Last week, Tom Terry, an acquaintance of mine from back in my KLYT radio days and a Campus Crusade (Cru) guy, posted the title of a book he had started reading. Tom is a solid theology guy, and though I do not usually react to things he posts online, his book title caught my eye and led me over to Amazon to get more information about the book.

The book Tom posted was called “Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures”, a subject that grabbed my attention because of my past interest in the concept of shame and how it impacts people and cultures.

The book’s co-author, Jayson Georges, had another little volume that seemed to be a thinner summation of his ideas called “The 3D Culture: Ministry in Guilt, Shame and Fear Cultures”. I immediately decided to buy that little book, and I look forward to learning about his categorization of these types of cultures.

A book that was promoted online next to the one I bought also caught my attention, and perhaps a little more because of its psychological emphasis. Curt Thompson is a psychiatrist who produced a book called “The Soul of Shame” in 2015.

I am not a practicing theologian. I suspect many who know me might even question if I am a practicing Christian. I know quite often of late, I do. Still, much of my thinking is managed and screened by the Judeo-Christian worldview I learned as a child, and built upon as an adult. My theories about human interaction rest on ideas that are forwarded by Scripture, and supported by science. Naturally, I am also interested in explanations for sociopathy and psychopathy that have ties in faith-related concepts of how people work. If human beings are more than mere chemical and biological actions and reactions, then there is more to understanding human thought and behavior than the natural sciences can provide.

Thompson’s book appears right in line with what I would want to read if I was an aspiring therapist or practicing pastoral care. I deeply believe that most of the psychic and social malignancies that twist individuals and communities stem from the corrosive and destructive impact of shame with in them.

The Georges book looks like a good read for being able to identify guilt, shame, and fear cultures. The Thomson book looks like a great read about identifying shame in others and self, providing some insights and tools for navigating out of its crippling grasp.

At the core of my Christian beliefs is the declaration that the good word of the Gospel was given to humanity to free people from the damaging side-effects of sin: a life buried under guilt, a life warped by shame. Historically, most of the propitiation model of Christ’s work in his believers has focused on the relief of guilt, but modern advances in psychology underscore the great damage that shame does within societies, and because of this, propitiation has taken on an added importance to modern individuals. Propitiation provides an outlet for dealing with shame.

Because shame has had such a long and debilitating presence in my life, I am glad to discover a couple of books that, in the end, make me take some time again to deal with some shadow places in my heart. It’s been a while since I have done that- for the good of others, and for the good of myself.

I am looking forward to reading these books soon.