Guilt and Shame, Law and Love

I have just read an interesting blog post by a favourite Biblical Counseling Author of ours - Ed Welch.

Here is an excerpt:

When the law is our guide more than Jesus Christ, we narrow the prohibitions of Scripture to the point where we can satisfy them (e.g., Matt. 5:21-22), and we ignore the more positive commands such as purity, love, and meditation on things that are godly and edifying (Gal. 5:23). In other words, the righteousness of Christ is not our foundation and the holiness of Christ is not our aspiration.

The honour/shame research we are involved in often causes me to rejoice personally, as it has given the blessing of beginning to read Scripture differently. No longer do I have only 'western guilt based' spectacles adhered to my face.  The more we dig into the issue of honour/shame, the more richness the Scripture has for me and the more I find myself coming to understand the world around me and my own heart in fresh and exciting ways....

....and so that blog post got me thinking........especially since the quote was an amazing parallel to some recent research jottings in my notebook which was sitting right beside my laptop at the time.

You see, sin in Scripture is not just a guilt related term.  As westerners we often frame it only in guilt terms, but Scripture also frames it in honour/shame terms.  Romans 1:21,23 and Romans 2:23 and Romans 3:23 all frame sin in honour/shame terms....

In guilt terms, sin is a trespass - in other words doing something we have been told we shouldn't do - ie we break the law

In shame terms, sin is a 'falling short' and a 'missing the mark'(Greek - harmartia) - in other words not doing what we should do - we don't honour God or love God as we should

The two are not isolated from each other - thus Romans 2:23 states 'you dishonour God by breaking the law'.

However, within Western Christianity we have tended to very much focus on making sure we 'don't break the law' with little thought to the context in which the law is meant to be.  That context is giving God the honour He should be given.  When we don't given Him the honour due we 'fall short' of what He requires of His creation.

Interestingly when King David sinned, Nathan the prophet under God's direction, did not say God was displeased with David only because he committed adultery and murder - though he did commit adultery and murder.  Rather God's first charge against David was that he 'despised' the law (word of the Lord) and thus 'despised' God Himself. (2 Sam 12:9,10) Essentially to despise someone is the extreme opposite of loving or honouring someone.

The law is never disconnected from the lawgiver.  The law is simply reflecting the character and thus standards of the lawgiver.  Our allegience must be first to the lawgiver and thus to the law He gives.  Then even if there is no specific law about a specific matter our guide is still to honour God via the principle of the law that comes from the character of the lawgiver, rather than the letter of the law.

It's easy for us to focus on the 'do not' negative type commands that are about specifics so we can feel good about ourselves and our ability to do the right things.  It can be another story to have to think more carefully about how to apply a general positive 'do' command.  

 God through the Apostle Paul accused the Galatians of so easily reverting to law keeping, but all of us have the same tendency, and we need the reminder of the context and purpose of such laws. (see Galatians 3:1,2,10-14 and 5:6 showing the context for the law is love)

When a parent tells a child to 'keep your room tidy', it is natural for that child to ascertain what 'do not's are given - do not leave your toys all over the floor, do not forget to put your dirty clothes in the laundry basket, do not eat in your room etc. Even some positive commands may be reframed mentally as negative ones - such as 'make your bed each day' becomes in their mind 'don't leave your bed unmade'.   The specific commands might be obeyed but they don't think about moving the pile of books and school bag in the middle of the floor - after all they are not toys or clothes!

As adults we are no different, and growing up in a guilt emphasis society entrenches our perspectives very deeply.  It's easy to think we are 'doing well' when we don't do something we know we shouldn't do.  It's easy to tick a specific box.  Pride all too easily kicks in and we become legalistic, thinking we were holy today because we didn't do any of the 'do nots'.  But to be reminded of a standard we can never attain or achieve, rips the pride mat right out from under our feet.  We stand in shame because if our honour relies on perfectly loving God, we fail.  Our sin dishonours God and shames ourselves.

 As Pastor Charles Price has so aptly put it - 'God is not interested in how bad we are but how good we're not'.  When we sin by 'missing the mark', if we miss it by a small bit or a big bit, we have still missed it.  Whether we miss an archery target by a centimeter or at the far outer edge, we have still missed it.  If we miss a bus by a minute we haven't 'less missed it' than if you miss it by 10 minutes or an hour.  The reason God gave us the law was not to help us 'miss less', or be 'less bad', but to show us we have all 'missed it' and have not and cannot attain God's perfect standard of 'holy'.  Only what is holy can bring honour to God.  We need the 'do nots', not to help us be better but to help us understand what 'how good we are not' looks like.

When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus didn't mention a 'do not', but the positive 'love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength'.

While we have many specific laws recorded for us in Scripture that reveal the details of what it means to honour God, we have a more encompassing calling - to honour God through loving Him who first loved us. This is the 'good' and the 'holy' we are meant to be. Not only this, it is only what is 'good' and 'holy' that can bring honour to God.

The marvellous news of the gospel is that it is through Christ (who indwells the Christian) that we can reach what we have 'come short' of. He is holy and He is good - because He is God - the Son. Thus Christ has perfectly fulfilled the law because he loves his Father perfectly. (Matt 5:17, John 14:31) It is through Christ that we can be accepted by the Father as Holy in position and it is through Christ that we can become in practice who we are in position. (2 Cor 3:18) With the Apostle Paul we must have the attitude of 'I must decrease and He must increase'.  It is only through Christ, who fullfilled the law as he loved His Father perfectly, that we can, as we abide 'in Christ', fulfill the greatest commandment to love God and thus honour and glorify Him as we were created to.

ps. We normally think of the term 'miss the mark' as a definition of sin that implies we have missed the mark of keeping the whole law.  Yet Romans 3:23 does not say we have fallen short of 'keeping the law' but of 'the glory of God'. Within Western Christian circles, it is commonly taught or implied that the book of Romans is about sin in terms of guilt and the law.  However, if you take the time to see how much Romans speaks about  shame/ashamed, honour/glory you will be amazed that Romans is actually more about shame and honour than it is about guilt and the law. Even more so, it is about guilt and the law in the context of shame and honour and love (eg 1:16, 2:7, 13:10,14:6,15). I would encourage you to launch into a new appreciation and application of the letter to the Romans, and experience a fresh joy and excitement about what it means to be a Christian!  

Ants

Living in the bush provides a never ceasing opportunity to observe God's creation.....and even listen to it, which I am doing right now as the birds sing outside my window.

A few days ago, I noticed a small dirt mound in the garden.  So I took a closer look and discovered it was being built by some ants.

We have variety of types of ants here, but the most common is a large black ant about 10mm long.  On this occasion they seemed to be either extending their subterranean tunnels or else had some kind of internal collapse down in their dirt city, because they were very active in bringing dirt to the surface.

My curious nature drew my gaze closer, and to my amazement I realised there was a constant stream of ants each bringing one grain of dirt from an underground tunnel, dropping it on the mound and then scurrying back down their hole to get another grain. 

I have no idea how they knew who was to put which grain where, as they were not all going to the same spot on the mound, but rather to various places all over it to drop their individual grains.

I counted a 'drop rate' of 15 grains being dropped each minute with never a pause in the rhythum ! - In and out of their hole and up an down their little mound.

I guess there could have been millions of grains of dirt in their mound but the size of the task didn't seem to daunt them!  They just kept on with the task one grain at a time.

So yes, I just 'had' to get the camera and record this minature mining venture!  Unfortunately its a bit hard to see the individual grain between their front pincers.

These little ants were such a profound object lesson as I watched.  At some point just a few days before these little guys had started clearing out their tunnel one grain at a time.  Through consistent perseverance and hard work they were getting the job done.  

How often do tasks seem insurmountable to us?....we feel we are only one person and only able to 'carry' one grain's worth of work or effort.  But one grain after one grain after one grain, alongside another grain collector, and another and another who are doing the same thing, can accomplish amazing feats in a very short time.  Those little ants just pressed on doing the next thing and the next thing and the next thing.

It's a bit like a song I learnt as a kid that has a line in it which says 'don't stare up the stairs, just step up the steps, little by little inch by inch'.

Just taking life one step at a time can accomplish amazing feats.  While keeping the big goal in mind, the key is to just keep the next little task as the focus. As Elizabeth Elliot has said 'just do the next thing'.  Carrying one grain may not seem like some mountain moving accomplishment, but with one grain at a time, these ants did actually build a little mountain of millions of grains.  

Our own daily tasks and facets of ministry may seem 'ordinary' and almost 'insignificant' sometimes at times. But as we go step by step, speaking truth to hearts one word and one life at a time, we know in God's purposes, as we go along how and when He wants us, He can direct accomplishments massively greater than the one little grain we think we are involved with.  That's very humbling indeed.

Scripture says that those who are faithful in little will be faithful in much - but sometimes the 'little' will be actually accomplishing the 'much' without us even realising.  Those little ants didn't know how to do anything except the little task of carrying single grains of dirt, but it was all that was needed to be able to build an 'ant mountain'.  God looks for the weak to show His strength, the least to accomplish the greatest, the last to make first, the shamed to honour, the lowly to exalt.  God doesn't need us to think we must be able to be 'mountain movers' but rather one grain movers under His direction! 

God tells us in Scripture to go to the ant and to consider their ways as part of learning wisdom and avoiding the pitfalls of laziness.  Ants have a lot of lessons to teach us. 

Little by little, one grain at a time, is one of those lessons.

Honour and Shame Highlighted in Mission Frontiers Magazine

The magazine "Mission Frontiers" has devoted their Jan/Feb 2015 issue to the topic of Honour/Shame.

It is full of terrific and insightful articles that we highly recommend.  Whether you are a Pastor, a Missions Director, a missionary, supporter/partner of missions, or simply part of a multi-cultural society (that's just about everybody!), we would encourage you to take a look.  Articles are even available to download for free.

We praise the Lord for their gracious invitation for me to contribute an article on honour/shame in Sub-Saharan Africa and the feedback and connections which it has already brought.

Let us know some of your thoughts following whichever parts you read.  We are keen to know what impacts you the most, what is the most helpful and what other questions you still have?