sermon

this week sermon was on how the cultures of the world are built on 3 main themes.

in the garden of Eden, when sin entered, 3 things happened. Guilt, shame and fear entered the garden. What was missing in the garden.. Repentance, which has to do with taking responsibility. the man blamed the woman, the woman blamed the snake.

the western culture: built on innocence and guilt, ie right and wrong

the middle eastern and asian cultures: honor and shame

animistic culture (fear of the spiritual realm): power and fear

what it means; ie in middle eastern culture, what is more important is maintaining honor. the qn asked is not what is right, but what is honorable. what is honorable is not always right (ie a country harbouring a terrorist and not giving him up because he is now a guest in your house and honor dictates u look after those under your roof) (or, in Genesis, Lot offering his daughter to the men in Sodom as long as they leave his guests alone)

i thought it made a lot of sense. because we are taught a lot about christianity from the western culture, thus when we present the gospel, we tend to focus on what is right and wrong, (the 4 spiritual laws etc) which can leave us feeling a bit cold. There is not 3 gospels, but only 1. We often forget to present the gospel in its fullness.. that at the cross Jesus disarmed all the forces arrayed against us (colossians), removing our fears and anointed us with honor, removing our shame (brought on by sin).

the speaker made an interesting point. he say guilt is feeling bad about something we have done. whereas shame is feeling bad about our person. sometimes shame is put on to us by other pple. and it is possible to feel shame while doing the right thing.

reminds me of a qn posed to me before: if u catch someone cheating in class, will u tell on him. while it is right to report on the person, the shame of being labelled negatively by your peers may stop u.

yes i think in our society, honor and shame and power and fear play a significant role.. pple are always v interested to discuss about supernatural things. Feng shui, superstitions, fillial piety, honor, and shame (often hear parents trying to motivate their kids using shame).

Praise the Lord that in Him we need not fear and we have no condemnation. We have honor restored to us, the power of God in us, and we are seen as innocent through Jesus.

sometimes we get distracted by the accessories and trappings we forget what is the main thing..

That we were lost and dead in our sin.. and God saved us.

O precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow
No other fount I know
Nothing but the blood of Jesus