Monthly Archives: April 2016

Quick video: Body language

Bible study, Gospel of Jesus, Honor and shame

right hand and feet

Here is a quick description of the honor-shame dynamic that I call “body language”.

In the world of the Ancient Near East and Roman Empire the most honorable parts of the body were considered to 
be the head, face and hands. One of the most shameful body 
parts was considered to be 
the feet.

One of the most significant theological expressions of this honor-shame dynamic relates to a psalm of David in which he prophesies of the future reign of Israel’s Messiah-King. .

The LORD says to my Lord: 
“Sit at my right hand, until 
 I make your enemies your 
 footstool” (Psalm 110:1).

This verse speaks of the supreme honor of Jesus Christ—and is referenced in the synoptic Gospels, in Acts, in four of Paul’s letters, four times in the book of Hebrews, and 1 Peter. The sheer frequency of the reference signals to us its theological weightiness. Click here to watch the video on Vimeo.

Learn more—free chapter from The Global Gospel on the honor-shame dynamic of “body language”

Free resource1The free resource available with this post is an excerpt from The Global Gospel—Chapter 2.6: Honor/Shame Dynamic #6: Body Language. The chapter is four pages long. Explore how “right hand” and  “feet” speak of the supreme honor of King Jesus and his conquest over his enemies.

Enjoy the next quick video: “Body language”.

Free article, free chart: Five levels of awareness of honor-shame in cross-cultural ministry

Contextualization, Global Christian mission, Gospel of Jesus, Honor and shame, The Global Gospel
H-S-1 to H-S-5.a
H/S-1 to H/S-5: Levels of awareness of honor-shame in cross-cultural ministry

In April 2015, Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ) published my article H/S-1 to H/S-5: Levels of Awareness of Honor/Shame in Cross-Cultural Ministry.

A year has passed since the article has been published. So now it is freely available outside of the EMQ online environment. (CLICK HERE to download 3,000-word article.) The article is still available at EMQ’s website, of course.

Levels of awareness of honor-shame chartThe article is based on a diagram-chart of the same title which is Addendum 2 in The Global Gospel. The article examines five levels of awareness of honor-shame:

  • H/S-1: Unawareness
  • H/S-2: Ethical
  • H/S-3: Functional
  • H/S-4: Evangelical
  • H/S-5: Teleological


“H/S-1 to H/S-5”—in the forms of both the article and the diagram/chart—are intended to help Christian leaders 1) examine default attitudes about honor/shame relative to the Bible, and 2) consider alternative beliefs and practices in the light of the Bible’s negative and positive! renderings of honor/shame dynamics.

Quick video: Challenge and riposte

Bible study, Gospel of Jesus, Honor and shame, The Global Gospel

Fencing

Here is a quick description of the honor-shame dynamic called the “challenge and riposte”.

“Riposte” is a term used in the sport of fencing, meaning “a quick return thrust following a parry.” Socially it means, “a quick clever reply to an insult or criticism.” There are four steps to this protocol or social code of challenge and riposte—or “push-and-shove.” These four steps are:

  1. Claim of worth or value
  2. Challenge to that claim or refusal to acknowledge the claim
  3. Riposte or defense of the claim
  4. Public verdict of success awarded to either claimant or challenger[1]

There are numerous examples of honor competition in the Bible. The honor competition between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders in the Gospels frequently follows the four-step sequence referred to above. Learn about this honor-shame dynamic—“challenge and riposte”—in the next in our series of quick videos about honor and shame. Click here to watch the video on Vimeo.

Learn more—free chapter from The Global Gospel on the honor-shame dynamic of “challenge and riposte”

Free resource1The free resource available with this post is an excerpt from The Global Gospel—Chapter 2.4: Honor/Shame Dynamic #4: Challenge and Riposte. The chapter is eight pages long. NOTE: This chapter helps you understand the seemingly unending cycle of conflict and violence in some honor/shame societies. The honor-shame dynamics of the love of honor, the image of limited good, and challenge and riposte—work together in a dark synergy to support a greater propensity for violence.

Enjoy the next quick video: “Challenge and Riposte”.

1. Jerome Neyrey: Honor and Shame in the Gospel of Matthew (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998), 20.

Quick video: the “image of limited good”

Bible study, Honor and shame, The Global Gospel

Image of limited good vertical win-loseHere is a quick description of the honor-shame dynamic called the “image of limited good”. The image of limited good is “the belief that everything in the social, economic, natural universe … everything desired in life: land, wealth, respect and status, power and influence … exist in finite quantity and are in short supply”.[1] If you gain, I lose … it’s a “zero-sum game.”

The example given in the video is from 1 Samuel 18:6–9. After David’s victory over Goliath, Israel’s women celebrated and honored David above Saul. Did Saul celebrate with the people over their great victory? No!

Instead of Saul rejoicing over Israel’s dramatic victory, Saul lamented (1 Sam 18:8); he considered it a mortal threat that David was honored above himself. Here’s why: There was only so much honor to go around (honor is a “limited good”)—so as David’s honor status increased among the people, Saul’s own honor went down.

Saul’s extreme envy reflected the default values of his culture—a win-lose mindset—the “image of limited good”.

Learn more about the “image of limited good”, and discover how Christ overturns “limited good”—in the next in our series of quick videos about honor and shame. Click here to watch the video on Vimeo.

Learn more—free chapter from The Global Gospel on the “image of limited good”

Free resource1The free resource available with this post is an excerpt from The Global Gospel—Chapter 2.3: Honor/Shame Dynamic #3: The Image of Limited Good. The chapter is five pages long. Enjoy the next quick video: “The Image of Limited Good”

1. Jerome Neyrey: Honor and Shame in the Gospel of Matthew (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998), 18.

Quick video: Two sources of honor—ascribed and achieved

Bible study, Gospel of Jesus, Honor and shame

Two sources of honor graphic copy verticalIf you want to gain an awareness of honor-shame in the Bible and what it implies for the gospel, there is nothing more important than understanding this:

There are but two sources of honor—ascribed and achieved.

Both the ascribed and achieved honor or Jesus Christ are elaborately described in Scripture. Why? In order to make the case for his supreme honor; Jesus is worth believing in, following, obeying, and worshiping—as God.

Ascribed honor of Jesus: Consider just a few of the titles given to Jesus in the Bible—Emmanuel, Savior, Son of Man, Son of David, Son of God, King of kings, Lord of lords, Alpha and Omega. These titles conveying his ascribed honor carried tremendous weight in ancient Palestine, both among the Jews and among the Gentile peoples of the Roman Empire.

Achieved honor of Jesus. We see Christ’s achieved honor beautifully declared in Philippians 2:8–11. And in Hebrews 1:1–14 we find an elaborate description of Jesus Christ, incorporating both his ascribed and achieved honor.

Learn about this honor-shame dynamic, “two sources of honor—ascribed and achieved”, in the next in our series of quick videos about honor and shame. Click here to watch the video on Vimeo.

Learn more—free chapter from The Global Gospel on the “two sources of honor”

Free resource1The free resource available with this post is an excerpt from The Global Gospel—Chapter 2.2: Honor/Shame Dynamic #2: Two Sources of Honor—Ascribed and Achieved.  The chapter examines how this dynamic is prominently represented in the Bible. The chapter is four pages long.

Enjoy the next video: “Two Sources of Honor—Ascribed and Achieved”