encapsulated the entire Client
ethos of the relationship…”


Patronage
Distinct, speciﬁc honor code
“The patron or giver never gives with an eye to what
can be gained from the gift. The giver does not give
to an elderly person so as to be remembered in a
will, or to an elected official with a view to getting
some leverage in politics. Such people are investors,
not benefactors or friends.”

Kinship
“In the ancient world, people are not just taken on
their ‘merits.’ Instead, their merits begin with the
merits (or debits) of their lineage, the reputation of
their ancestral house. Greeks and Romans receive a
basic identity from their larger family: for Romans
this takes the form of including the clan name in the
name of each individual.”

Kinship

Everyone’s personal honor
begins with their
kinship.

(Ascribed honor)

Kinship
“The believers, as children of God, become what
sociologists call a ﬁctive kinship group,” that is
a collection of people who are not genealogically
related but who nevertheless consider one another
as family, attempting to relate at that higher level
of intimacy, belonging and mutual
commitment.”

Kinship EXAMPLE

Now the LORD said to Abram,
“Go from your country and your kindred
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.
(Genesis 12:1 ESV)

Kinship EXAMPLE

And everyone who has left houses or
brothers or sisters or father or mother or
children or lands, for my name’s sake,
will receive a hundredfold
and will inherit eternal life.
(Matthew 19:29 ESV)

Kinship EXAMPLE

So then, as we have opportunity,
let us do good to everyone,
and especially to those who are
of the household of faith.
(Galatians 6:10 ESV)

Kinship EXAMPLE

But if anyone has the world’s goods
and sees his brother in need,
yet closes his heart against him,
how does God’s love abide in him?
(1 John 3:17 ESV)

Summary
“It would not be an understatement to say
that ‘honor’ as reputation and ‘good name’
was endemic to the ancient world; hence,
we hear classicists and anthropologists
calling it a ‘pivotal value’ of the
Mediterranean world, both ancient and
modern.” (Neyrey, p5)

Small group reﬂection

1. Key dynamics of honor and shame
from a social science perspective.
• Love of honor • Challenge and riposte
• Two sources of honor: • Patronage
ascribed and achieved
• Kinship
• Image of limited good (win-lose)

Identify one of these dynamics and
how it might relate to your ministry.

2
Honor and shame is the
pivotal cultural value
of the Bible

“Whether we turn to Paul’s letters and examine his
self-presentation, his conflict with rival teachers
and preachers, his praise of certain behavior or
blame of other, or his articulation of the status and
role of Jesus—all of this needs to be assessed
in light of the pivotal value of his world,
namely, honor and shame.” (Neyrey, p34)

Examples

And the man and his wife were both naked
and were not ashamed.
(Genesis 2:25 ESV)

Examples

I will bless those who bless you,
and him who dishonors you I will curse,
and in you all the families of the earth
shall be blessed.
(Genesis 12:3 ESV)

Examples

Awake, my glory!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
(Psalm 57:8 ESV)

Examples

How can you believe,
when you receive glory from one another
and do not seek the glory
that comes from the only God?
(John 5:44 ESV)

Examples

The glory that you have given me
I have given to them,
that they may be one even as we are one,
(John 17:22 ESV)

Examples

For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God
for salvation to everyone who believes…
(Romans 1:16 ESV)

Examples

For all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God.
(Romans 3:23 ESV)

Examples

But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom
of God, which God decreed before the ages
for our glory. None of the rulers of this age
understood this, for if they had, they would
not have cruciﬁed the Lord of glory.
(1 Corinthians 2:7-8 ESV)

Examples

For even if I boast a little too much
of our authority, which the Lord gave for
building you up and not for destroying you,
I will not be ashamed.
(2 Corinthians 10:8 ESV)

Examples

For by grace you have been saved through
faith. And this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God, not a result of works,
so that no one may boast.
(Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV)

Examples

as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will
not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage
now as always Christ will be honored
in my body, whether by life or by death.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
(Philippians 1:20-21 ESV)

Examples

we exhorted each one of you and encouraged
you and charged you to walk in a manner
worthy of God, who calls you into his
own kingdom and glory.
(1 Thessalonians 2:12 ESV)

Examples

So the honor is for you who believe,
but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
(1 Peter 2:7 ESV)

Examples

saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom
and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
(Revelation 5:12 ESV)

“In fact, a survey of all of the leading textbooks used in
teaching systematic theology across the major theological
traditions reveals that although the indexes are ﬁlled with
references to guilt, the word “shame” appears in the index
of only one of these textbooks. This omission continues to
persist despite the fact that the term guilt and its various
derivatives occur 145 times in the Old Testament and 10
times in the New Testament, whereas the term shame and
its derivatives occur nearly 300 times in the Old Testament
and 45 times in the New Testament.”
– Timothy C. Tennent:
Theology in the Context of World Christianity, p.93

References to Guilt vs. Shame in the Bible
Old Testament New Testament
400

300

200
Shame
100
Guilt
0
Guilt-based words Shame-based words

In Scripture—consider the
use of the words…

GLORY, GLORIFY,
GLORIFIED

Frequency and use in Scripture of the words,
glory, glorify, gloriﬁed, glorious
Other
Referring to GOD 304 65%

Referring to Humanity 139 29%

Referring to Other 27 6%

470
Humanity

Awake, my glory! … –Psalm 57:7
GOD
How can you believe, when you receive
glory from one another and do not seek
the glory that comes from the only God?
–John 5:44
Data compiled by Werner Mischke using English Standard Version. To request spreadsheet, write to werner@mission1.org.

Could it be,
we have a blind spot?

Could it be?
We in the West have a blind spot that keeps us from
seeing the pivotal cultural value of honor and
shame in the Bible. This hinders…
• our understanding of Scripture
• our being awakened to our own sense of honor and
glory in Christ
• our ability to use Scriptural insights by which to build
healthier, more fruitful cross-cultural relationships
and partnerships

2.b.
Honor and shame is the pivotal
cultural value of most of the
Majority World /
unreached peoples.

Comparison of Cultures by Geographical Location
—a broad generalization

Chart used by permission of Jason Borges

Comparison of Cultures by Geographical Location
—a broad generalization
West or North South (Sub-Sahara East (Asia, Middle East,
Geographical Location (North America, Europe) Africa, Latin America) North Africa)
Cultural Orientation Justice-Guilt Power-Fear Honor-Shame

Cultural Civilizations Muslim, Indian, Sinic,
Western, Orthodox Latin American, African
(Huntington) Buddhist, Japanese

Christian Status Post Christian Emerging Christian Non Christian
% Christian in 1910 95% 16% 2.7%
% Christian in 2010 81% 62% 8.5%
Total population in 2010 1.08 billion 1.42 billion 4.37 billion

Theological Orientation Augustinian, Western Pentecostal, Charismatic Undeveloped

Chart used by permission of Jason Borges

West or North South (Sub-Sahara Africa, East (Asia, Middle East,
Geographical Location (North America, Europe) Latin America) North Africa)
Cultural Orientation Justice-Guilt Power-Fear Honor-Shame

Cultural Civilizations Muslim, Indian, Sinic,
Western, Orthodox Latin American, African
(Huntington) Buddhist, Japanese
Comparison
Christian Status Post Christian Emerging Christian Non Christian
of Cultures by % Christian in 1910 95% 16% 2.7%
% Christian in 2010 81% 62% 8.5%
Geographical Total population in 2010 1.08 billion 1.42 billion 4.37 billion

Location: Theological Orientation Augustinian, Western Pentecostal, Charismatic Undeveloped

5

POPULATION, BILLIONS
A broad generalization
3.75
% Non-Christian
% Christian
2.5

1.25

0

WEST SOUTH EAST
GEOGRAPHICAL REGION

Map from floatingsheep.org:
User-Created Geographies of
Religion: Allah, Buddha, Hindu,
Jesus
http://www.floatingsheep.org/
2009/12/user-created-
geographies-of-religion.html

The world of
ISLAM is an
honor/shame
culture

The world
of BUDDHISM is
an honor/shame
culture

The world of
HINDUISM
is an honor/
shame culture

The world of
the BIBLE
is an honor/
shame culture

Application: RELATIONSHIP
By understanding New Testament culture
better—namely the pivotal cultural value of
honor and shame…
would we communicate better with
our partners and reduce misunder-
standing and conﬂict—because
we understand and speak the
“language of honor and shame?”

Application: RELATIONSHIP

To those of us who support indigenous ministries…
Do our ministry partners view us as:
• investors
• benefactors
• or friends?

Application: TRAINING

Can we develop skills in using the biblical
language of honor and shame? …
• to present the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ
in a more relevant way
• to better equip servant leaders
• to improve mobilization for mission

Application: SPIRITUAL FORMATION
To what degree do we recognize But we impart a
this profound honor, this great secret and hidden
wisdom of God, which
privilege? … in and with one another? God decreed before
That as cross-cultural partners the ages for our
co-laboring to impart the glorious, glory.
(1 Cor. 2:7 ESV)
transforming grace and truth of Jesus
Christ—“God has decreed this before See also Eph. 3:6–8
the ages for our glory.”

Application: EVALUATION
Can we evaluate our partnerships using And we all, with
the “language of honor and shame”— unveiled face,
beholding the glory of
• Personal Transformation: In what ways the Lord, are being
are we as leaders changing “from glory to
transformed into the
glory”?
same image from one
• Community Transformation: In what degree of glory to
ways is our ministry gaining honor/glory in another. For this
the view of the community? … and our comes from the Lord
community gaining honor in the region? who is the Spirit.
(2 Cor. 3:18 ESV)

Application: PERSECUTED CHURCH

How can we show honor to our Then they left the
presence of the
brothers and sisters who serve inside of council, rejoicing that
the community of the persecuted they were counted
church? worthy to suffer
Should we in the West derive honor dishonor for the
name.
from those in our family, especially our
partners, who suffer “for the sake of his (Acts 5:41 ESV)

name”?

Application: APOSTOLIC VISION
By ignoring the biblical language of To those outside the
honor and shame in building law I became as one
outside the law…
relationships and communicating
that I might win those
the gospel … outside the law. …
are we forfeiting advances for the I have become all
kingdom of Christ among Muslim, things to all people,
that by all means
Hindu, Buddhist and other groups I might save some.
whose pivotal cultural value is honor
(1 Cor. 9:21-22 ESV)
and shame?

Application: APOSTOLIC VISION

But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom
of God, which God decreed before the ages
for our glory. None of the rulers of this age
understood this, for if they had, they would
not have cruciﬁed the Lord of glory.
(1 Corinthians 2:7-8 ESV)

For from him and through him and to him
are all things.
To him be glory forever. Amen
(Romans 11:36 ESV)

Training services
WERNER MISCHKE offers training services concerning honor and shame—
to churches, mission agencies and ministry teams of all kinds. Using adult learning
theory, Werner designs seminars and workshops in which participants…
• Examine six main features of an honor/shame-based culture, FOR MORE INFORMATION:
and how to recognize it in Scripture.
• Explore how the teachings of Christ incorporate the pivotal
cultural value of honor and shame.
• Develop skills in using the “language of honor and shame” Werner Mischke
to talk about faith and what it means to follow Jesus. Executive Vice President
• Recognize honor/shame-based dynamics in cross-cultural Director of Training Ministries
ministry in order to avoid misunderstanding and build trust. Mission ONE
• Identify next steps for their missional journey or cross- werner@mission1.org
cultural relationships. Office: 480-951-0900

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