Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures: Biblical Foundations and Practical Essentials

Product Description Many a Westerner has had a cross-cultural experience of honor and shame. First there are those stuttering moments in the new social landscape. Then after missed cues and social bruises comes the revelation that this culture?indeed much of the world?runs on an honor-shame operating system. When Western individualism and its introspective conscience fails to engage cultural gears, how can we shift and navigate this alternate code? And might we even learn to see and speak the gospel differently if we did? In Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures Jayson Georges and Mark Baker help us decode the cultural script of honor and shame. What's more, they assist us in reading the Bible anew through the lens of honor and shame, often with startling turns. And they offer thoughtful and practical guidance in ministry within honor-shame contexts. Apt stories, illuminating insights and ministry-tested wisdom complete this well-rounded guide to Christian ministry in honor-shame cultures. Review "Anyone from a guilt-innocence culture who would like to interact positively with people from an honor-shame culture would be well served to read, study, and implement many of the suggestions from Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures. This is the type of work that a cross-cultural worker will want to own and consult again and again throughout their ministries." -- Ann Plantinga Kapteyn, Calvin Theological Journal, 52.2 Review "We can learn so much from failure if we want to, and the authors share here their failures and successes in working among societies where honor-shame values operate rather than those of guilt-innocence. Their plea is that we read the Bible with fresh eyes, seeing how the gospel was communicated in the honor-shame cultures in which it was written, rather than using the contextualized guilt-innocence paradigm we have accepted as the only way to minister. The text is full of examples that help the reader understand how differently honor-shame codes play out in the understanding of salvation and discipleship. It is a healthy shift for Western missionaries to rethink their evangelism strategies, especially in the collectivist societies in which many of them work. Sherwood and I strongly recommend this book to people trying to understand a way of structuring the world that is very different from the one in which they grew up." -- Judith Lingenfelter, professor emerita, School of Intercultural Studies, Biola University About the Author Jayson Georges (MDiv, Talbot) lived in Central Asia for nine years doing church planting and microenterprise development. He is the author of The 3D Gospel, founder and editor of HonorShame.com, and creator of The Culture Test. He serves as missiologist in residence at an evangelical organization, developing tools and training for Christians working in honor-shame contexts.Mark D. Baker (PhD, Duke University) is professor of mission and theology at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary in Fresno, California. He served as a missionary in Honduras for ten years, and has written a number of books in English and Spanish.