Non-Western Cultures: Understanding the Dynamics of Honor and Shame

American missionaries need a framework for understanding how people in other cultures treat each other, how to interact, and how to communicate in honor-based cultures. Actually, all American Christians need this framework. Here’s why: God is moving the nations into our neighborhoods.

Refugee Podcast Series

Refugees have been a hot topic in 2017. In the winter and spring of this year, we batted that topic around quite a bit on the Facilitating the Mission Podcast. Listen to the series at these links:

»Refugees Part One – terms defined
»Refugees Part Two – God’s Sovereignty over His Creation
»Refugees Part Three – In Light of the Kingdom of God
»Refugees Part Four: What to Do Practically

Over the summer, we shifted the focus to preparing people for engagement with those from cultures outside the United States. For two decades Shepherd’s Staff Mission Facilitators has trained missionaries for service on the international field and Honor and Shame based cultural training is a staple of the preparation. But God is a stirring the nations like never before. There is no doubt that in the future, dear Christian reader, God will use you to interact with displaced people who may move in down the street from you.

Honor and Shame Tour

In order to share God’s love, you’ll need to understand the context international people come from. To help with that, Jeff Jackson gave a series of talks at various churches and conferences exploring the over-arching topic of Understanding the Dynamics of Honor and Shame. Jeff’s first stop was the Honor and Shame Conference held in Wheaton, Illinois, this summer. The theme of the conference was Reframing the Gospel for the 21st Century; Understanding Honor and Shame. Click through this link -> HonorShame.com <- to sign up for a newsletter, keep up with blog posts, and get information about future conferences.

Jeff’s second stop on the Honor and Shame tour was Calvary Chapel Murrieta in Southern California where he gave a two part message on the topic. Here’s a short video clip from the second half of the talk:

You’ll find the resources on the individual podcast pages of the Honor and Shame podcast series (Jeff’s final stop on the Honor and Shame tour) useful as well, especially part three where Jeff shares information and links to books and webpages. Check our the links below:

»Honor and Shame Part One
»Honor and Shame Part Two
»Honor and Shame Part Three: An Overview

Take your time as you work through this material and feel free to share it with friends, your home Bible study, or church group.