Honor, Shame, and the Gospel: An Interview With Chris Flanders

Does an honor-shame lens undermine our theology of the atonement?

More and more missiologists are tired of talking about the gospel only in terms of guilt and innocence. This growing school of thought claims these concepts are “Western.” Writers like Roland Muller, Jayson Georges, and Jackson Wu say that honor and shame—not guilt and innocence—hold the keys to evangelism in Majority World cultures.

Are they right? Does an honor-shame reading of Scripture undermine penal, substitutionary atonement? This week, we welcome Chris Flanders, co-editor of Honor, Shame, and the Gospel with Werner Mischke, to the hot seat to share his perspective.

Hear our previous episode discussing the honor-shame paradigm here.

Subscribe for More

Subscribe, rate, and review The Missions Podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite app to help us bridge the gap between theology and mission.

Alex Kocman & Scott Dunford

Alex Kocman is the Director of Communications and Engagement for ABWE. He serves as general editor for Message Magazine and co-hosts The Missions Podcast. After earning his M.A. in Communication and B.S. in Biblical Studies, he served as an online apologetics instructor with Liberty University and a youth pastor in Pennsylvania, where he now resides with his wife and three children. Read his blog or follow him on X/Twitter.

Scott Dunford is the pastor of Western Hills Church in San Mateo, Calif. Previously, Scott served as Vice President of Mobilization and Communications for ABWE and as a missionary in East Asia. Scott graduated from Northland International University (B.A. in Pastoral Studies), earned his M.A. in biblical studies from Central Baptist Theological Seminary, his M.B.A. from Cornerstone University, and is currently enrolled in Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s D.Min. program with an emphasis on missions.