Australia Day Fruit - paying attention to roots of identity and language confusion

As I look  from afar off in Africa, on this Australia Day….

What's going on?

Today is Australia Day! My birth country's national 'day'.

It's meant to be a day that brings every Australian together in unity and celebration in what some would call 'national pride', but some seem to want it to be a day of national 'shame'.

When I was a child I used to think that Aussies were pretty 'low-key' when it came to patriotism. In contrast I looked at America and thought it was quite 'over the top' in its national patriotism. Australia Day back then was a national holiday to give out Australia Day awards and citizenships, but not much else happened except maybe an excuse for another extended family picnic. Cheaply imported 'Aussie' paraphernalia seems to have changed all that.

HOWEVER, This year as I hang a simple Aussie flag in our home far away from Aussie shores, there are so many reasons I am thankful for being born an Aussie. I also watch scenes on Youtube from Aussie news broadcasters that show how some want to turn a happy national day into an angry day with a different name.

What's going on?

What can or should be done about it?

I am not going to try to give an answer on which day of the year should be Australia Day, or any other of the obvious controversial issues. Because I think this is something more than that.

Sometimes standing back and looking from a distance, can help.

Living cross-culturally for the last 23 years as also helped me learn to look at life and culture with fresh eyes….and pay attention to elements of cultural life that once upon a time I didn't even notice, or know I should look for. 

We also need to look below the surface and dig to root level if we want to address and solve root issues. Some might think these aren't root issues but just a lot of minority 'noise'. But root issues start at lower levels of a plant first and creep up to the top fruit level. We need to recognise the first signs of problems appearing in the fruit and address the problems early at the root…otherwise it will get so bad the only result is that the whole tree rots and falls or is taken down. And often the 'root' issues are actually 'soil' issues…as any gardener will tell us.

Here are two 'soil' issues I am seeing underneath the 'Australia Day Fruit'

1. Identity

Identity issues I have addressed many times on this blog. However, when our core human identity is not in Christ our Redeemer, and more deeply not even in God our Creator, we try to find it elsewhere. 

The first substitute is likely to be national identity and earthly citizenship. And because we no longer rest in our heavenly sourced identity and citizenship, we begin to rely on our earthly identity and citizenship.

But in God's scheme of things, while our earthly ethnicity and nationality is God-given, it is not meant to be the zenith of our identity as explained by American honour-shame scholar (and past Asian missionary) Brad Vaugn here on his recent blog post.  

There will be some from every ethnicity in heaven, but that is not because of the ultimate greatness of those ethnicities. It simply shows that ethnicity in no way excludes anyone from gaining a new and higher honour and identity in a new kingdom and citizenship - in Christ and His eternal holy Kingdom of glory. We no longer need to join an earthly nation (Israel) to be God's people, but we come into Christ, in whose Holy Spirit all ethnicities that were once separate, are now joined. 

We go from all being many nations under differing honour-code ethics which divide us, to all being under one Christ-directed set of holy honour code ethics that unite us. 

However, when we forget, ignore, deny, or are just plain blind, to God's Kingdom identity, 

we have no secure assurance of any identity….and so

 we will try to find a substitute, and then fight for it.

Many Australians have found their substitute identity in a mis-placed inferior earthly national identity and felt blindly 'safe' that it was a sufficient substitute for Kingdom Citizenship and they don't really need God in the 'lucky country'.

But along comes a problem…

When you settle for finding your deep human identity in a lower level substitute, suddenly you discover there are others at the same lower level as you also trying to find their human identity in the earthly ethnicity or nationality. Now there is no higher unifying identity for all. 

And what does this lead to?

Still a yearning for identity but one that leads to tribalism and fighting for supremacy of your tribe - whether that's your gender or your ethnicity or your sporting team, or gang, or profession, or whatever..

Meanwhile the soul of man knows there is something more is needed than just national earthly identity, in order to fulfill the deep longings of the heart.

And so we go looking for something to make us feel that deeper, elusive sense of honour. 

So what is the Aussie likely to do?….they go looking for what is a cultural honour-code pillar... fighting for the 'underdog' - ie the oppressed, the less fortunate or the vulnerable, shamed or neglected. If your world has moved to what is now tribalism and you want to do a culturally honourable thing and fight for the 'oppressed', what will you do?

You will find who you think is the 'oppressed' group and you fight for it …and you will think you are doing the most honourable important thing on the planet!

So you find your ultimate honour in trying to be a 'hero' in 'helping' the 'oppressed' group be 'heard', by increasing their voice to those who you think are not listening and oppressing the 'underdog'. 

Without God in your life, 

you fight for the ones you perceive or believe are the shamed ones, 

and try to shame the ones 

who are your opponents and who you believe are the oppressors.

The fact that it will never satisfy, the fact that it will only further divide and not unify, the fact that it is a shameful lie of the devil to keep you away from the true identity and honour available in God through Christ... you are blind to it all. You don't realise that in a misplaced honour-code that is no longer God's honour code, you will mis-take what is truly honour and what is truly shame, you will mistake what will truly unify and what will truly divide.

And to add to the subtlety of the devils lies, helping the oppressed is what we are called to do as Christians, but we have to make sure our definitions and interpretations of 'oppressed' are God's, and the way we do it is His way. We have to make sure also (even as Christians) that our identity is not found in our 'works', but in Christ.

It's not that we as human beings don't have things to be ashamed for. Before God, in particular, we all do. Some of what we see in our world today, is no doubt the reality that deep in every heart is an awareness that we are all in a place of shame and we should be ashamed of something we have done wrong and an identity we should mourn. 

We also want to alleviate our own sense of shame 

by pointing out, blaming and shaming others. 

We put others down to put ourselves 'up' in our own minds. 

But when we leave God out, we have no answer to why we feel shame for anything at all, and we have no answer to how to deal with the shame or to know what it is we really should be mourning. We end up being sucked into lies and substitutes that never satisfy and only confuse, disappoint and divide.

All because we are trying to find our identity in the wrong 'soil' source.

2. Language Confusion

The next issue that seems to be exposed in this mess is what I would call 'language confusion'. Australia only has one official national language - English. 

But in cross-cultural missions we often talk about communicating in a person's 'heart language'. A language is more than particular tones and sounds used to identify items and actions etc in communication, and which differ from culture to culture. Those are rooted in the Genesis 11 tower of Babel. We know such language differences need translation to enable the different language speakers to 'hear' each other. 

We could call that the 'what' of language.

But language is more than 'what'. 

It is also 'how' and 'why'. 

It's how we express what we mean and why we express it that way.

For example we talk about 'love languages' where different people who might all speak English could express their idea of love in different ways but still using English words. Such languages can also end up in mis-understanding and require 'translation'. There is a need to learn to understand the lens of how the other person 'sees' (and feels) love.

But there is another heart language issue that is so evident across our multi-cultural world. And its creating mis-understanding, stress, pain and conflict in a multitude of settings. 

Its the issue of the different heart languages of guilt-innocence and shame-honour. It's the languages of how we look at right and wrong, good and evil. It's the languages of the conscience, of motivation, of persuasion, of significance, of goals, of crime and punishment, of advocacy, of righteousness and sin.

Australia has a cultural conflict  - not just about Pro-Palestinians protesting on the streets, but in regard to ideology (beliefs) and theology (God) and thus also anthropology (humanity) and eschatology (future). It's not just about different ethnic cultures either, but also about generational cultures. Evangelist and Author Sam Chan has said how that younger generations in Australia have to be reached from the perspective that they think in 'shame-honour' terms rather than 'guilt-innocence' terms. This is a generation who has been raised not only in the soil of a God-denying society (without even an awareness of Creator or Redeemer rooted identity), but also in a social-media honour-shame fuelled world.

And in the process these two differing cultural focuses (worldviews) are talking in different languages about how to progress through these conflicts. They are speaking past each other. Neither are truly hearing the other, and thus both think the other one is blind, stupid, reckless and evil.

Now, don't get me wrong, 

what God says is evil is evil, and what God says is righteous is righteous. 

There is no debate to be had about that.

However, the lenses by which a person sees how to understand and explain right and wrong can differ. This impacts how we interpret the world, ourselves and even the Bible. When that lens is functioning in a mis-placed way, the problem of differences and divisions only increases.

The lenses in Australia (and in the wider western world) have some people shouting through 'shame' terms, and others shouting in 'guilt' terms. And both think they are right and that the other side is 'out of touch with reality'.

Let me explain -

The 'guilt-innocence' side is championing truth-restoration and thus the exposing of lies. They accuse the other side of telling lies, breaking promises and refusing the truth.

The 'shame-honour' side is championing honour-restoration (or they might use the term respect), and thus shame-removal. They accuse the other side of shameful behaviour and refusing to show respect.

This was highlighted to me in stark reality today.  I was catching up on Aussie news on this Australia Day on Youtube!….and the top news bulletin was talking all about truth, and the lies of broken promises. Just below it on Youtube was a news bulletin on a different Aussie TV channel about thousands marching in the streets to say it is not 'Australia Day' but 'Invasion Day'. That side's mantra is all about making the 'invaders' feel ashamed…so ashamed that they should change or cancel Australia Day being on January 26th.

So where to from here?

We have to start speaking the language of those we are trying to reach with the gospel.

Those who see life through honour-shame lenses primarily need to be spoken to in honour-shame terms. 

Truth is important, but we don't speak in those terms first…we explain truth in terms of honour and shame. We say how that to speak truth is respectful, and lying is shameful. We have to translate our message into the language that is understood. If a leader lies, he is shameful. We don't just fight for truth, but we fight for the truth about honour and the honour of truth. We don't just fight against lies, but we expose the lies of mis-placed shame and the shame of lies.

We have to 'learn' a new language. We - including the church - have to expand our vocabulary, both our social vocabulary and biblical vocabulary. 

Like learning a language when going cross-culturally, we have to listen to hear how people articulate their feelings, aspirations, goals and describe their actions and choices. When we use a different language, the listener doesn't 'hear'.  They have to hear the gospel in their language. It has to be a language that speaks about identity, and belonging and honour and shame and acceptance, and what God affirms and rejects. It needs to acknowledge and not dismiss that their desires for identity and honour and acceptance and affirmation are valid, but where they seek it might be mis-placed.

The reality is that we all are sensitive to honour and shame but we articulate it in different ways. And Scripture talks more about shame than it does about guilt. So learning more 'shame' oriented language not only will help us communicate and share the gospel better with others, it will also give us a greater insight and experience of the God of the gospel.

Forgotten Honour - William Cowper and Madame Guyon

Madame Guyon

It's been a while since I delved back in Church History and took a look at how much honour and shame dynamics were part of the thinking and writing of Christians in centuries past.

Recently I came across another hymn - one which I had never heard of before - from around the late 15th century, which has its whole theme as the issue of sin being our shameful usurping of the place that God's honour should have in our lives. In fact it is given as the description of our lack of love for God. And it is no short explanation….it is 10 verses! It was once asked of me, that if honour is so important, why is the 'greatest commandment' about loving God and doesn't say about honouring God?…maybe this hymn goes some way in explaining that issue, as it points out how much the issues of love and honour are intrinsically linked together. 

It's a hymn that is not in modern hymnbooks, but was known by, and quoted by, Spurgeon in his devotional for December 19. He was speaking about trusting God to provide and care for us in the midst of our anxieties, saying "You are meddling with Christ's business, and neglecting your own when you fret about your lot and circumstances." and he went on to quote the 9th verse of this hymn:

My soul! rest happy in thy low estate,

Nor hope, nor wish, to be esteemed or great,

To take the impression of a will divine,

Be that thy glory, and those riches thine.

His point of persuasion with this verse, is that the cause and solution for our anxieties is 'glory' based. When we have our glory/honour focus in the right direction (on God not ourselves) we can be like the hymn-writer and have rest and happiness for our soul. And who doesn't want rest and happiness? We all do. But they are to be found by getting our 'glory' focus right.

This hymn was translated by British Poet William Cowper (probably around 1782) from the original French by Madame de la Mothe Guion written probably around a century earlier. Cowper is most famous for producing the 'Olney Hymns' hymnbook with his pastor (the well known John Newton who wrote 'Amazing Grace'). Read more about the hymn and William Cowper and Madame Guyon here and the hymn is explained verse by verse here.

The 10 verses are filled with words which are worth reading over and over:

Oh loved! but not enough—though dearer far

Than self and its most loved enjoyments are;

None duly loves thee, but who, nobly free

From sensual objects, finds his all in thee.

Glory of God! thou stranger here below,

Whom man nor knows, nor feels a wish to know;

Our faith and reason are both shocked to find

Man in the post of honour—Thee behind.

Reason exclaims—"Let every creature fall,

Ashamed, abased, before the Lord of all;"

And faith, o'erwhelmed with such a dazzling blaze,

Feebly describes the beauty she surveys.

Yet man, dim–sighted man, and rash as blind,

Deaf to the dictates of his better mind,

In frantic competition dares the skies,

And claims precedence of the Only wise.

Oh, lost in vanity, till once self–known!

Nothing is great, or good, but God alone;

When thou shalt stand before his awful face,

Then, at the last, thy pride shall know his place.

Glorious, Almighty, First, and without end!

When wilt thou melt the mountains and descend?

When wilt thou shoot abroad thy conquering rays,

And teach these atoms, thou hast made, thy praise?

Thy glory is the sweetest heaven I feel;

And, if I seek it with too fierce a zeal,

Thy love, triumphant o'er a selfish will,

Taught me the passion, and inspires it still.

My reason, all my faculties, unite,

To make thy glory their supreme delight:

Forbid it, fountain of my brightest days,

That I should rob thee, and usurp thy praise!

My soul! rest happy in thy low estate,

Nor hope, nor wish, to be esteemed or great,

To take the impression of a will divine,

Be that thy glory, and those riches thine.

Confess him righteous in his just decrees,

Love what he loves, and let his pleasure please;

Die daily; from the touch of sin recede;

Then thou hast crowned him, and he reigns indeed.

Mary - blessed shame for better glory

(photo- screenshot from a Whatsapp status post)

The first Sunday of Advent has arrived….as we move into this week and think about the coming of our Saviour into the world as a humble baby, we also anticipate his return to this world as the reigning King of Kings.

The arrival of 'Advent' led me to think about the fact that this is less than one month out from Christmas. Although the time of our Saviour's birth was probably not December, Advent is still the time we mark in the weeks leading up to our Saviour's birth in Bethlehem. I began to also ponder that this point in the 'time line' is the time at which Jesus was not yet born, and the Shepherds and Wise Men were not yet alerted to his birth….but his birth was still anticipated by his parents, who were well aware of identity of the baby Mary was carrying.

As protestants I feel we can sometimes shy away from thinking too much about Mary, for fear of deifying or idolising her. However, Scripture tells us she is 'blessed among women' and the reality is that God chose her body to be the 'home' of God the Son from 'conception' till birth, and her life and testimony has much to teach us.

There is a modern song often sung at Christmas which asks the question: 'Mary did you know?' …if you don't know it,  The song poses various thoughts, phrased as questions you might want to ask Mary about various things we know now as we look back, but might wonder if she knew about at the time. The reality is that Mary did know some things about her special calling and mission. She was not totally walking 'blindly' unaware through her specially begun pregnancy and parenthood. The angel Gabriel had told her some facts about who this baby was going to be, and it's not something she could have just 'forgotten'. But she also didn't know all the details. Gabriel didn't tell her everything.

SO….As I ponder about this 'Advent' point in the lead-up to the birth which we remember at Christmas, 

I am reminded that Mary:

• would have been heavily pregnant and just a few weeks from the anticipated birth. Her days of waiting for this baby would soon be over and she would hold him in her arms. And maybe the census call had already gone out and she and her husband Joseph had to process the reluctance to travel at such a critical time, especially for her first pregnancy

• has had to move through the months of a pregnancy becoming evident, amidst the shame that she and Joseph had to bear from their entire community of 'becoming' pregnant before their full wedding had taken place. After all, how many people are going to believe some story of 'becoming pregnant by the Holy Spirit'?

• accepted a life-road of earthly shame by becoming the mother of Jesus. 

• gives me an example that what looks shameful to the world can be God working the glory of his purposes and plans.

• shows me if we are walking in God's will and calling, we will be misunderstood, mistreated, and maligned, as the world has no concept or category for God's work when it moves out of their sphere of understanding and experience.

• and her story highlights how a miracle (the virgin birth) in God's agenda can feel like a mystery or even a mire of false accusations and insults. Not only as we walk with God must we not rely on our own understanding (Prov 3:5-6) but we must also not gauge glory by whether other people understand or give glory or not. 

• had to trust God more than friends, family or community. 

• had to wait for the birth, and she would have had a mix of eager anticipation and anxious anticipation. She knew that her 'son' was going to be the Messiah, but she didn't know all that it would mean and she and Joseph would be entrusted with the immense responsibility of the earthly nurture and instruction of the Messiah as he grew.

• understood that God chooses the humble, lowly and unexpected, not the proud or elite. She understood that God's glory doesn't come the world's way.

•  sees herself as blessed and accepts the reality of the words that she is 'favoured'. 

• knew that to be 'favoured' by God can mean being shamed by the world.

• had to live in the experience of being shamed by the world in order to be favoured by God, but this prepared her for the unfolding of the story of the One she carried in her womb. Because... the Angel did not tell her every detail of what her baby's life would entail, or that her boy would have to die on a shameful cross. 

• also had to walk by faith. That which is recorded of what her cousin Elizabeth told her, and what the Shepherds and Wise Men told her, didn't mention the way he would be the Saviour and peace-bringer (Luke 1:41-45; 2:17-19; Matthew 2:11-12). Simeon however (Luke 2:45), told Mary when they took Jesus to present Him at the temple, that a sword would pierce her son's soul to accomplish something related to the needs of people's hearts. How much Mary understood, is not clear. But as much as Mary knew some things, there were other things that Mary didn't understand, at least at first. She, with Joseph, didn't understand what he was telling them when they couldn't find him one year on their trip to Jerusalem (Luke 2:50). She did know, however, that Jesus was the one to ask when shame of running out of wine at a wedding needed to be overcome and the host's loss of honour needed to be avoided (John 2). The Jews' understanding of the coming of the Messiah, the Christ, was to reign and rule in glory and release them from foreign rule. Mary seems to give no clear indication that she knew or understood about what was really coming for her son in relation to the cross. 

• stood at the foot of the cross looking up at her son when many others had fled and at least some of his earthly relatives had earlier thought him a mental health case (Mark 3:21). She was one of the few who were willing to stand in shame with the shamed one hanging on the cross. 

• was not just accepting shame in the eyes of the world as part of the 'package' of being Jesus' earthly mother, but she chose shame in the eyes of the world. She could have stayed away from the cross like so many others did. But she, with the other women (and John the disciple), willingly chose the associated public shame of being 'with' the shamed one being crucified. 

• knew that what seems like shame in the eyes of the world, may not be shame at all in God's eyes…it might be favour, it might be blessing, it might be glory. She knew that in God's plans, what earthly eyes see is never the whole story. Her song (Luke 1:46-55) tells us that she understood that God can turn the world's honour codes upside down. She would have had some idea that the shame of the cross might be God doing something else. And maybe it was her personal testimony story of assurance of God's blessing in the midst of the world's shame, that gave courage to a few other women and the one disciple John who stood with her at the foot of the cross watching in faith filled hope and trust, that even if it felt bad and others only accused or fled in fear, God was still doing something that they didn't understand. Mary Magdalene who was with her also certainly knew that Jesus could bring God's glory into situations of earthly shame.

• can teach me a great deal in regard to accepting, facing, enduring, and choosing shame and lack of honour in the eyes of this world, and trusting in God's better glory. In the light of the sure knowledge that as a servant of the living God and letting life be according to His word, we are given the gift of being able to look at circumstances with a different perspective. We can have the confidence that being divinely blessed can require being earthly shamed, and that's ok. It does not mean God has forsaken you, but rather in the midst of it all we can be assured that God is with us. We need to have eyes like Mary that weren't blind to God's favour just because of the appearance of earthly circumstances.

I am reminded that a few days after she stood at the foot of the cross, she would have given him honour and bowed down at his resurrected feet. She would have remembered once tiny feet that were now not just grown and road-worn, but permanently scarred and nail pierced. Her son had become her Saviour in a way she never dreamed of, and way beyond any thoughts she had pondered back when the angel visited her. 

I am reminded that one day those nail-pierced feet will return to earth again, and I with Mary and millions of others await His appearing.

I am reminded that in heaven I will get to meet Mary, the humble girl who willingly endured shame to be a blessed submissive obedient vessel, so that both she and I could receive the same salvation from the same Saviour, the gift of undeserved glory. 

I am reminded though that she will not want any glory for herself and will just point me and others to the Risen and glorified Christ, just as she did at the Cana wedding (John 2:5)

I am reminded as another Christmas nears to praise the Lord, that God by His grace, continues to grow my awareness of His grace more and more and little by little expand my understanding of the what the glory of Christmas really means.

What is the gospel? - a little look at the Apostle Paul's definitions in 2 Corinthians and 1 Timothy

What is the gospel?

We talk a lot about the importance of the gospel. But what exactly is the gospel?  

I am not trying to pose a trick question, and others before me have sensed a need to define what we are talking about when we use the word 'gospel'. Some have been book-length answers such as 'What is the Gospel' by Greg Gilbert.

The simplest answer to that simple question is that, it is the 'good news' ….as that literally translates the meaning of the actual word 'gospel'.

But in Scriptural context, what is this good news about?  What is this news which we are told is good? 

How would you describe the 'good news' of the gospel?

In this 21st century when you want an answer to a question, (and in particular what people might give as a definition of the 'gospel')…what do we do?

… a 'google' search of course!

So I typed in 'What is the gospel' to Google, and here are some examples of short answers that came up:

GotQuestions

The gospel is, broadly speaking, the whole of Scripture; more narrowly, the gospel is the good news concerning Christ and the way of salvation.

Desiring God

The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy. That's the gospel.

RC Sproul

In New Testament terms, the gospel is the proclamation of the person and work of Jesus Christ plus how the benefits of that work can be appropriated to us by faith and by faith alone.

So the gospel has a narrow definition: it's the message about Jesus. Now, there are other good tidings: the kingdom of God, all of that. But, specifically, if you look at what we call in the New Testament the kerygma, the apostolic proclamation of the gospel, it focuses on Christ: who He is, what He did, and how we receive His benefits.

Sinclair Ferguson

If a student asked me that question I would say, "Paul has told us in the first few verses of 1 Corinthians 15." He says, "These are the things that are of first importance." And he states facts with an interpretation: "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; the third day He rose again" (1 Cor. 15:3-4). And that is, in the New Testament, or at least in Paul's letters, the simplest foundation.

Evangelism group CRU 

It is the news about who Jesus Christ is, what He has done, and how that changes everything for all of us.

Greg Gilbert - author of the book 'What is the Gospel?'

It's a message from God saying, "Good news! Here is how you can be saved from my judgment!"

Answers in Genesis

The word 'gospel' means 'good news.' When Christians talk about the gospel, they are presenting the good news of Christ's death and resurrection.

9Marks

The gospel is the good news about what Jesus Christ has done to reconcile sinners to God.

Most of the above answers are essentially fairly similar, and most went on to explain it further after their initial short answers. And, these short answers are all excellent succinct answers and definitions. 

However, these answers all may nicely agree, and give us a neat 'spear-head' kind of consolidated and sharp definition. But do they clearly help us see what the real 'point' of the gospel spear-head is?

The gospel in 2 Corinthians 4

Recently I read 2 Corinthians 4 in the course of once again working through the Bible in a year, and one particular verse 'jumped' out at me, in a way I guess I hadn't 'seen' quite so clearly before.

Maybe 2 Corinthians 4:4 gives us the simplest and most profound answer to the 'gospel' question…and one we might easily overlook in weight and meaning…

It says:

'In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, 

to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.'

So, if we ask re the gospel, 'it is the good news of what?' ….the answer from this verse is: 'the glory of Christ'.

Now this might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about what could be a definition of the gospel….it certainly wasn't the way any of the above Christian leaders or groups defined it. At least not in those specific terms.

Maybe as you are reading you are grabbing your bible to check out that verse in 2 Corinthians which I just quoted, and your bible says it a bit differently:

The NIV says the 'gospel that displays the glory of God'

The NLT says 'the glorious light of the good news'

The KJV and NET say ' the glorious gospel of Christ' (although the NKJV changes it to 'the gospel of the glory of Christ')

The CEV says 'the good news about our glorious Christ'

So some translations of this verse adjust it slightly and turn the noun 'glory' into an adjective. But this seems to lessen its impact and importance.

Here is what a couple of commentators say as they pick up on  these words and the way some translations switch a noun for an adjective (emphases mine):

Ellicotts

Lest the light of the glorious gospel.—…. The English version "glorious," though a partial equivalent for the Greek idiom of the genitive of a characteristic attribute, lacks the vigour and emphasis of the original, which expresses the thought that the gospel is not only glorious itself, but shares in the glory of Christ, and has that for its theme and object.

Jamison-Faucet-Brown

light of the glorious gospel of Christ—Translate, "The illumination (enlightening: the propagation from those already enlightened, to others of the light) of the Gospel of the glory of Christ." "The glory of Christ" is not a mere quality (as "glorious" would express) of the Gospel; it is its very essence and subject matter.

The gospel is not just something glorious in that it is wonderful news, but it is news about glory that has come, like bringing light into darkness.

So here we have a definition of what the gospel good news is….in three words….'glory of Christ'. 

Now, let's look at another passage to see a bit more about this gospel of glory.

The Gospel in 1 Timothy 1

Some years after Paul the Apostle wrote the words to the Corinthian church and further toward the end of his life, he once again wrote a similar explanation and definition again to Timothy, his son in the faith. His understanding of the core essence of the gospel had not changed. Paul, in verse 1 of this passage is in the midst of warning about false teaching, and reiterates to Timothy that sound doctrine has to be:

in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

So this way of describing the gospel, was no 'accident' or insignificant definition, but obviously one that Paul felt was important and was in the forefront of his mind when he thought about the core essence of the gospel he proclaimed.

He knew it was the good news about a glory that was supreme of which he did not need to be ashamed of (Romans 1:16).

This verse is also 'adjusted' in some translations to turn a noun into an adjective (glorious gospel) and I once again feel that slightly conceals the weight of the word and context of glory and honour.

But once again the Commentators explain that the turning of 'glory' into an adjective is not the intent of the text.

MacLaren's Expositions

the proper rendering is that which is given in the Revised Version--'the gospel of the glory,' not the 'glorious gospel.' The Apostle is not telling us what kind of thing the Gospel is, but what it is about. He is dealing not with its quality, but with its contents. It is a Gospel which reveals, has to do with, is the manifestation of, the glory of God.

Vincent's Word Studies

The glorious gospel of the blessed God (τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς δόξης τοῦ μακαρίου θεοῦ). More correctly, the gospel of the glory, etc.

The Gospel of Glory

The 'gospel of glory' almost seems too simple a way to describe the gospel….and yet it is maybe the most weighty and clear definition we have, and maybe we don't recognise its significance and importance because we have 'missed' the core of the gospel, because we have missed the core of Scripture being a story about glory - glory present, glory given, glory lost, glory won, and glory re-given.

Greg Gilbert's book above talks about how that to understand the gospel we have to understand the reality of sin, since the gospel is the good news coming to address the bad news about sin. Yet it is remarkably easy for us to miss the true nature or identity of sin…and thus miss the true nature of the gospel.

Remember Romans 3:23….'all have sinned', and what does it say next?….and 'come short of the glory of God'. In other words our sin is a 'lack of glory' problem. Therefore it makes perfect sense that the gospel is then the 'gift of glory' solution.

And what does Paul say in Colossians 1:27 about the mystery finally being revealed?

…'Christ in you the hope of glory'. 

If 'lack of glory' is the sin problem, then to be given the opportunity to have 'the glory restored' is the needed answer. 

How does that happen?  Christ.  He bears our 'lack of glory', ie shame, and if we repent of our own self-efforts of glory (our prideful seeking and desire for significance, acknowledgement, importance, value, worth, status, honour, acceptance, approval) for ourselves from others and our own efforts, and believe in Christ's provision of glory, God gives us the favour of the undeserved gift of His glory…and that's called grace. The chasm and separation between us and God is bridged and our relationship with Him is restored, and through His gift of glory He brings peace. Both the turmoil in our own hearts and the enmity with our Creator is resolved. The King of glory becomes to us, the Prince of Peace.

This is also thus a message to overcome shame - that sense at many levels that we feel we are not enough or accepted, or feel excluded or rejected in some way, or feel we are in 'imposter' in our success, or fear exposure of past or present sin and failures, or have been violated by the abuse of another and so feel worthless. All of these are just windows into awakening our awareness of the issue of shame, and then recognising the reality of our greater shame before a holy God. But the gospel is the good news because the whole of Scripture is about God making a way to bring us out of shame and estrangement that began in Genesis 3, and into glory and peace through Jesus.

In our 21st century world which is drowning in shame and desperately seeking honour and wanting to escape shame…and discovering that options to find true peace on the banquet table of the world are empty…the gospel truly is the best 'good news of glory' there could ever be both for now and eternity!

In this Christmas season, let's not forget this is the good news

 which begins with a baby entering the world in Bethlehem about 2000 years ago, 

when God became flesh

 in order to become our shame-bearing Saviour, 

so as to be the 'gift of glory' solution to our 'short of glory' problem.

Australia's Voice and the issue of 'Respect'

Profound! …not surprising….but….It's official….well about as 'official' in Australia as it can be, that 'Respect' is 'king'. 

The voice of the highest office in the nation of Australia - the Prime Minister, is choosing to use the concept of 'respect' to motivate the country to do what he believes is right. Thus also by implication, this infers that if you do the opposite, you are 'disrespectful'.  This was highlighted on a recent Australian news clip I saw on Youtube this week.

Attached to the campaigning for the upcoming 'Voice' referendum is one side pushing for 'Yes' and one side pushing for 'No'. And due to the nature of the proposal, the current Labour government (and thus the Prime Minister) put forward, and is promoting, the 'Yes' side.

So with his most recent statement, the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in effect saying, that to vote 'Yes' is to show respect.

And by saying this, he is obviously of the opinion (consciously or otherwise), that this is the line of argument that will sway the majority of voters.

Observing from across the ocean

Looking from afar, this is fascinating.

In this blogpost, I have no intention of 'taking sides'…although we definitely know how we would have voted had we been in Australia. However, what I want to comment on is the significance of the Prime Minister's statement and how it signals something important about Australian culture in relation to morality, and thus about Gospel evangelism and discipleship in my country of birth. 

Once upon a time….and earlier in the campaign, there was more emphasis on what a law or decision would 'do' - what practical benefits were hoped would eventuate. However, it seems the focus has become far more heavily weighted now not on what the decision would 'do', but on what the decision says about who we 'are'. The persuasion technique hinted at this before, but now it seems to be based firmly on the assumption that people will want to show they are respectful and not be someone who is  'disrespectful'. 

Here in Africa, as we have said often on this blog, the context of 'right and wrong' - ie morality, is deeply rooted and emerges in the context of honour and dishonour (shame). In English vocabulary here, that is most often verbalised in the words of 'respect' and 'disrespect'. 

Here, as an African friend and theologian had once explained, 'saying NO is very difficult for an African'. And the reason is that it is seen as disrespectful and to show disrespect is the most sinful/shameful thing a person can do. Thus to say 'Yes' to any request, command, idea or proposal (especially from elders and leaders) is respectful and right, and to say 'No' is to be disrespectful and wrong.

So it is interesting to hear the Australian Prime Minister as he heads up the "YES" vote, trying to use the motivation of 'respect'.

Australia has historically been an interesting mix of moral motivation. But from personal experience and Culture Test results, it is a nation that has been very highly motivated by a guilt-law-innocence perspective rather than an honour(respect)-relationship-shame perspective. As a country it's culture has been rooted in British monarchy but also influenced highly by the influence of the guilt-law orientation of the USA. And even the British side of things was more of experiencing the legal punishment arm of Britain, in being established as a convict colony. So along with free settlers who had no distaste for monarchy and the UK, the convicts of course had little desire for that kind of rule. In fact a previous Prime Minister Bob Hawke has apparently said that Australia was a place of 'no hierarchy of descent' or 'privilege of origin'. Australia was a place that wanted equality under a common rule of law for all, and not a place based on hierarchical familial relationships. Thus, alongside an element of respectful relationships reflective of British culture, it had become a place where relationships would be sacrificed in order to uphold rules and thus we would classify it as more of a guilt-law emphasis culture. Any concept of 'respect'  was more and more deeply entwined into the greater 'respect for rules'.

As previously discussed on this blog, Western culture, and within that Aussie culture, is shifting. Social media, multi-culturalism and a 'pendulum reaction' to supremacy of 'rules', alongside a separation from Judeo-Christian ethics that strives to bring the matters of rules and relationship together under God, has meant that especially younger generations are increasingly linking in to the part of how God made us that values respect in relationships.

However, as we yearn for respect and significance in relationships within a 'there is no God' 21st century society, we form such values outside of God's design and look for them outside of God…and thus in and from the creature, rather than the Creator. We thus begin to frame our concept of 'respect' not on giving honour to God and seeking honour from God, but giving it to people and getting it from people.

Thus the Prime-Minister didn't just talk about a 'Yes' vote showing 'respect', but that such showing 'respect' would make us 'feel good about ourselves'. In other words he asserts that a 'Yes' would demonstrate respect (and thus show you to be a good respectful person as viewed by others, in Australia and globally), and also give you a feeling of personal moral satisfaction as a good person, fulfilling a sense of purpose. The problem is that respect that is determined by what makes me feel good, is doomed for disaster.

Implications

So a few things stand out to me from this - a few things that the Aussie Christian and the Aussie church need to more and more take note of …and apply if we are to reach Aussie hearts with the gospel.

• Majority morality does not factor God in (we've known this for a long time of course)
• Majority morality has not only moved away from what pleases God, but as the bottom line also has moved away from what is best in the interest of others (although we still tell ourselves we act for the good of others and this 'respect' argument plays on that), to actually being determined and motivated by 'what makes me look morally right' in the eyes of people, and 'what makes me feel good or better about myself' 
• Majority morality is fast moving towards being oriented toward 'respectful relationships' rather than 'rule keeping'
• ...this feeds into then seeking respect from, and giving respect to, people rather than God ….and thus seeking affirmation, approval, acceptance, significance, value and identity on a human creature level rather than a Creator level.
• this provides great gospel-sharing opportunities to people who are seeking to give and receive respect and value and are searching to find a satisfying identity and purpose

So as I look at the 'Voice' debate, the 'voice' of the Prime-Minister is a 'voice' that speaks of where Australian society is at in regards to its morality and worldview. 

And thus it should remind us once again that God's 'VOICE' of the gospel needs to come to needy ears and hearts…. bringing the good news of the true honour and identity to be found in Christ before the eyes of God. For this is an identity that does not need to seek its place by affirming earthly cultures and groupings, but finds a higher more satisfying and joyful place by being part of God's family in which all people are granted an equal identity that surpasses all others and frees us from trying to find value and significance in the offers of this world. Such offers will always fail to satisfy, and will lead us away from that for which we were made and fall short, but which Jesus came to restore.

The Boy at the Gate - Grass roots honour-shame renewing of the mind.

Our study and research is all about an end-goal of practical teaching that transforms lives as we seek to help others around us learn God's ways of how honour-shame dynamics should function. Sometimes that practical application is in situations we have thought about and worked through deeply before confronting. Many other times it turns up in unexpected impromptu daily-life ways. Today's story was not only a reminder that sin is not just about disobedience but about disrespect, but was another situation of the unexpected….

It was a sunny afternoon in the village, and about the time the local children were walking home after school. 

Without any warning God landed me another situation to help others out of cultural mis-placed honour-shame dynamics and to begin to see and experience honour-shame dynamics as God desires. This time it was a group of village children.

Suddenly I had heard our gate bell ring (its a cow-bell tied to the inside of our gate that you don't even know is there unless you have been inside our yard, or seen someone else ring it.)

I was brought a message that some girls from my Saturday village girls' bible study were at the gate.  

However when I got to the gate, I discovered only one of the girls there, but she was with 2 other boys I had actually not seen before. They were all on their way home from school. The girl immediately pointed with a stick she was playing with, to the older boy, indicating it was him who had rung the bell.

But when I asked what they wanted, there was silence. 

No-one wanted to say why they were there. 

After a few more questions and the older boy particularly continuing to be sheepishly silent, I figured out that they were pulling  a prank... but for some reason they didn't actually run away when I had come to the gate….maybe because the girl knew it would be disrespectful to do that and she would be 'shamed' next bible study time if what she did was exposed.

I asked a few more times, in various ways, just to be sure if there really was a real reason for ringing the bell. Each time I asked, I just got silence, and then a hint of a smirk from the older boy. When I tried to ask the other young boy and the girl about it, they also just kept silent and pointed to the older boy.

But rather than just reprimand them for wasting my time, and then telling them to go, I thought momentarily about using it as an opportunity. I had never specifically told them previously to not ring the bell for no reason, so it wasn't a situation of saying 'why are you ringing the bell for no reason when we have told you not to do that?'

So, I firstly responded to the boy using honour-shame language, saying that if he is ringing the bell for no reason, he is being 'disrespectful'.

Well that immediately got a different response. His head dropped and he wouldn't look at me. 

When, culturally, the one major sin to avoid is 'disrespect' or 'dishonour' or 'shame', then without linking the wrong act to the wrong attitude of disrespect/dishonour, there is no conscience prod. But when sin is brought back to the dynamic of honour/respect, then the conscience starts to kick-in. And often here, especially with kids, the English honour word used is most often is 'respect/disrespect'. So the cultural context of sin that envelops the word 'disrespect' sunk in to his heart.

I talked a bit longer to the boy and the two others about how his 'playing' just for 'fun' also means I am less likely to believe him to have a genuine need next time he rings the bell, because this time was not an honest need. So ringing the bell for a joke is like not telling the truth and is making him to be seen as less trustworthy. I asked him if he wanted to be known as someone who was trustworthy? He nodded, 'yes'.

So that was progress…at least he was responding even if not verbally yet!

So then I asked again if he had a reason for ringing the bell. And, with head down again, I suddenly heard a quiet 'no' emerge from his lips. 

I thanked him for being honest, and explained that it is always honourable and never shameful in God's eyes to speak the truth.

But before they went, I said that what he needed to then do was say 'sorry Mma …. for ringing the gate without a reason...'

Well that was just too much, and he went quiet again. So I repeated myself. 

Quiet.

His head was down with eyes looking at the dirt.

The problem is that confession is self-shaming, and if culturally, shame is the big something to be avoided at all costs, he was in a difficult situation.  To respect me, he has to shame himself. He may want to restore respect but he doesn't want to self-shame (in front of me or his friends). To speak the truth meant he self-shamed. To complicate it even further, a child learns that often culturally to speak the truth is also seen as shameful if it might dishonour an elder. So a child learns that culturally it is not always acceptable to others and can be a 'wrongdoing' to speak the truth, let alone it also destroying personal honour.

So I then explained that if he said sorry, there was the offer of forgiveness, and instead of going away shamed, he could go away with the shame removed and back in a position of respect and honour.

I then further explained that God says, that to say the truth and admit (confess) wrongdoing is always respectful and honourable in His eyes, and thus also it's the same for me in this situation.

Wow! Then I heard him break his silence again with, 'I'm sorry' …and he then continued to say fully what he was sorry for.

So then I said 'I forgive you'. 

He looked sincerely a mixture of relief and confusion and puzzlement and wonder. He had probably not ever had such an interaction or experience of forgiveness and shame-removal in that way before.

I then explained again that his disrespectful bell-ringing shamed him, but now his truth-telling and admitting/confessing his sin was honourable and respectful again…so now with my forgiveness he could leave and continue on his way with respect (honour) in the relationship again instead of shame. I re-iterated that is how it is with God…telling the truth and admitting and confessing sin is never shameful in God's eyes, it restores honour in the relationship.

As he left, and walked with his friends toward home, he still seemed a bit bewildered by the whole event…but his head wasn't down, and although as he left I heard some interaction indicating that he seemed to want to brush over the embarrassment of the incident with his friends, I pray God would etch that experience and conversation into his memory, and even if I never see him again, that he will one day remember that God's way of honour is different from his culture's way, and God's way is the only way that truly sets us free from the bondage and shame of our sin.

Sin is more than law-breaking: Lessons about honour and shame from a Blue Crayon

Being grandparents is one of those special joys in life I will always treasure. 

One of the opportunities it brings is being involved in the teaching and training of precious young lives and watching them learn and grow. 

Recently discovering artistic blue crayon 'swirls' drawn on one of our white walls provided another of those teaching and training opportunities.

But as I thought about the 'crayon' event afterwards, I realised it not only taught a little four year old something about telling the truth, and being found out for her wrong doing, and confession of sin, and forgiveness, and how her efforts of cleaning it off were useless (she offered to get a cloth and wash it off and tried for all her worth) and only Grand-pa's Sugar-soap was able to scrub the wall clean…

…..but…..she also brought me the blessing of teaching and growing my alertness once again to the honour-shame dynamics of the nature of sin.

 

Blue Crayon Lesson 1 

- There is a non-disobedience, 'shame' kind of wrongdoing

I have lost count of how many times I have read that sin is defined as 'breaking the law' or 'disobedience'.

However, my little grand-daughter's artwork on the wall was not disobedience. No adult had specifically issued her with a command or instruction not to draw on walls in our house. 

However, as soon as I called her and pointed at the wall and asked in a very particular serious tone of disapproval 'who did this?', she went instantly silent and turned her head away and wouldn't look at me. 

She instantly knew she had done something wrong and unacceptable, just from my tone.

But what kind of wrong was it?

If it wasn't disobedience, what was it?

It was primarily dishonour and disrespect.

Eventually after I assured her that although Grandma (me) was not happy with what she had done and it was a bad thing to do that I would not be cross at her for telling the truth, she did honestly confess and tell me that she did it and we had a conversation about drawing on paper only and not walls. She also had a lesson on confession and forgiveness, but that there were still consequences to deal with. Like many situations in parenting, what appeared to be first a 'bad' situation was actually a 'good' opportunity for God to use as a teaching moment in which we thought about what God would want us to learn from it, and be prompted to turn our hearts to him…and thus glorify him.

Blue Crayon Lesson 2 

- Looking for what we can easily miss about shame

But also, what seemed a 'mundane' and 'normal' parenting (or grand-parenting ) event was yet another occasion where I am learning to see and consider 'with new eyes', and be more alert to, the honour-shame dynamics which were 'shouting' out at me, but where I could have easily missed their reality.

As the 'crayon artist' was questioned about the situation, she acknowledged and agreed that it is paper that she should be drawing on (and later I further explained to her only her paper not just any paper she finds in the house!). But there had been no direct disobedience to a previously defined house 'rule'.

But I noticed some further dynamics play out….

• She came to the very real awareness that amidst her behaviour that was unacceptable, she felt unacceptable. 

• Her normal desire to face me and tell me some new discovery or run and hug me had suddenly changed. 

• She went totally silent and seemed to withdraw instantly into herself (even holding her arms close to her body as she stood in front of me as I crouched in front of her). 

• Her head was turned away and even when I moved her and told her to look at me, her face was toward me but her eyes were looking off to the side.

All honour of close relationship with her Grandma had suddenly been destroyed. And though she knew I wasn't happy, even with my arm around her, she still couldn't bring herself to face me.

Blue Crayon Lesson 3 

- Learn from what we observe and interpret it from more than just a guilt-law-disobedience lens

Some of what this event highlighted to me was:

• Wrongdoing is more than disobedience and law-breaking.

• Wrongdoing is rooted in an awareness of not measuring up, and thus not being acceptable to the one you meant to please. Because the word in Scripture translated as 'sin' means to miss the mark, the real meaning and reality of sin is more related to unacceptability than to specifically disobedience and lawbreaking.

• Behaviour exposed as unacceptable is felt as personal unacceptability and is instinctively felt and intrinsically linked to a sense of shame.

• Shame brings an automatic and untaught response. Guilt from disobedience only comes about as a result of transgressing a known itemised, explained and taught law. Shame comes about with no teaching, training or even with no transgression, but by simply 'feeling' a short-coming in the expectations and 'eyes' of the one we desire to please.

• Shame brings separation and a break in relationship. Joy in closeness and togetherness is gone, peace and relaxedness and freedom to converse is also destroyed.

• Shame brings an instinctive desire to withdraw and pull away, to hide, especially from the gaze of the one we have dishonoured.

• Shame brings a fear to even look upon the one who we should otherwise love, and should otherwise enjoy the eyes of joy and approval of.

Blue Crayon Lesson 4 

- Understanding the shame context of sin helps us bring the rightly explained biblical solutions to the problem

The good news was that when she confessed and was forgiven suddenly the reconciliation was instantaneous. Separation and hiding ceased, fear disappeared, the experience of love and closeness and joy returned. Honour of relationship as it was meant to be was restored. 

As we bring others the good news of how Jesus deals with our sin, we need to understand how sin works, not just in the context of guilt but in the context of shame. We need to be careful not to only see and understand wrongdoing in the context of law-breaking and disobedience. We need to recognise how sin is far more deeply and intrinsically tied to shame and how it causes a person to respond in relation to shame, right from a very small child.

As you and I learn more of the dynamics of sin in relation to shame, there comes the opportunity and need to bring the message of the gospel into such situations. We don't need to wait till disobedience occurs to lead someone to recognise wrongdoing or sin…we should not only use the context of disobedience to teach about sin. Jesus didn't come just to deal with the guilt of our disobeying but with the shame of our dishonouring. We need to not overlook the context and opportunities that shame brings to teach us about sin and how Jesus conquers sin and brings reconciliation and restored honour to shame shattered hearts.

Blue Crayon Lesson 5 

- We need to parent and disciple more from a base first of instinctive and inherent honour-shame realities and not skip this only teaching sin in relation to guilt-law-disobedience.

Foundations are built from physical birth and from spiritual birth and habits and perspectives and understandings are formed. Life is full of observation, interpretation and application. We take in what we are exposed to, we then try to make sense of it (consciously or unconsciously) and then we try to fit it into how we see and what we believe about life and thus it emerges in how we then live.

I would like to suggest that we miss the most foundational parts of the human soul when we overlook shame or over-emphasise guilt to the neglect or mis-understanding about shame.

To conclude…

Let's be gospel-honour hope bringers 

to a world deep in the mire 

of sin-shame hopelessness.

Whether you are a parent or a friend or in ministry or looking at your own life, the shame-roots of how sin is and how it functions, is imperative to understand and understand well. In reality it is nothing new, and it doesn't become less important just because we fail to prioritise its importance in our thinking. Right from a very young age a child is responding to awareness of unrighteousness through a lens of honour or the loss of honour (shame). 

While the law was given to taught about what we should do, living in honour is how we were made to be. Before the law, there was honour. Under any law-breaking issue is a more foundational honour-loss issue. Before a person, including children learn about law-breaking they already know that honour-losing is a place of fear, anxiety, separation, ruined relationship, isolation, unacceptability and shame. Our world is filled with awareness and fear of honour-losing, so let us maximise that awareness and bring the good news of how Jesus made a way to overcome that very thing that we have feared from before we ever learnt about laws and law-breaking. Let's be gospel-honour hope bringers to a world deep in the mire of sin-shame hopelessness.