Recently I was discussing with Kenosi, our Motswana Ministry and Research assistant, about re-reading Scripture with an attitude of looking out for honour/shame type concepts and how they are everywhere. The Scriptures come alive with new meaning and a massively greater relevance to life.
Kenosi was also sharing in regard to how he is preaching differently now, and how much he realised he was 'missing' in Scripture before. He said he feels like he almost needs to "re-preach" all his sermons!
One of the passages we were talking about was the book of Job.
We talked about the fact of emphasising how God shamed Job in the eyes of others - his honour via his wealth, health and status was totally removed. He ended up scratching himself in an ash-heap!
The culture around us in Africa often sees sickness as a shameful punishment for some 'wrong' done (ie in some way not doing what the ancestors want and thus they are not happy with you and have brought this 'bad' state of suffering upon you). So the story of Job is one to be reckoned with. Even more so, when you realise that God didn't send the suffering as a punishment for Job to dishonour him. Rather the reason Job was 'chosen' for this suffering was because he was in fact honouring God very well.... God Himself said Job was "blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil" and that there was no-one else like him on the earth (Job 1:8) This was in effect the CV that God gave Satan as Job's qualification to be tested with great suffering.....
But for what and why....???
Among other things maybe it was to show Satan (and everyone else) that ultimately God is still supreme and worthy to be worshipped and honoured. He knew more than Satan (that Job's faith would not fail), and He had a greater purpose than Satan (Satan wanted to destroy God's name and glory, but God did it to confirm His own name and glory)....and in the process grow Job's faith. In the end Job said that his growth in worship could be likened to: before his suffering his ears had heard of God, but now his eyes had seen God. (Job 42:5)
This in-depth biography of Job that we have in Scripture is a testimony to the fact that suffering and illness, trial and catastrophe is not necessarily God's punishment and is not something shameful, but something so honourable that God uses it to display His glory and honour and as a tool to demonstrate his supremacy over any of Satan's schemes.
A great blog called honorshame.com recently also looked at the story of Job and the fact that God was also showing Job and others that Job's earthly honour was a gift of God by His sovereign power and not something he achieved by himself by his own righteousness. So it was God's prerogative to grow it, or lessen it, or remove it all together. I would add that maybe he was also demonstrating that we must be ever mindful that any honour we have, though acclaimed by others, is never to be reliant on others, and that what others may see as dishonourable or shameful in a cultural way, may actually be what God sees as honourable.
Job did question God about the suffering he was under, and like those in the culture around us, he was trying to think of where he 'went wrong' in the eyes of God, and why he was being made to feel 'shame' - not least by his friends and his wife. (ch 31) But he came to realise that God's purposes were much bigger than he could understand and that because God is God He can do as He pleases, and to even think that God is doing this to 'punish' him was dishonouring God. We read about this in Chapter 42:6 where he says how he 'despises' himself (ie he is deeply ashamed of himself). Even in his own eyes now he feels shame. God has corrected Job's wrong knowledge and understanding about suffering with a new perspective, and now that Job has renewed his mind on this, even his own conscience is now accusing/shaming him - that he is not reacting in a way that equalled who he thought he was before all this suffering - someone who was honouring God. His shame is not left there however, as he repents and 'shames himself' by putting himself, voluntarily this time, in dust and ashes and thus acknowledges his shame before God for judging God falsely. Matthew Henry's concise commentary says : " "he abhorred himself as a sinner in heart and life, especially for murmering against God, and took shame to himself"
And then interestingly it is after his repentance in utter humility, that God actually restores his honor, wealth, health etc. Proverbs tells us that humility comes before honour. (Prov 15:33) But, forever, he would remember the process by which his new wealth was given, and that any blessing or honour that came from it was all of God's graciousness and never of his own making. He was knowing also, not to assume he should have certain honour just because he obeyed God's law and wasn't doing anything he thought was 'punishable'.
I find this very interesting in the light of many aspects of honour/shame culture traditionally in Africa, but also in the Health, Wealth and Prosperity Gospel which is so prevalent here. So many people will boast of their 'honour' and say how God is blessing them, but it is said in such a way that it is like they are boasting in the fact that they have been the ones able to make money. That wealth is then interpreted as God's blessing. While God gives us skills to work and make money we must never forget that what we have is never of our own making, but must be received humbly from God's gracious hand.
I have for many reasons been blessed by the book of Job over the years, and yet again, this book is a blessing and a reminder of the perspective we should have on suffering, and also on the material blessings we are given and how that relates to the 'honour' we have in the eyes of our community and friends because of it. In all of life, our focus and goal must be of humility in all that God sovereignly brings into our lives be it suffering or health, poverty or wealth, so that all the honour is ultimately His.
I'd love to hear any feedback of other passages you might have read from an honour/shame perspective and the new truths you have found....
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