What Marty McFly Has To Do With Jesus Christ

Marty McFly is a character in the "Back to the Future” movies. When I watched these movies as a kid I really thought he was a moron. I mean really, who gets all in a tizzy and looses all sense of self when called a chicken? It was a clever device for to move the character along in the movies but he seemed really over the top as a human being.

But maybe not.

Recently Hidden Brain had a podcast called “Made of Honor”. It explores cultures called “honor cultures”. These are the places in the world where ones honor and reputation are at the very center of one’s life. It is the defense of that honor that dictates behavior that seems irrational. McFly’s behavior may be over the top, but it makes rational sense in an honor culture. At its best, honor culture can spur acts of bravery and courage. It can ensure that the weak are defended and the integrity of a community/family/person are upheld in the face of a threat. At its most unhealthy, honor culture can lead to spirals of violence, systemic power structures, and rationalizations that justify all sorts of unethical behavior. The McFly family is steeped in honor culture values, which get him into all sorts of trouble while also is a contributor of his motivation.

Jesus was one who was also steeped in honor culture, you don’t have to go far into Biblical studies to learn about how the honor/shame culture influenced behavior. To be very reductionist: one avoided shame and tried to gain honor. It might be thought of as a bank account. Where one wanted to accumulate honor (credit) while avoiding shame (debts). This is not a “bad” culture, but it can influence and even condone harmful things.

Jesus, born and raised in the honor culture of his time, teaches a different culture. Specifically, Jesus teaches a “dignity” culture. Where honor cultures circle around protecting honor, dignity cultures circle around the worth of every person. In an honor culture, children can be dismissed since they have little honor. In dignity cultures, children cannot be dismissed because every person is a child of God. Dignity cultures uphold the dignity of those “caught in the very act of adultery”. It upholds the dignity of sinners and tax collectors. It speaks out against those who take advantage of others (Mark 5:25-29) or are stumbling blocks (Romans 14:13). Dignity cultures are scandalized when an innocent victim is killed. Dignity cultures take seriously that some lives need to be protected because those lives are more at risk for harm.

Dignity cultures can be threatening to honor cultures (which contributes to why Christianity is counter cultural), because dignity cultures do not keep score of where honor is. The hierarchy of honor is broken in dignity cultures. In dignity cultures people are asked to sometimes look the fool (1 Cor. 1:23) and forgive seven seven times seven times. Dignity cultures can be threatening to honor cultures because we loose all sense of who "has merit” and who “has earned” what. We loose who is of value and who is not - because we come to see that all people have dignity.

The problem with dignity cultures is not they go too far, but that often those who live in dignity cultures do not go far enough and fall back into a version of honor culture. When we reserve dignity for some and refuse the same dignity to others, we are using dignity language to reinforcing honor culture.

That homeless preacher story and obesity

There is a little story (factual or not) going around Facebook these days about a new preacher who "disguised himself" as a homeless person and slept on the steps of the church the night before his first Sunday in the pulpit. As people gathered for worship, no one assisted the homeless man and everyone was shocked when the reveal came. The preacher, still in rags and unclean status, tells the congregation they are just a collection of people and not disciples of Jesus since they did not love their "homeless" neighbor. The preacher dismisses the congregation until next Sunday. 

Some find it inspirational. Others feel justified in their thoughts that Christians are hypocrites who say love your neighbor but ignore the homeless. Others feel justified in their thoughts that Christianity is more about doing rather than worshiping.

To add to the mix of emotions, I will echo others who have expressed a sadness in the preacher of this story.  Primarily how the preacher uses shame to "teach" the congregation. 

We like to think that shaming people works to change behavior. It has been my experience that those who think shame works are those who have never been shamed in any real or lasting way. It also seems that the times when I fall into thinking shaming works it is when I am at my most arrogant and self righteous moments. Shame is generally only invoked by those who not only feel they are in the right and that others are in the wrong but that those in the wrong need to be made feel less than human.  

Shame is the tool we use when we are our most self centered.  

Take for instance a different example of shame in our culture - shaming the obese in order to get them to "get in shape". Whelp, it turns out shaming the obese actually backfires according to a new study. Taken from the abstract: 

Participants who experienced weight discrimination were approximately 2.5 times more likely to become obese by follow-up and participants who were obese at baseline were three times more likely to remain obese at follow up than those who had not experienced such discrimination. The present research demonstrates that, in addition to poorer mental health outcomes, weight discrimination has implications for obesity. Rather than motivating individuals to lose weight, weight discrimination increases risk for obesity.

It is worth going on record to say that shaming is not a tool of a disciple of Christ. Shame creates division and resentment. Shame hides our own self-righteousness. And, at least when it comes the helping people to move toward greater health, it is counter productive.