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!
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