Last week we began a discussion about the concepts of honor and shame and how God designed them to work together to help ensure the peace, prosperity, and social stability of His people. I realize that it doesn’t seem to be one of those basic Bible themes that we encounter regularly in our devotional guides or Bible study groups. Since honor and shame aren’t afforded the kind of attention commonly found in many Middle Eastern cultures, we don’t tend to notice the presence or absence of this powerful dyad in our day-to-day living. 

A Relevant Question ~
So then, why should we be concerned? After all, the issue doesn’t seem to rank up there with things like the price of gas, or the invasion going on at our so-called southern border, or the rampant increase of crime across our country – or whether somebody else already grabbed that last donut I had my eye on. Compared to the urgencies confronting us on so many levels, talking about the role of honor and shame sounds like something that ought to be relegated to a sociology classroom. But if we’re going to be serious followers of Jesus, we shouldn’t ignore how He handled the issue, and what it means for us here and now. 

Honor and shame are not just abstract principles, they are basic motivations God implanted in us as a source of blessing and benefit. But like every good gift our Father bestowed on us, the devil strives to pervert them, distort them, and use them against us. In our culture, the role of honor and shame has been co-opted by the enemy, and he’s weaving it into another basic human tendency and using them in ways we don’t tend to recognize. Thankfully, the most incredible counter-cultural Rabbi the world has ever known gave us some lessons on how to deal with it, and for this session, we’ll be looking at one of them. But first, it’s important to briefly address that other human tendency just mentioned. 

Another Motivating Factor ~
Some version of the honor-shame system is found in all cultures, and whether they are obvious or more nuanced, they work in concert with another basic human instinct. God built into every one of us an incessant, irrepressible desire to “belong.” Regardless of the prevailing culture they’re born into, humans long to find a place where that urge for belonging is fulfilled and maintained to as great a degree as possible. But finding that group or social unit where we seem to fit is just the beginning. We seek to discover more after that, and it’s in those areas where the concepts of honor and shame begin to work together:

The quest begins with seeking a group or society that reflects values we find acceptable.

• • Then we work through whatever process is required to obtain admission and develop an affinity with them. That promotes the blending of the group’s public image into how we see ourselves. Then the other quest begins … 
  • Once we find acceptance in the group, we want to know who the leaders are, how the group’s hierarchy works and what our status is. We want to learn how to move up, and how to avoid being rejected and expelled from the group. We want to figure out what the “pecking order” is; i.e., who’s above whom and why? 
  • Then we want to learn how to gain personal recognition and what it takes to have our position in the group improved and reinforced. 
  • Instead of honor vs. shame, in our Western culture, we may think in terms of status and advancement vs. failure and rejection. But whatever we call it, what we really want to know is how to ensure our place in the “group” and retain or increase our status; i.e. honor – and what it takes to avoid the shame of being rejected and expelled. An obvious example of how powerful, and often disastrous, this process can be plays out every minute of every day as our children strive to earn enough clicks and views to avoid the shame of rejection

In case all that seems a bit too academic, an incident Jesus encountered might help to bring it home for us: 

Then He [Jesus] came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?” But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them,“Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.” (Mark 9:33–37 NKJV)

A Dangerous Ambition ~
The Greek term translated greatest is the word mégas, which is obviously the source of the familiar descriptor, mega. It’s a term we add in order to emphasize qualities like size, power, influence, and authority. So Jesus’ followers wanted to be more than just a disciple. They wanted to be a mega-disciple. Being invited to have an intimate, personal relationship with the virgin-born Son of God wasn’t quite enough honor for them. Does that begin to illustrate what can happen when our natural desire for honor among our peers gets twisted into a drive for personal advancement and status? Are we so naïve as to think we’re immune? 

Clearly, Jesus’ disciples weren’t the only ones affected by a desire for honor being redefined as status, authority, and personal advancement. Jesus confronted the religious leadership of His day repeatedly about how they were turning the most sanctified activities, like prayer, giving, and teaching the Word of God, into a means of elevating and distinguishing themselves.  

And lest we think the Church somehow escaped the infection . . . The church in Corinth experienced it in regard to personal affiliation and spiritual gifts. Here’s one example of Paul’s denunciation: 

For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians 1:10–13 NKJV)

An Unexpected Reaction ~
So, how did Jesus respond when His disciples were involved in striving to be the mega-disciple? He did the most unexpected, eternally-rewarding, power-concentrating, counter-cultural thing imaginable. In the presence of His power-hungry, status-seeking, honor-perverting followers, He basically said, “Let me show you the path to greatness greater than what you’re seeking now.” Then He called for a child, and not just a child, but a little child. Jesus chose the most powerless, dependent, least equipped, poorest, politically irrelevant, and religiously discounted person available – and I think Jesus very likely stood up and raised that child up higher than all of them.

A helpless toddler with none of what the status-seekers wanted found himself or herself personally lifted up in the hands of the Son of God. It was the strength in His arms and the grip in His hands that lifted them up, not some quality they contributed. In His hands they were raised to a level higher than anything they could ever achieve on their own. Show me status greater than that. Show me honor that can exceed that. Show me something more eternally fulfilling than that. And try buying that with the world’s tarnished gold or replicating it with the world’s vacuous accolades.  

All Are Vulnerable ~
The honor that God bestows on us is qualitatively different from the self-promoting, status-affirming counterfeit the world offers and our human nature craves. Sadly, none of us are immune from its influence, even in our church fellowships. We don’t know who that little boy or girl was or who they grew up to be, but we know how to have the honor that he or she received. Honor lies in trusting the power in His hands and yielding to the strength in His arms. But if we choose instead to seek the honor that the devil’s system offers, the masquerade will soon melt away and only shame and rejection remain.

May we encourage one another this week to seek the greatness that can’t be lost. May we feel the strength in His arms and the firm grip of His nail-scarred hands as He lifts us to heights we’ll never achieve alone.

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