I am so grateful for my home church, Scottsdale Bible, which has provided me the opportunity to teach a class based on my book, The Global Gospel. The class will incorporate lecture with PowerPoint, handouts, and ample discussion. It will be held six successive Sundays, January 24 to February 28, 11:00 a.m., at the Shea Campus. The classroom is A7. Copies of The Global Gospel are available at the Scottsdale Bible book store/café.

Honor, Shame, and the Gospel

Overview: How does the gospel speak to a violent world and the refugee crisis? Are there facets of the gospel that especially resonate with Muslims as well as millennials? In this interactive class with the author of The Global Gospel, you’ll discover how understanding the Bible’s own honor/shame dynamics offers fresh answers and powerful hope through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Class 1: Biblical Honor for a World of Shame: We’ll compare basic Majority World values of honor/shame to Western values of innocence/guilt. We’ll show why guilt is more likely to lead to healing behavior—whereas shame is more likely to lead to hurtful behavior. Could it be that a gospel that focuses on sin and guilt is the “on-ramp” to a gospel that also addresses sin and shame?

Class 2: The Gospel of Honor-Status Reversal: We’ll discover a motif in Scripture—honor-status reversal—hidden in plain sight from Genesis to Revelation. We’ll go through the The Father’s Love Booklet (each attendee gets a copy). We’ll learn how to share the gospel in the “language of honor and shame”. It’s a new, easy way to share Christ with people from Majority World cultures.

Class 3: The Gospel of Purity: Christians know they are forgiven. But for many, a sense of shame persists. How does the Bible’s “purity language” speak to us through the gospel to forgive, cleanse and restore? How does the gospel speak to Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist peoples with their ritual purity practices? This is good news here and now—and across cultures.

Class 4: The Gospel of the Kingdom for a Violent World: Honor-based violence makes the news daily. Yet the church is weak in its understanding and response. Discover how the dark side of honor and shame fuels violence. Examine how Christ’s honor-sharing “gospel of the kingdom” offers a powerful cure for violence—a living hope and powerful message for the world today.

Class 5: The Gospel that Speaks to Postmodernism and Pluralism: How can our theology emphasize “sola Scriptura” (the sole authority of Scripture)—while also speaking to our postmodern, pluralistic world? We will examine three ways: 1) Acknowledging blind spots in Western theology; 2) addressing the sinful pathology of shame; and 3) magnifying the multicultural essence of the gospel.

Class 6: The Story of Joseph as Gospel Motif: Can the story of Joseph (Gen 37–50) help us make sense of the whole Bible? We’ll explore the motif of honor-status reversal in this amazing drama. In so doing, we’ll see God’s sovereignty over evil, his purpose to bless all peoples through his honorific family, and his persistent reversal of honor status—all pointing to the glorious gospel.

Questions? Please write to me at werner@mission1.org.