Guilt, shame … and the Eastern Reformation
Western and Eastern cultures have been described as being guilt- and shame-driven cultures by sociologists. The observation here is that Western people tend to be driven more by a fear of guilt that arises from within the individual person. But in Eastern cultures people are driven more by a fear of shame that arises out of a social grouping (eg. family, village, relationship).
When such a person falls into a state of guilt (or shame), they try to recover their prior state. However in the different cultures, this is done in slightly different ways. In the Western culture, a person would attempt to justify themselves so as to be free of their guilt. But in Eatsern cultures, a person would attempt to redeem themselves so as to be released from their shame.
We cannot justify ourselves – but the good news of the gospel is that the righteous judge justifies us. He declares us to be free from the guilt of our sin. God can be just in declaring us justified, because the righteousness of Christ is imputed to our account - this righteousness being received by faith alone. And this is the doctrine of justitfication that Luther rediscovered in the pages of the Bible.
But here’s an interesting thought: if the doctrine of justification by faith alone hits the nail on the head for the Western person, perhaps it is actually the doctrine of redemption that will hit the nail on the head for the Eastern person? Not that justification is irrelevant for the Eastern person, any more so than redemption would be irrelevant for the Western person. Of course you would preach both. But perhaps it’s the preaching of the gospel of God redeeming us from our sins, setting us free from the sinful nature, and releasing us from our debts – perhaps it’s that which will most clearly speak to the Eastern person.
When an Asian Christian lets God down, you can imagine that they try to make it up to God again by their devotion, by lengthy and heartfelt prayers, by their sacrificial giving – and other things that fit in well with the transactional nature of redeeming ourselves. This has the side effect of turning Christian disciplines from things done joyfully to grow as Christians, into things done dutifully to pay God back! But it also minimises the redeeming work of Christ. Far from having to redeem ourselves before God when we feel we have have let him down, the gospel tells us that Christ’s redemption is overwhelmingly sufficient!
Moreover, I think our redemption is not very well understood. Often people think of us as being set free from the penalty of sin – we escape the ‘chop’. However in the Bible our redemption is much broader – as Christians we are in fact set free from the guilt, the penalty and also the power of our sin!
In the 16th Century it was the rediscovery of the doctrine of justification that led to the Continental Reformation in the Western world. Perhaps it is the rediscovery of the doctrine of redemption that will lead to a reformation in the Eastern world?
[ PS: what do you think? ]
Categories: Chinese culture
