by Ron Brown
You know there are three, don’t you?
Honour and shame cultures are generally in Asian and Middle Eastern
countries; power and fear cultures are predominant in African countries, and
North America is very much about guilt and innocence. However, in this global
village in which we live, it is understood these cultures and worldviews are
blended, but there will be a primary worldview where you are moving to work.
What difference does it make? Well, as a visitor working, let’s say in a shame
and honour worldview group of people, it would certainly not be fitting for you
to speak to a colleague, especially in public, in a way that would disgrace them
and consequently their family. It would be best to consider bringing honour to
a person or family instead. Dealing with a difficult subject matter needs to be
done in private, where no shame is incurred, and never in public. In a classroom,
a teacher would not shame a student in front of the other students. Instead, a
teacher would seek to bring honour to a student in front of others, especially
before their parents.
What good news would you preach in each worldview? In North America,
gospel messages are about Jesus coming to take away our guilt. Good News in
Africa is of how Jesus has come to give us power, through the Holy Spirit, over
the fear of evil spirits and curses. In Asia, the good news is that Jesus came to
take away my shame and give me a place of honour. All those scripture verses
are in the Bible; you just need to find what applies in your setting. In today’s global
village, an aware pastor preaching the gospel would cover all three points if he
saw people from these three worldviews in his congregation.
Free download of the book here https://www.cmacan.org/resources/on-mission/
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