Andre lives in Amanzimtoti, KwaZulu-Natal and has a wide-ranging ministry that is built on a “new paradigm” understanding about grace. The paradox is that this “new paradigm” is really the “old paradigm” of many Early Church Fathers that is now being recovered as the really “good news” about grace for guilt and shame.
Just thought I’d post my comments back to Andre for those interested in the larger “conversations” that are happening outside the BT Community.
Thank you Andre. Happy to share whatever I may offer to the conversation.
At about the same time you were pondering a "new paradigm" I was exploring a shift from seeing theology through a legal-guilt paradigm to a shame-grace point of view.... I discovered that shame is more of a dominant theme in Scripture than guilt.
In fact, I came to understand that guilt is really a learned response of shame about violating some standard. That is, the capacity to experience shame is an innate affect and does not have to be learned but guilt has to have a learned standard to violate. We can have real guilt with shame and are more likely to want to do some remediation. We can have real guilt without shame and there's little motivation to seek remedy.
My experience is that many "believers" continue to have significant unhealed "shame-wounds" long after they have experienced forgiveness for their guilt. Like Lazarus, they are as alive as they will ever be but are still wrapped in grave clothes that limit them from living loved and loving life.
They are led to misidentify their shame-barrier that inhibits them "accepting their acceptance" as "guilt" and are encouraged to "repent more" or look for something for which they have not "fully repented." Seeking more forgiveness does not work we are set up to use performance-religion to work on getting "closer to God." Since whatever pattern performance-religion offers, and there are many variations, does not work to heal shame, it increases shame and sets up guilt about "not doing enough" or not doing the practices "right enough."
So many believers deal with "false guilt" that is really unhealed internalized-shame that condemns us through our shame-based conscience. Many of us assume is that our "conscience" is somehow neutral and unaffected by how we were raised and our heart-wounding life experiences. As children, the Disney character Jiminy Cricket, taught many of us to trust our conscience. However, our conscience is significantly shaped by the way shame was used by parents, teachers, and churches to influence our moral outlook on life.
Our shame-based conscience may sound like the voice of God and condemn us when there is no condemnation. Which of us raised in very conservative families know that many the prohibitions they taught are not wrong at all, yet we still feel a "pang of conscience" when we do them? Which of us who were raised in a very permissive family have not been frustrated when spiritual communities imply that belonging requires developing "convictions" about things that we're quite sure don't matter?
Well, I diverge from sharing a simple thank you.
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