Evangelism: Speaking to the Shamed

I've been writing about how, along with guilt, shame is a root problem that the Gospel is designed to solve. So, how shall we use this second option of presenting the Gospel? It's always important to start where the person is. There are those who understand guilt. They get it, and they can relate to the idea of needing to deal with it. Then there are those who see their problems more in terms of shame. They may not use that word. They are more likely to talk about failure, and that's how they understand much of their lives. They have failed and they can feel it.

So, you talk about failure. You talk about how it's not something that can be solved by simply telling yourself that you aren't a failure. That's a common myth that many have been told. No, instead you talk about how their sense of failure can reflect something real, an actual failure. You help the person to move from their smaller sense of shame, something rooted in the standards of their parents or the wider culture, to the reality of their having failed to maintain the standards of God. Just as when dealing with someone's sense of guilt, here you help the person see that the problem of their failure is greater than what they thought. 

But then, you can explain how Jesus has come to remove that shame, by taking it upon Himself, and to grant to that person not merely a sense of honor but the reality of being honored by the Father. Jesus' death covers their shame (remember the prophetic picture of the skins God provided Adam and Eve) and makes it possible for the Father to deal with them as honored people to whom He can say, 'You are My beloved in whom I am well pleased'.