How Would Jesus Tell It? Crafting Stories for Honor-Shame Cultures

Last updated on: January 5, 2015 at 8:45 am By Brad Vaughn

Want to craft a story from an honor-shame perspective? Check out the January 2015 issue of Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ). I’ve contributed an article entitled, “How Would Jesus Tell It? Crafting Stories from an Honor-Shame Perspective.” As I looked around, I found little to nothing on this specific topic. The article suggests five practical steps or stages to crafting a story for an honor-shame context. The subjects of orality, honor-shame, and story crafting are vast. There’s no way to... Read more

First class Chinese ingenuity

Last updated on: December 31, 2014 at 8:30 am By Brad Vaughn

Here is a fun story that illustrates so well the ingenuity of the Chinese mind. Casey Chan blogged about a genuis man who used one first class airplane ticket to eat free for a year. Airports are often terrible places to be. There are too many people rushing somewhere combined with too many cranky folks leaving somewhere mixed with annoying obstacles in the form of TSA security and rolling luggages. But it’s just like that for us normal folk. For... Read more

A question from an overwhelmed seminary student

Last updated on: December 29, 2014 at 8:30 am By Brad Vaughn

Here’s a question emailed to me from a friend who is in seminary–– I am messaging you to ask for advice, or encouragement, or something… You see, I’m feeling very overwhelmed with being “theologically sound.” In so many of the books that are assigned and in so many of the class lectures, I often hear, “this person is wrong,” and, “this person is right.” Over and over again it’s all about these people getting this view correct, but not this... Read more

The Mask of Faith (a poem)

Last updated on: August 12, 2015 at 3:54 am By Brad Vaughn

Song and poetry often convey meaning more clearly that essays and books. With that in mind, I have included a poem below that expresses how “face” works in the context of Christian faith. Our face reveals the heart of our faith and what it is that makes us feels unsafe. Our lonely hope is to belong, to be accepted despite our wrong And so we strive to show our worth to give some warrant for our birth. But again we sin and hide... Read more

Using the Bible to Introduce Honor and Shame

Last updated on: August 12, 2015 at 3:58 am By Brad Vaughn

In this series, I’ve tried to help people consider how to introduce the concepts of honor and shame to others. Certainly, anything close to a full understanding of honor/shame will require more than a conversation or two. However, we have to start somewhere. In this post, I want to offer a few Scripture passages that helpfully introduce honor/shame from a biblical and theological perspective. If you have ready in your mind a handful of “go to” texts, it will be... Read more

"I'm Losing Face Right Now"

Last updated on: December 11, 2014 at 7:10 pm By Brad Vaughn

Don’t understand what “losing face” means? Then watch this video. Read more

Five Simple Ways to Explain Honor and Shame

Last updated on: August 14, 2015 at 3:48 am By Brad Vaughn

How do we explain honor and shame to others in a simple, conversational way? In the previous post, I highlighted a handful of ways that people misunderstand honor and shame. Today, I will suggest a few simple ideas to make your conversations about honor/shame go a bit more smooth. I especially have in mind Western Christians, though much could be applied to others as well. 1. Simplify Your Language Try to use as much day-to-day language as possible. Although the... Read more

A Theology Guide for Guilt, Shame, and Fear Cultures

Last updated on: December 4, 2014 at 11:30 am By Brad Vaughn

* This is a re-blog from my friend over at HonorShame.com. Notice there are only more 3 days left for you to get free access to this theology guide!! By the way, I have translated the guide into Chinese. Click here to get it. How can we reframe Christian theology for cultures of guilt, shame, and fear? This Theology Guide systemically charts 40+ theological categories in the language and values of each culture type. For example, the section about God... Read more

Are We Talking Past Each Other? (re: Honor and Shame)

Last updated on: August 14, 2015 at 3:47 am By Brad Vaughn

Have you ever talked about honor & shame with someone but felt like you and the other person were talking past each other? How can we fix that problem? Well, let’s be realistic. If someone is really unfamiliar with how honor & shame work, there are no shortcuts on the way to understanding. The challenge is compounded if people have deeply ingrained preconceptions that are mere half-truths. I especially have Westerners in mind. Why is it important to talk about... Read more

My Review of "Grassroots Asian Theology"

Last updated on: December 2, 2014 at 9:15 am By Brad Vaughn

The most recent issue of Themelios came out today. This month, you’ll find my review of Simon Chan’s most recent book Grassroots Asian Theology: Thinking the Faith from the Ground Up. This book is sure to become a conversation piece for anyone concerned with theology and missions in the majority world (i.e. non-Western world). I’d love to hear your own thoughts on it. What do you think about his thesis? Do you think he sufficiently defends it? Related articles... Read more