Foundations for Contextualized Discipleship

1. Foundations for Contextualized Discipleship Learning the “Honor Game”

2. What Is Discipleship? • Providing an environment in which people can be connected to Christ so as to grow to be more like him. • Enabling people to connect • More deeply to Christ and • More deeply to other members of Christ’s body for the purposes of building each other up.

3. Connecting to Christ?

4. Connecting to Christ?

5. How Do People Connect? • To understand this, we need to know the social “game” that people play: HONOR • Their value of connecting is understood through the local worldview • Their rules for connecting are embedded in the local cultural values • Their means of connecting are through bonding practices seen in rituals that lead to meaningful encounters with Christ

6. Map of the Honor Game Honor C o l l e c t i v i s m . . . I n d i r e c t C o m m u n i c a t i o n . . . S o c i a l P o w e r . . . Bonding practices Affective Cognitive Evaluative Shame Honor

7. Core Theme: Honor • Honor (or face) is a claim to positive worth along with the social acknowledgement of that worth: • The positive value of a person in his or her own eyes (= self-respect) • Plus the positive appreciation of that person in the eyes of his or her in-group (= esteem). • People honor their in-group by doing and saying what the in-group members expect (they fulfill their in-group obligations).

8. Core Theme: Honor • Honor serves as a type of social rating which entitles a person to interact in specified ways with equals, superiors and subordinates, according to the honor rules of the society. • It is parallel in some respects to credit ratings in the US. • Honor ties the in-group together; it creates and maintains unity.

9. How Is Honor Gained? • Ascribed honor: • A person is born with a certain amount of honor as a result of family status; • A person may also be given honor as a gift/grant by a more powerful person. • Achieved honor: • A person (and that person’s in-group) can gain honor or lose it (shame) through accomplishments and/or public challenges by individuals or the in-group

10. Biblical Examples • Ascribed • Birthright (Psalms 89:27; Jeremiah 31:9; Colossians 1:15) • Elevation by God as a gift (Romans 8:29; Eph. 2:8-9) • Achieved • Through diligence (Proverbs 12:24; 22:29) • By obedience to God rather than men (Acts 4:18-22) • Winning public challenges (Matt. 12:1-14) • By dying an honorable death (Acts 7:54-60) • Acknowledging shame over sin (2 Cor. 2:5-11)

11. Shame: Honor’s Contrast and Protector • Shame—loss of face—accrues when one has behaved in ways that run contrary to the values of the group. • John Mark abandoned Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journey and was deemed by Paul not fit to go again. Barnabas—related to John Mark—had to defend his honor (Acts 13:13 and 15:36-40). • Shame can also be a positive reinforcer when it is a sensitivity to the opinion of the group such that one avoids actions that bring disgrace. • The Corinthians should have been ashamed that one of their own was sleeping with his father’s wife (1 Cor. 5:2)

12. Sources of Bad Shame • Ascribed • Birthright (sons of the devil; John 8:44) • Declared by Jesus (Mark 8:38) or the Church (1 Cor. 5:1-5) • Achieved • Through shameful actions (Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor. 5:9-11; Phil. 3:19) • Loss of face in a public challenge (a typical method to gain face over an opponent; Mark 7:1-16)

13. Shame as Bad and Good 1 Samuel 20:30-34: Saul's anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, "You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don't I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he must die!" "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?" Jonathan asked his father. But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David. Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the month he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father's shameful treatment of David.

14. The Honor “Game” • The social game for “honor” is played using social rules which the players know and follow. • There are three main components of this struggle to gain or retain honor: action, perception, and reaction. • The action is usually in the form of a challenge: positive, such as a gift, a word of praise, a request for help; or negative, such as an insult, threat, or physical affront. • How a challenge is perceived, both by the individual challenged and the witnessing public, is also important. • The reaction to the challenge, seen in three ways.

15. The Honor “Game”:Three reactions to the challenge: • Positive rejection, usually found in the form of disdain or contempt (Mark 8:11-13); • Acceptance, which brings about a counter-challenge (Mark 7:5-6); and • Negative refusal, which is no response and therefore is dishonor (Mark 15:3-5).

16. The Honor Game: Jesus Honors God in the Temple 1

17. The Honor Game: Jesus Honor God in the Temple 2

18. Honor Honor is at the core; how is it worked out?

19. Connecting in Cultural Settings • To understand this, we need to know the social “games” that people play • Their value of connecting is understood through the local worldview • Their rules for connecting are embedded in the local cultural values • Their means of connecting are through bonding practices seen in rituals that lead to meaningful encounters with Christ

20. Worldview Components • Cognitive: knowledge about honor—the rules and regulations for maintaining and increasing it • Affective: emotional attachment and stability in relation to honor and shame • Evaluative: ability to make wise decisions in light of defending and increasing honor (and avoiding loss of honor)

21. Honor Embedded in Worldview Affective Cognitive Honor Evaluative

22. Worldview: Cognitive Affective Cognitive Honor Evaluative

23. Cognitive: Honor versus Justice Honor Justice In-group (or patron) is primary focus Favor in-group members; treat rest as fits the status of their in-group in relation to yours Compete with in-group without demeaning members Compete with out-group members without restraint More of a male-oriented game than a female one Individual is center of focus Treat all equally; show no favoritism Compete with all equally Both genders equally involved

24. Cognitive: Honor and Justice Orientations Justice (Guilt) Orientation Focus: what you have done is wrong: all have sinned. Goal: Search for how to pay the punishment and correct the wrong. Honor (Shame) Orientation Focus: what you are is impure: all are defiled; OR what you are is disconnected; all are isolated and without face Goal: Search for how you can be restored to a pure state.

25. Example: An Honorable Childhood?

26. Worldview: Affective Affective Cognitive Honor Evaluative

27. Affective: Honor versus Justice Honor Justice SHAME (of self or in-group) controls behavior Conformity centered on relationships and behaving in ways acceptable to the in-group or patron; actions are embedded in contexts GUILT (of self) controls behavior Conformity centered on rules that apply to everyone—rules can be abstracted from context

28. Affective: Shame as a Mechanism for Honor • Shame is a reaction to other people's criticism of self or in-group, an acute personal chagrin at our failure to live up to our obligations and the expectations others have of us. It is not limited to our actions, but affects our person. • In true shame-oriented cultures, every person has a place and a duty in the society. One maintains self-respect not by choosing what is good rather than what is evil, but by choosing what is expected of one. Personal desires are sunk in the collective expectation. Paul Hiebert, 1985, 212-213.

29. Affective in Stories • Heroes in literature live out rules of honor and shame (whether they live or die is immaterial—as long as they live or die honorably). • “Jesus Is my Boss”

30. Affective: Proverbs of Honor and Shame • A foolish man lets his trouble be openly seen, but a sharp man keeps shame secret. (Proverbs 12:16) • A courageous foe is better than a cowardly friend. (China) • When the tree falls, any child can climb it. (Vietnam) • Better to die than to live on with a bad reputation. (Vietnam) • A thousand people bear one's fault. (Uighur) • The voice of a poor man does not carry very far. (Laos)

31. Example: Illustrating His Birth an Honorable One

32. Worldview: Evaluative Affective Cognitive Honor Evaluative

33. Evaluative: Restoring Honor and Justice Justice (Guilt) Orientation Search for how to you as the guilty individual pay the punishment and correct the wrong. The restoration of guilt comes about through punishment and forgiveness. Honor (Shame) Orientation Search for how you (and/or your in-group) can be restored to an honorable state. The restoration to purity comes through ritual to erase defilement or ritual that restores relationship.

34. Justice (Guilt) Orientation Justification (Rom. 5:18) is the theological answer for guilt. Atonement view that makes sense: Christ paid the penalty in our place (penal substitution) Honor (Shame) Orientation Cleansing (Heb. 9:14) and restoration of relationship (John 1:12-13) are the theological answers to shame. Atonement views that make sense: Christ won a moral (honorable) victory over Satan, Christ set an example for us, Christ was victorious over the powers of evil. Evaluative: Restoring Honor and Justice Adapted in part from Glen R. Francis, "The Gospel for a Sin/Shame­-Based Society." Taiwan Mission Quarterly (1992).

35. Example: Christ the Victor in the Temptation

36. Evaluative: Dealing with Shame • Those who fail will often turn their aggression against themselves instead of using violence against others. By punishing themselves they maintain their self-respect before others, for shame cannot be relieved, as guilt can be, by confession and atonement. • Shame is removed and honor restored only when a person does what the society expects of him or her in the situation, including committing suicide if necessary. Paul Hiebert, 1985, 212-213.

37. Connecting in Cultural Settings • To understand this, we need to know the social “games” that people play • Their value of connecting is understood through the local worldview • Their rules for connecting are embedded in the local cultural values • Their means of connecting are through bonding practices seen in rituals that lead to meaningful encounters with Christ

38. The “Rules” of the Honor Game C o l l e c t i v i s m . . . I n d i r e c t C o m m u n i c a t i o n . . . S o c i a l P o w e r . . . Affective Cognitive Evaluative • Found in cultural values: • Collectivism • Indirect Communication • Social Power Honor

39. Collectivism and Honor Self Self Self Self Intimate Social and Cultural Environment Collectivism Individualism Concrete, Real Events Close/Touch Non-Verbal Skills Shame Face Abstract, Principles Distant Verbal Skills Guilt Self Respect

40. Collectivism Rankings 6 20 40 80 10 30 50 60 70 91 Average China/Thailand United States Vietnam Individualistic Collectivistic

41. Connecting

42. Example: Sermon on the Mount (notice the groups)

43. Collectivist Proverbs • Union is source of success (Mongolia) • The bird that stands out will be shot first (China) • Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet. (Vietnam) • However sharp it is, the knife will never cut its own handle. (Vietnam) • The separated one is the prey of bear, the split is the food for wolf. (Uighur) • One piece of wood will not make a fire. (Laos) • The tiger depends on the forest; the forest depends on the tiger. (Cambodia)

44. Indirect Communication and Honor Stored (Non- verbal and Contextual) Information Stored (Non- verbal and Contextual) Information Meaning Transmitted (Verbal) Information Meaning Transmitted (Verbal) Information • Verbal skills • Self-expression • Easily changed • Quickly learned • Slower to use • Detailed, exacting information desired • Non-verbal skills • Expression limited • Slow to change • Long to learn • Fast to use once learned • Information is in context

45. Opinion

46. Handling of Problems

47. Anger

48. Proverbs of Indirect Communication • A wise person is one who hears one word and understands two. (Yiddish) • An elder is like a bathtub. (Akan) • If you are wrestling with a monk, why be afraid of touching his head? (Cambodia) • A horse released can be caught, a word released never. (Mongolian) • When you eat, check the pots and pans. (don’t speak about your favorite foods before you see what is being cooked; Vietnam)

49. Example: Indirect Status Reversal with the Disciples

50. Social Power and Honor Large Power Distance Small Power Distance Respect/Authority Dependence (Personal) Wisdom Decree Lecture Equality Independence (Impersonal) Truth Negotiation Discussion