Seeking God’s Face: Practical Reflections on Honor and Shame in Scripture

EMQ » January – April 2024 » Volume 60 Issue 1

Reviewed by L. Lynn Thigpen, PhD, adjunct professor, Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA, and emeritus IMB missionary to Southeast Asia.

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After writing the academic text Saving God’s Face, Jackson Wu follows with this devotional work that seeks to touch not only the head but also the heart and hands (viii). Containing 101 Scripture passages highlighting honor/shame concepts, Seeking God’s Face delves into the realm of spirituality and the soul, exploring ways of thinking and heart motives.

Covering concepts such as face, status reversal, filial piety, reciprocity, hospitality, and people-pleasing, the entries span the breadth of the complicated constructs of honor and shame. Students exploring honor and shame will also note mentions of glory, reputation, reproach, contempt, insult, indignity, and the like. Since we are created for God’s glory (Isaiah 43:7), pondering these reflections nudge us toward that noble purpose.

Each uniquely titled selection contains a passage of Scripture, a commentary, a parting reflection, and a prayer. Written in the first person, the commentaries seem to originate with Wu and leave one to assume Ryan Jensen composed the parting reflections and prayers. The first reflection, “The Genesis of Glory,” begins with Psalm 104:1–2 and addresses God’s worth.

Subsequent explorations follow the order of the biblical canon without addressing every book. The final devotion entitled “Maligned for Following Christ” reflects on 1 Peter 4:3–4. After coming to the end, I longed to read an entry from each biblical book and a concluding reflection from Revelation (perhaps 21:23–27), tying the concepts together and giving final honor to God, just as the reflections began.

In each devotion, Wu tends to examine the text surrounding the chosen verses and occasionally interjects personal stories. The depth of the writing illustrates his years of intercultural experience: “Greatness itself entails giving honor to others” (125). “Can it be that showing honor to others equates to loving them?” (134). The reader will encounter similar refreshing insights with each reflection.

In exploring Job, for instance, the writers present an interesting thought regarding Job’s friends: “It was their sin that caused him shame” (57). The friends’ questioning, their dishonoring, and their lack of trust stabbed the heart of Job’s character and may have wounded more than his physical discomfort. What a novel thought. Likewise in the New Testament, the authors again portray discerning and insightful writing – notably when discussing the plight of the Samaritan woman at the well and Jesus’ interaction with her.

For whom is this book suited? The missionary ministering in honor/shame settings may identify and come to better understand his/her audience. Wu’s years of working in collectivist China shine through so that one who so wishes might gain an insider perspective into this worldview. Filled with provocative quotes, this resource will both challenge the heart and inform the mind. Seeking God’s Face contains enough academic information to press any reader toward further exploration of the critical concepts of honor and shame.

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For Further Reading:

Honor, Shame, and the Gospel: Reframing Our Message and Ministry by Christopher Flanders and Werner Mischke (William Carey Publishing, 2020).

Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures: Foundations and Practical Essentials by Jayson Georges and Mark D. Baker (IVP Academic, 2016).

The Global Gospel: Achieving Missional Impact in our Multicultural World by Werner Mischke (Mission ONE, 2015).

EMQ, Volume 60, Issue 1. Copyright © 2024 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.