THE CONCEPTS OF HONOR AND SHAME are each a separate fruit from the taproots of two trees in symbiotic dioecious relationship—a male and female correlation. “In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen. 2:9) The rising sap in each produces first the bud, then the flower. With the winds of spring or the dance of bees, the first is cross-pollinated by the second. The fruit of honor is sweet, the fruit of shame is bitter; they seem the same until a naïve hand plucks one or the other as it ripens, and it is ingested.
The analogy is not quite right, for we are not really talking about fruit from a tree, which can usually be determined as sweet or bitter, or ripe or rotten, as soon as it is bitten into. Instead, we are dealing with choices and their unfolding consequences. “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” (Prov. 14:12) Consider more tree and fruit metaphors. The manchineel tree can grow to a height of about fifty feet, and produces a fruit resembling an apple, which if eaten can make a person very, very ill. In Spanish, it is known as “manzanilla de la muerte;” in English it is the “little apple of death.” In context and congruence with scripture, we return to the Garden of Eden briefly, and hear the word of the Lord: “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Gen. 2:17) While honor and shame are observable consequences of choice, what prompts them is hidden from the eyes of those casually watching. For the person experiencing such outcomes, they never come without a set of warning guidelines.
The primary point of the Book of Proverbs is this: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” (Prov. 1:7) The knowledge referred to here is not merely about this one foundational fact, but all that stems from it. Solomon refers to this in his opening line—proverbs are: “For gaining wisdom and instruction.” (Prov. 1:2) He builds upon this theme throughout the book. “Blessed are those who find wisdom.” “She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her.” (Prov. 3:13, 3:18) “Does not wisdom call out?” “Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say.” “To the discerning all of them are right; they are upright to those who have found knowledge.” (Prov. 8:1, 8:6, 8:9)
Modern Western culture has blurred the ancient lines between honor and shame in a three-plus-century-long rush away from a Judeo-Christian theistic worldview. The predominant culture, worldwide now, is one permeated by nihilism. But scripture remains a guide for those who are wise. Solomon, in response to his sober observation of the futility of human activities, sardonically says “This too, I say, is meaningless. So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad.” (Prov. 8:14-15)
In counterpoint, he observes “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint.” (Prov. 29:18a) The apostle Paul notes, “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” (Rom 8:7) Isaiah warns, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isa. 5:20) Jesus indicts the duplicity of the devious: “Woe to you, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” (Matt. 23:25)
In the Age of Information, our world culture has become permeated with the results of ignoring the voice of the Lord. And the results of that siren-call to eat of the bitter fruit, one by one in a legion of numbers? “He followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose, little knowing it will cost him his life.” (Prov. 7:22-23)
Heeding the word of the Lord is a gateway to right actions stemming from right choices. Solomon offers this: “Blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.” (Prov. 29b) But right actions have never been the litmus test for righteousness before God, nor do they absolve from sin and its consequences, which is the bitter fruit of bad choices. In the mercy of God, he knowing our frailties and failings. Solomon tells us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Prov. 4 :23) And while this is true, a greater wisdom exists. Paul, referring to the substitutionary and atoning death of Jesus on the cross, says “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.” (1 Cor. 1:21)
Honor and shame are not just something that swirl in the actions of the world culture; they exist in uneven measure in the Christian church. There is a backsliding section of the sanctuary, where the shamed of today sit figuratively on the *sinner’s bench of Charles Finney’s eighteen-hundred’s revivals. In every church there are those who have tasted bitter fruit and need to spit it out. And in most of these same churches, there is a tree of life hanging somewhere in the sanctuary. It is a reminder: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (Eph. 1:3-4)
One of the songs sung at Finney’s revivals was: **“Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling… calling, ‘O Sinner, come Home.’” The sentiment of this old gospel standard expresses a timeless truth from the apostle Paul: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:1) In Christ, and in Christ alone, honor is restored and shame is removed, banished forever. In Jesus, God sees us as blameless.
Q. Am I figuratively sitting on the sinner’s bench, or on the mercy seat?
* Charles Grandison Finney, 1792-1875. He was a leader in the Second Great Awakening, and has been called “The Father of Modern Revivalism.”
** “Softly and Tenderly” – William Lamartine Thompson, 1880.
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