SHAME: AN EXPLORATION OF CAUSE AND CURE

Introduction

“For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.””

(Romans 10:11)[1]As a human person, I cannot easily explain in words the actual meaning of shame, but I know how it feels. Even as a Christian, one who is proclaimed forgiven of sin, I still at times feel guilty, or even ashamed of myself. The above scripture teaches me a different truth, but many times my feelings trump my faith. Just what is shame and why is it such a big deal? I would like to explore this issue in this paper. I am calling this an explorative project, since I am researching from a biblical worldview this topic, and chronicling my findings right here for you. We will start from man’s side and move Godward.

Psychology and Self Help

First I want to see what academia has to say about shame. “Understanding self-conscious emotions such as pride, embarrassment, guilt, and shame is a rising scientific interest. Shame is generally recognized as an emotion involving feelings of inferiority, powerlessness, and worthlessness.”[2] Dr. Joseph Burgo Ph.D. on his blog at Psychology Today.com shows the uncertainty in defining shame. He states “I haven't yet found a way to explain what I intuitively understand on a clinical level: that a kind of shame takes root in the first two years of life and can instill a feeling of inner defect and "ugliness" that lasts a lifetime. I need a definition of shame that takes into account its purposefrom an evolutionary perspective and also accounts for related emotions such as embarrassment and humiliation; it must encompass different varieties of shame such as the type discussed by Brené Brown in her recent book Daring Greatlyand the toxic kind described by John Bradshaw in Healing the Shame That Binds You”. The emotion of shame is difficult to describe, but we can always start with a basic dictionary to help: Noun 1.The painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another: She was overcome with shame.[3]

Biblical Origins

We must start with the Book of Beginnings or Genesis if we are to get a Biblical worldview for shame. “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which isin the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where areyou?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”” (Genesis 3:1–10)

I find that this is the first human experience of shame. Knowing they were naked, hiding themselves, and being afraid seem to be the root causes of sin and its child, shame. Bill T. Arnold concurs : “The real point of the narrative returns in verse seven when the humans learn they are naked, reminding the reader of their shameless nakedness in 2:25 and the serpent’s shrewdness in 3:1. They have gained the serpents shrewdness and have become shrewd themselves, which is to say shamefully naked”.[4] Keil and Delitzsch add “The discovery of their nakedness excited shame”.[5]They also state “Shame is the overpowering sense of a disordered inner harmony and peace within oneself. Shame is the co-relative of sin and guilt”. They also note that the feeling of shame is rooted in guilt before God, shown in the fact that they hid from Him after eating the fruit.[6]

Not all Old Testament Scholars agree with Keil and Delitzch on all points. On the idea of shame being a personal guilt from ‘sin’, I found a different idea. Westermann explains, “ Shame originally is not something that takes place in the individual, but in relationship with others. Secondly, to limit shame to a “co-relative of sin and guilt” is disastrous. Being ashamed is rather a reaction to being discovered unmasked. It is a reaction of the whole person as the blushing, which accompanies it, indicates. It is an extremely puzzling phenomenon, such as the absence of shame can indicate on the one hand lack of self-consciousness or innocence, as in 2:25, or on the other hand the way to being inhuman. A person who is without shame is no longer completely human. Shame is ethically an ambivalent phenomenon. As a reaction to a mistake, shame can be very positive; in itself it is effective in turning one away from the mistake. Here, the sense of shame should not be restricted to a reaction to sin or sensuality. This does not mean that the people in the garden were still guiltless nor that they experienced no “sensuality.” The sentence is rather a preparation for the change in 3:7, in that it says that shame does not yet exist for those who are living together in the garden. In the background is the human awareness that shame can come and go without any explanation. One can suddenly feel ashamed where one previously experienced no shame, and vice versa, an indication of certain important variations in human existence”.[7]

The savant Umberto Cassuto notes that in Genesis 2:25 being ashamed was not possible before the fall, because they did not know good and evil. He states, “ The feeling of shame in regard to anything is born only in the consciousness of evil that may exist in that thing”.[8] Adam and Eve’s ‘eyes being opened’ shows us the realization of ‘self-consciousness’, and they were ashamed of their nakedness - something that they didn’t notice before. From my exploration of this subject, I gather that shame is a real damaging emotion in the human experience, and it is the result of man’s fall in Eden, and affects our relationship with ourselves and others.

New Testament Times

The Greco-Roman era of history in which our New Testament is situated, brings light to shame, and its reciprocal honor. I found it interesting shame now moves from an emotional, physic, soulish wound, to a social-cultural moral. The culture of the first-century world was built on the foundational social values of honor and dishonor. deSilva writes, “The meaning of shame is somewhat more complicated than shame. If honor signifies respect for being the kind of person and doing the kinds of things the group values, shame signifies, in the first instance, being seen as less than valuable because one has behaved in ways that run contrary to the values of the group. The person who puts personal safety above the city’s well-being, fleeing from battle, loses the respect of society. His worth is impugned; he “loses face”; he is disgraced and viewed as a disgrace. In a second sense, however, shame can signify a positive character trait, namely a sensitivity to the opinion of the group such that one avoids those actions that bring disgrace. Out of shame of this kind, a woman refuses an adulterous invitation; a soldier refuses to flee from battle. Those living or reared in Asiatic, Latin American, Mediterranean or Islamic countries have considerable advantage in their reading of the New Testament in this regard, since many of those cultures place a prominent emphasis on honor and shame. Readers living in the United States or Western Europe may recognize immediately that we live at some distance from the honor culture of the first-century Greco-Roman world (including the Semitic peoples in the East). In our culture the bottom line for decision-making is not always (indeed, perhaps rarely) identifying the honorable thing to do. In the corporate world, for example, the “profitable” frequently acts as the central value. Considerations of right and wrong are also prominent, but these are based on internalized values or norms rather than values enforced by overt approval or disapproval by the larger society. Typically we do not talk about honor and shame much”. [9]

So our exploration of shame now moves from an emotive to a situational reality. I think that shame is actually both. We feel shame in ourselves, which our dictionary defined as the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another, and we can also be ‘shamed’ by the culture for things such as ‘racism’ or ‘islamopobia’ or ‘homophobia’ as made poplar by today’s culture.

It is interesting how Jesus relates to our subject. “ The very story at the center of the church’s faith already forces a decision concerning the reliability of the world’s estimation of honor and shame. Jesus suffered crucifixion, known as an intentionally degrading death, fixing the criminal’s honor at the lowest end of the spectrum and serving as an effective deterrent to the observers, reminding them of the shameful end that awaits those who similarly deviate from the dominant culture’s values. Paul no doubt understated the case when he referred to the proclamation of this cross as the wisdom of God as a “stumbling block” to Jews and “folly” to Gentiles. No member of the Jewish community or the Greco-Roman society would have come to faith or joined the Christian movement without first accepting that God’s perspective on what kind of behavior merits honor differs exceedingly from the perspective of human beings, since the message about Jesus is that both the Jewish and Gentile leaders of Jerusalem evaluated Jesus, his convictions and his deeds as meriting a shameful death, but God overturned their evaluation of Jesus by raising him from the dead and seating him at God’s own right hand as Lord’.[10] A dishonored Messiah would have never would be accepted. It was shameful to be crucified. The letters of Paul go to great length to honor Jesus and also take away the shame aspect – to both Jesus and his followers. deSilva’s book covers this well.

Bible Reference

Let’s look at some verses.

1Sam. 20:30 Then Saul’s anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness?

2Sam. 13:13 And I, where could I take my shame? And as for you, you would be like one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from you.”

Job 8:22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,

And the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing.”

Psa. 4:2 How long, O you sons of men, Will you turnmy glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness Andseek falsehood?

Prov. 19:26 He who mistreats his father andchases away his mother

Is a son who causes shame and brings reproach.

Prov. 25:8 Do not go hastily to court; For what will you do in the end, When your neighbor has put you to shame?

Prov. 25:10 Lest he who hears it expose your shame, And your reputation be ruined.

Old Testament positive promises on shame:

Is. 54:4 “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;

Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame;

For you will forget the shame of your youth,

And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.

Is. 61:7 Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,

And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.

Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

These verses show the biblical force given to this subject, and later on in the Old Testament we get the sense that a redemption- a solution is coming. The prophet Isaiah promises the cure for shame. How can we have this everlasting joy?

New Testament Reality

Rom. 9:33 As it is written:

“Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,

And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

Rom. 10:11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.

Rev. 3:18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

This final verse from Revelation echoes back to our discussion of Genesis 3. Adam and Eve saw that they were naked after they sinned against God. It is striking that that same language is used here, expect we have a reversal of shame. Jesus came to remove it from us. We now see clearly! We are made righteous by the shameful death that Jesus suffered for us. “Him who knew no sin, God made to become sin for us, that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him”. (1Cor.5:21)

The Book of Hebrews has a key scripture, which seems to speak to our topic. Heb. 12:1 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”. Of all the scriptures that show the disgrace of shame, this New Testament revelation gives hope and shares a law, which I was awakened to during this research. I have heard it called (during sermons): ‘law of exchange’ or the ‘law of reciprocity’ or the ‘great exchange’. These are terms often used to describe the transaction of salvation between God and man. God gives, man receives. This fits nicely with a Biblical worldview. God paid the price of redemption for us; we believe that and receive it by faith (see Mark 11:24). The writer of Hebrews states that Jesus, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, ‘despising the shame’. This shame he despised, was the cup He drank for us. The Old Testament Law of Moses basically condemns all men, everywhere. For sin, we get shame. The head of the human race, our parents, fell from innocence in the garden. We are born into sin. We are the prodigal sons in Luke 15. We are the lost son that had a glorious heritage, but left that for a shameful existence.

A second century letter was found from the ancient east, which is helpful here. It is a

‘Letter from a prodigal son, Antonis Longus, to his mother Nilus, Fayûm’, 2nd cent, A.D., papyrus, now in the Berlin Museum, published by Fr. Krebs and W. Schubart.

“Antonius Longus, of Caranis in the Fayûm, has quarrelled with his mother Nilus and left the village. The cause of the dissension seems to have lain with the son—loose living, and running up debts. It fares ill with him in the strange country; he is in such wretched plight that his clothes fall from him in rags. In such a state, he says to himself with burning shame, it is impossible for him to return home. But he must go back—he realizes that, for he had soon come to his senses: all this misery he has brought upon himself by his own fault, and it is the well-deserved punishment…….. I write [or“have written”] to thee that I am naked. I beseech thee, mother, be reconciled to me”.[11] Burning shame was this man’s feeling and reality. But he was reaching for the higher law. He reached for the law of exchange. He could lose his ‘burning shame’ if only he could be reconciled to his mom. Jesus’ story of the prodigal son is very much the same as this story: for shame, you can receive forgiveness and reinstatement. There is a requirement though : “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.”

(Luke 9:26). We must not deny Jesus, or we will be stuck with our shame.

Final Remarks and Conclusions

My exploration on the subject of shame teaches me a few lessons. The first is that I must confront shame feelings by acknowledging that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. After I accept the Living Jesus as my Savior, I have to confront my emotions and hurts, and receive the forgiveness He offers. This is indeed spiritual warfare. We take into captivity every thought that is contrary to God’s truth. I am forgiven! My shame is taken away. I must forgive myself, let the Holy Spirit purify my heart and mind, and love others. These actions will help me experience a shame free life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

New King James Version (NKJV). Oxford University Press, Inc., 2002.

Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. Dictionary.com http://www.dictionary.com.

Arnold, Bill T. Genesis. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Keil, C. F. and Delitzsch, F. Commentary on the Old Testament. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996.

Westermann, C. A Continental Commentary: Genesis 1–11 . Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1994.

Cassuto, Umberto. A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Part One: From Adam to Noah. Skokie, Illinois: Varda Books, 2005.

deSilva, D. A. Honor, patronage, kinship & purity: unlocking New Testament culture Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. 2000.

Deissman, Adolf, Light From the Ancient East. Accordance electronic ed. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1927.

Periodicals

Lee, Chih-Yuan Steven, Jared R. Anderson, and Bonnie Klimes-Dougan. "Potentially Traumatic Experiences, Academic Performance, and Psychological Distress: The Role of Shame." Journal Of Counseling & Development 94, no. 1 (January 2016): 41-50. Professional Development Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed December 10, 2016).

[1] Unless otherwise indicated all Bible references in this paper are to the New King James Version (Oxford University Press, Inc., 2002). [2] Lee, Chih-Yuan Steven, Jared R. Anderson, and Bonnie Klimes-Dougan. 2016. "Potentially Traumatic Experiences, Academic Performance, and Psychological Distress: The Role of Shame." Journal Of Counseling & Development 94, no. 1: 41-50. Professional Development Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed December 10, 2016). [3] Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 11 Dec. 2016. <Dictionary.com http://www.dictionary.com/browse/shame>. [4] Bill T. Arnold, Genesis. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 66. [5] C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996), 96. [6]Ibid. , 93-99. [7]Westermann, C. (1994). A Continental Commentary: Genesis 1–11 (p. 236). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. [8] Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Part One: From Adam to Noah. (Skokie, Illinois: Varda Books, 2005), 137. [9]deSilva, D. A. (2000). Honor, patronage, kinship & purity: unlocking New Testament culture (pp. 25–26). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. [10]deSilva, D. A. (2000). Honor, patronage, kinship & purity: unlocking New Testament culture (p. 51). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. [11] Deissman, Adolf, Light From the Ancient East. Accordance electronic ed. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1927, Pg 11.