Shame and Worship
"Shame
is rooted in inherent preference to trust false gods rather than depend on God
for each and every moment of our existence. Shame is not primarily an
experience of feeling bad or deficient as it is the exposure of foolish trust
in a god who is not God. Shame exposes what we worship" (1).
We are
worshippers. It is our inherent nature and identity. Thus, what we trust, obey, and expect blessing from--in other words, what we worship--is a reflection of who we are, our heart desires,
our deepest core. In turn, we become more like what we worship as well. "Mike" would not state it like this, but he worships
his brother—his brother Joe is strong, athletic, well-respected, etc. Mike
lives for his brother’s affirmation. In this relationship, he trusts, obeys,
and expects blessing. He trusts it as his source of self-worth and to provide
meaning for his life. When his brother gives him a kind word, a pat on the back,
Mike glows. He feels good about himself. Mike obeys the relationship-idol. He
does what it takes to receive that affirmation, echoing his brother’s love of
rap, his favorite sports teams, etc. Mike also expects a blessing from the
relationship—in response to his trust and obedience, he expects those words of affirmation.
Like any other religion, this idolatry is works-based.
But Jesus left his glory and changed into a man and humbled himself, becoming like us, becoming finite and weak in the flesh. He bore our sin and shame. Now we can once again worship him and enter his glory in union with Him. Amazing grace. Amazing transformation. Worship.
NOTES
(1) Dan Allender and Tremper Longman, Cry of the Soul: How our Deepest Emotions Reveal our Deepest Questions About God (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1994), 196-197.
(2) Charles W. Price, Christ for Real: How to Grow into God's Likeness (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1995); Cornelius Plantinga, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. Eerdmans, 1995), 37; William Dyrness, Themes in Old Testament Theology (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1980).
We are
worshippers. It is our inherent nature and identity. Thus, what we trust, obey, and expect blessing from--in other words, what we worship--is a reflection of who we are, our heart desires,
our deepest core. In turn, we become more like what we worship as well. "Mike" would not state it like this, but he worships
his brother—his brother Joe is strong, athletic, well-respected, etc. Mike
lives for his brother’s affirmation. In this relationship, he trusts, obeys,
and expects blessing. He trusts it as his source of self-worth and to provide
meaning for his life. When his brother gives him a kind word, a pat on the back,
Mike glows. He feels good about himself. Mike obeys the relationship-idol. He
does what it takes to receive that affirmation, echoing his brother’s love of
rap, his favorite sports teams, etc. Mike also expects a blessing from the
relationship—in response to his trust and obedience, he expects those words of affirmation.
Like any other religion, this idolatry is works-based.
Yet, behind it all is ultimately a self-worship. One
expects blessing. For Mike, this blessing comes in the form of self-worth and affirmation. "Tina" worships alcohol and finds comfort, escape, and pain relief. "Gladys," who
worships her career, finds power and a sense of being in control as her
blessings.
Also, what we worship is our glory. Glory—weight,
visible substance, reputation, manifestation (2). God
is meant to be our glory (1 Sam. 15:29; Isa. 41:16; 45:25; Rom. 9:4). But we
exchange the true reality, the glory of God, for something that is
non-existent, false, worthless, profitless (Jer. 2:11; Hab. 2:18; Is. 44:9; 1
Cor. 8:14; Ps. 106:20; Rom. 1:23). Tina was created to give glory to God
and to find her glory—her substance, reputation, and manifestation of his image in her--in God. Yet, she trades
it for the fantasy of alcohol. That becomes the orientation of her life, her
meaning, her self.
Yet, these gods fail us. Mike’s brother fails to give him
the affirmation he must have to thrive. Tina’s alcohol reaps broken
relationships, liver disease, economic breakdown, and more. Gladys' career is
never sufficient to fill her; she arrives at the top and finds it empty, she hungers
and thirsts for more but has nowhere to go.
This is where shame creeps in. Our gods fail us. Our self
is betrayed. Our gods are proven false—thus, our self-worship and our glory is
betrayed. Shame creeps in the cracks of the discrepancy of what we thought we
were (in control of our gods, the recipients of the blessings—for Mike, the one
who was loved by his brother; for Tina, the one who was free by alcohol; for
Gladys, the powerful one, and what we realize we are (worshippers of the profitless and wavering and fallible, slaves, finite, etc.). Our life, self, glory, meaning, approval, control, blessings,
trust, obedience—all built on the empty, non-existent. And life crumbles into
shame.
"They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox
that eats grass" (Ps. 106:2).
"They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images
resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things" (Rom. 1:2).
"Has a nation changed its gods, even though
they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that
which does not profit" (Jer. 2:11).
But Jesus left his glory and changed into a man and humbled himself, becoming like us, becoming finite and weak in the flesh. He bore our sin and shame. Now we can once again worship him and enter his glory in union with Him. Amazing grace. Amazing transformation. Worship.
NOTES
(1) Dan Allender and Tremper Longman, Cry of the Soul: How our Deepest Emotions Reveal our Deepest Questions About God (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1994), 196-197.
(2) Charles W. Price, Christ for Real: How to Grow into God's Likeness (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1995); Cornelius Plantinga, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. Eerdmans, 1995), 37; William Dyrness, Themes in Old Testament Theology (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1980).
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