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TL;DR
Around the world, cultures interpret sin and righteousness through different moral worldviews or lenses. Christian anthropologists identify three main frameworks: Honor/Shame, Guilt/Innocence, and Fear/Power. These categories overlap—no culture fits only one. Each blends shame, guilt, fear, power, honor, and innocence in unique proportions. The gospel can restore honor, innocence, and power across every culture.
A century ago, early anthropologists routinely classified cultures according to their perceived development vis-à-vis Western cultures. The categories on that now-discarded developmental scale were:
Today, one way Christian anthropologists help people minister cross-culturally is by teaching them to identify the lenses through which cultures view wrongdoing or sin and right living or righteousness. Being aware of those cultural lenses and the ways people respond because of them can help outsiders understand what people of a particular culture most need to hear from Scripture.
Three categories of cultural viewpoints regarding sin and righteousness have emerged:
These categories—particularly honor/shame—are widely discussed today. Although they have only recently become a “hot topic,” the idea has been around for some time. An influential early presentation of these categories appeared in linguist Eugene Nida's classic book Customs and Cultures: Anthropology for Christian Witness, first published in 1954, with a second edition released in 1975.
People in cultures in which honor/shame responses are prominent feel strongly responsible for the corporate well-being of their group. Interconnectedness and solidarity are core values. An individual's actions are seen as bringing honor or shame on those connected to that person as well as on the person actually doing wrong or acting righteously. Honor/shame dynamics are prominent in many Asian cultures.
On the other hand, guilt/innocence cultures tend to be individualistic and often regulate behavior through established laws and rules. An individual who behaves badly is labeled "guilty," while an individual who does what is right is considered "innocent." Many cultures in the West, including the United States, are predominantly guilt/innocence cultures.
In terms of fear/power responses, they predominate in tribal and animistic cultures, where there is an entrenched fear of evil spirits. All of life appears to be an ongoing spiritual battle. In some societies, people seek protection or spiritual power through rituals and relationships with spiritual beings. Fear/power dynamics are prominent in some African and other traditional societies.
That doesn't mean that (1) only people in honor/shame cultures feel shame, while (2) those in guilt/innocence cultures are the only ones who feel guilt, with (3) fear being encountered only in fear/power cultures. No culture is limited to just one of those pairs. All six elements -- shame, guilt, fear, power, honor, and innocence -- interact and overlap in the people of every culture. Each cultural worldview is a unique blend of the various responses in which one of the pairs dominates.
What is a worldview?
Canadian pastor Tim Challies has summarized how Scripture speaks to all three types of cultural worldviews. He explains that Christ bore shame to restore our honor, defeated spiritual powers to address fear, and took our guilt upon Himself to give us innocence. Thus, the gospel restores honor, power, and innocence. [Source]
—Howard Culbertson, hculbert@snu.edu
This blog on a key issue in world missions outreach was one of the 20 articles in the "Mission briefing" series published in Engage, an online monthly magazine. Articles in that series dealt with topics such as unreached people groups, contextualization, indigenous churches, dependency, sustainability, leadership development, go-ers/senders, culture shock, and globalization.