…the LORD God… made a woman and brought her to the man.
Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh…”
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Genesis 3
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
And they heard the sound of the LORD God… and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
Hebrews 4
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Genesis 3
And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
Shame
Retrospective Shame: I should not have done that—it dishonoured God
Prospective Shame: I will not do that because it would bring dishonour to God
Present Shame: I am looked down on because of my behaviour
Ezekiel 36 —they shamed God
So I poured out my wrath on them because of the blood they had shed on the land…
When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name, because it was said about them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, yet they had to leave his land in exile.’
Then I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they went.
Ezekiel 36 – Retrospective
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.…
“ ‘You will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good,
and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and detestable practices.
…Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, house of Israel!
Ezekiel 37 Future: Shame Lifted
They will not defile themselves anymore with their idols, their abhorrent things, and all their transgressions.
I will save them from all their apostasies by which they sinned, and I will cleanse them.
Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.
…They will follow my ordinances, and keep my statutes and obey them.…
My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.
When my sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel.’ ”
A Biblical Theology of Shame
Shame in the Old Testament
Guilt vs. Shame
Shame in the New Testament
Undoing Shame:
Evangelism (before God)
The Christian Community
False definition:
Guilt: I have done something wrong
Shame: There is something wrong with me (community is not even mentioned)
Guilt vs Shame
Guilt: I have done something wrong.
Source: God-given conscience
Harsh Inner Critic: You are a loser. Something is wrong with you!
Could also be called “false guilt”
Source: ultimately Satan is the false-accuser (Col 2:15–23)
Shame: My community has lost respect for me. I have gone down in their estimation
Source: God-given sensitivity to those around us
But sometimes Inner Critic will use it to beat us up
Response to Guilt & Shame
Guilt: I have done something wrong.
Action: ask forgiveness, make reparation/payment
Wrong Action: blame, denial, excuses
Harsh Inner Critic: You are a loser. Something is wrong with you!
Wrong Action: constant self-criticism, depression, futile attempts to improve, numb with drugs/distractions
Shame: My community have lost respect for me. I have gone down in their estimation
Wrong Action: Hide
try and regain honour & standing (e.g. on social media)
numb with drugs/distractions
Action: Reflect on your values?
Stop doing bad things, if that’s the problem
Make status before God above everything else.
Is this a healthy community for you?
(you may not have a choice)
Hebrews 12
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Acts 5
and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
1 Peter 4
But rejoice in the degree that you have shared in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice and be glad.
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, who is the Spirit of God, rests on you.
But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear such a name.
A Biblical Theology of Shame
Shame in the Old Testament
Guilt vs. Shame
Shame in the New Testament
Undoing Shame:
Evangelism (before God)
The Christian Community
Luke 8
And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone.
She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased.
And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!”
Luke 8
And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.
And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
Mark 14
And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.
There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that?
For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.
Mark 14 cont’d
But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.
For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me.
She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.
And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
John 21
That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
…“Simon, son of John, do you love me? ”
“Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.”
“Shepherd my sheep,” he told him.
A Biblical Theology of Shame
Shame in the Old Testament
Guilt vs. Shame
Shame in the New Testament
Undoing Shame:
Evangelism (before God)
The Christian Community
Acts 17: To Pagans
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Preaching in an Honour/Shame Culture
Introduce them to the person of God
Explain how they have brought dishonour to God through their sin
Among all our relationships where we value honour/shame, this is by far the most important
Right now you stand before God in great shame
This has extremely bad consequences because he will judge the world
Yet he offers to take away your sin and shame and bring you the honour of taking you into his family for ever
Hebrews 2
But we do see Jesus — made lower than the angels for a short time
so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone
crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death…
For the one who makes holy and those who are being made holy all have one Father.
That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters
Eph 1 —Honoured with Jesus
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Eph 2 —Honoured with Jesus
He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus
James 2
For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in,
if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,”
and yet you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,”
haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
James 2
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?
Yet you have dishonored the poor.
1 Corinthians 13
Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast,
it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others,
it is not self-seeking