By Floyd D Ruffin
Shame turned to Honor as seen in the Book of Philippians
In the times of New Testament (NT) there is much allusion to the culture of “honor and
shame.” It is often referred to in words such as being reviled or excluded. For
example, Jesus was called Beelzebub, recorded in Matthew 10. And Jesus replied that if
they will seek to shame Him with such names you, His followers, can expect the same and
worse.
Honor is said to be the positive value of a person in his or her own eyes plus the positive
appreciation of that person in the eyes of his or her group or community. Shame is the opposite
view. A man cannot be honored unless be is honorable, or does deeds which are deemed
honorable. On the other hand, one without a sense of shame is lightly to be a shameful person
and will not do honorable deeds. The Apostle Paul was honorable in nature and could be
shamed. One would seek to be one of honor; however, one neither does nor, normally, seeks to
be shameful.
In the Book to the Philippians, the people of Philippi did as much as they could to shame
the Apostle Paul. However, that which was intended to bring shame for the Apostle, he turned it
to be something to be honored. The first example is to be found in chapter one, vs. 12-21. Paul
declares that the things which have and were happening to him are not shameful but
“…have fallen rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; that my bonds in Christ are manifesting in…the palace… and all other places; …And many of the brethren…are much more bold to speak the word without fear….in nothing I shall be ashamed, …whether it be by life, or by death.”
The Apostle clearly does not live in self-pity or self-abasement because of the way he is
persecuted and looked now upon as one worthy of imprisonment and death because he has
turned away from “Judaism” to be a follower of Jesus. And, that he proclaimed his allegiance to
Jesus and taught “the way” to all who would listen. (To the Jew, this is shameful)
At Philippians chapter two verse five and following the Apostle speaks of what is
construed as the shame Jesus willingly accepted by giving up what He had, GREAT HONOR, to
say the least, and expose Himself to ridicule and shame, even to become, through human eyes,
a curse.
The shame that Jesus exposed Himself to, was turned back to GREAT HONOR because
it is recorded that “…God…hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above
every name. That at the sound of His name, everyone and everything will bow. That which is in
heaven and that which is on and under the Earth. (Phil. 2:9-10)
Let this mind be in me…
