Guilt and Shame

I was thinking...

“What history has needed is a positive and inspiring universal vision for the earth and the people of God. Harping about individual sin and criminal convictions might shame a few individuals into halfhearted obedience, but in terms of societal change, it has been a notorious Christian failure. Such an emphasis has backfired because it was not founded in a positive love and appreciation of the good, the true, and the beautiful in the world or in creation. Our shaming of human beings has simply produced an ocean of blowback from folks who already think they are unworthy. Negative energy feeds on itself, but positive energy evokes a positive vision.” (Richard Rohr, “Tears of Things,” pp.69-70)

I’m not certain where I first heard the distinction between guilt and shame, but I have found it helpful. “Guilt says I’ve done something wrong. Shame says there is something wrong with me.” Guilt is a portion of the work of the Holy Spirit. We call it the “convicting work of the Holy Spirit.” I know this convicting work, and I bet you do too. Whether it is sitting at Camp Meeting, or in Sunday Worship, or reading a passage of Scripture, I felt my heart “strangely warmed” about a certain matter in life. Something I had done or not done. I felt I must repent, change my ways, change my mind, and allow God’s Spirit to mold me and make me after God’s will.

Shame is not the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the work of the evil one. It says to you and me that we are of little or no worth. Because we are less than perfect, we are pitiful sinners. We are awful people who have no hope because we are born to sin, and continue to sin and sin. Yes, we have made mistakes, and it is okay to admit mistakes. But mistakes just prove how terrible we really are as human beings. If others really knew the truth about us, they would know our imperfections more broadly, and they would be ashamed of us. “We ought to be ashamed of ourselves” is our constant mantra.

Father Rohr is correct when he writes, “Negative energy feeds on itself.” Nothing of value or worthiness begins or is sustained by negative energy. Those who preach and teach that we’re all going to hell in a handbasket may, for a brief time, gain attention and following, but they will fizzle out eventually like a firecracker with little firepower. Those who preach and teach that the best days are always ahead of us are the ones who eventually win the day. Even if the day they win is after their death. They are the Resurrection/Easter people. Why? Because “positive energy evokes a positive vision,” as Richard Rohr says.

My heart aches for the Negative Nancys and the Negative Nathans of this world. My heart aches for those who sit under their brand of negativity in their worship environments or any other leadership environment. Such leadership brings only a burden to people’s lives, not hope. They bring a “you can never measure up” tone that causes those who buy into their garbage such a depressed state of living. This is not the tone of heaven, nor is it the tone of heaven on earth.

Nothing good or sustained ever was born from negative leadership. It is God who always wins in all matters of this life and life eternal. The great hymn of the church, “This is My Father’s World,” has a verse that sings:

“O let me ne’er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my Father’s world: why should my heart be sad? The Lord is King; let the heavens ring! God reigns; let the earth be glad!”

(Maltbie D. Babcock, 1901, The UMC Hymnal, p.144)

Who are we listening to these days? Whom do we follow? The Apostle Paul knew it well, and so should we: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, KJV). But that doesn’t mean we are not precious and valuable and good. We are highly valued and favored by God and by those who are deeply rooted in God’s love as well. Shame on those who attempt at shaming us. This is not of God, my friends. This is not of God.

Always thinking...