The document summarizes key concepts about honor and shame from a cross-cultural perspective. It discusses how honor is defined as public respect and reputation. It explores the love of honor, the two sources of honor as ascribed and achieved, the image of limited good where gains for one mean losses for others, and the social code of challenge and riposte. It also examines the cultural concept of patronage and provides biblical examples to illustrate these concepts. The purpose is to help understand honor and shame dynamics in cross-cultural relationships and ministry partnerships.

1. 2012 COSIM Conference
Big Shame or Big Honor?
Exploring the Dynamics of Honor and
Shame in Cross-Cultural Partnership
Exploring the Dynamics of Honor and
Werner Mischke
Shame in Cross-Cultural Partnership
©Copyright 2012 Mission ONE. All rights reserved.

2. 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

3. 2009
LEBANON
Exploring
honor and
shame in
Philippians

4. Baalbeck:
a top tourist
attraction in
Lebanon

6. Temple
of Jupiter

7. FOR
THE
GLORY
OF
ROME!

8. Every culture has these features
in varying proportions

9. Five basic culture scales
Knowing about honor and shame helps you
understand the five basic culture scales

10. Reading God’s Word
Westerners usually read
through the pivotal the
God’s Word through
cultural value of
lens of
honor and shame …
guilt/innocence. But…
… helps Christian
leaders from the West and
Majority World understand
each other better—to build more
fruitful cross-cultural partnerships.

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

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

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

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

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

16. 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)

17. 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

18. “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)

19. Love of honor EXAMPLE
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)
(Matthew 20:20–21 ESV)

20. Two sources of honor
1. Ascribed
2. Achieved

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

22. Two sources of honor EXAMPLE
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)

23. Image of limited good
win-lose
The belief that
vs.
• everything in social, economic, natural universe…
• 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

24. 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)
(John 5:18 ESV)

25. 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
–Philippians 1:20-21 ESV

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

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

28. 9 He went on from there and entered their synagogue.
1. Claim of worth or value
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.
2. Challenge to that claim
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 3. Defense (or
lawful to do good on the Sabbath. riposte) of the claim
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 …
4. Public verdict of success
23 And all the people were amazed, and said,

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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).

33. 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)

34. 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)

35. 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

36. 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.

37. 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.

38. Patronage
Distinct,
specific GRACE
honor code
“This single word
Benefactor encapsulated the entire Client
ethos of the relationship…”
David deSilva: Honor, Patronage, Kinship, Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture, p105

39. 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.”
David deSilva: Honor, Patronage, Kinship, Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture, p107

40. Kinship

41. 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.”
David deSilva: Honor, Patronage, Kinship, Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture, p159

42. Kinship
Everyone’s personal honor
begins with their
kinship.
(Ascribed honor)

43. 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.”
David deSilva: Honor, Patronage, Kinship, Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture, p78

44. 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)
(Genesis 12:1 ESV)

45. 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)
(Matthew 19:29 ESV)

46. 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)
(Galatians 6:10 ESV)

47. 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)
(1 John 3:17 ESV)

48. 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)

49. Small group reflection
• Key dynamics of honor and shame
from a social science perspective.
• Love of honor • Challenge and riposte
• Two sources of honor: • Patronage
ascribed and achievedImage of
limited good (win-lose) • Kinship
Image of limited good (win-lose)
Identify one of these dynamics and
how it might relate to your ministry.

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

51. “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)

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

53. 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)

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

55. 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)

56. 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)
(John 17:22 ESV)

57. 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)

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

59. 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)
(1 Corinthians 2:7-8 ESV)

60. 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)
(2 Corinthians 10:8 ESV)

61. 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)

62. 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)
(Philippians 1:20-21 ESV)

63. 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)
(1 Thessalonians 2:12 ESV)

64. 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)
(1 Peter 2:7 ESV)

65. 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)
(Revelation 5:12 ESV)

66. “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

67. References to Guilt vs. Shame in the Bible
Shame
Guilt

68. In Scripture—consider the
use of the words…
GLORY, GLORIFY,
GLORIFIED

69. 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%
Humanity
470
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
John 5:44
Data compiled by Werner Mischke using English Standard Version. To request spreadsheet, write to werner@mission1.org.

70. Could it be,
we have a blind spot?

71. 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

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

73. 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

74. 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
% Christian in 2010
95%
81%
16%
62%
2.7%
8.5%
Geographical Total population in 2010 1.08 billion 1.42 billion 4.37 billion
Theological Orientation Augustinian, Western Pentecostal, Charismatic Undeveloped
Location:
POPULATION, BILLIONS
A broad generalization
GEOGRAPHICAL REGION

75. Map from floatingsheep.org:
User-Created Geographies of
Religion: Allah, Buddha, Hindu,
Jesus
http://www.floatingsheep.org/2009/12/user-c
The world of
ISLAM is an
honor/shame
culture

76. The world
of BUDDHISM is
an honor/shame
culture

77. The world of
HINDUISM
is an
honor/shame
culture

78. The world of
the BIBLE
is an
honor/shame
culture

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

80. 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?”

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

82. 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

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

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

85. Application: PERSECUTED CHURCH
How can we show honor to our Then they left the
brothers and sisters who serve inside of presence of the
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
from those in our family, especially our name.(Acts 5:41 ESV)
partners, who suffer “for the sake of his (Acts 5:41 ESV)
name”?

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

87. 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)
(1 Corinthians 2:7-8 ESV)

88. 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.

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

90. 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 Executive Vice President
Jesus.Recognize honor/shame-based dynamics in cross- Director of Training Ministries
Mission ONE
cultural ministry in order to avoid misunderstanding and werner@mission1.org
build trust.Identify next steps for their missional journey or Office: 480-951-0900
cross-cultural relationships.