Friday | 03 November 2017

The shame of fear

Adam hid himself from the Lord because he was afraid. This demonstrated that Adam was also ashamed of his fear. Adam’s confession revealed that fear is something every fallen person is ashamed of, and endeavours to keep hidden. It is a private foreboding that a person tries to allay.

We see that shame is not simply the emotions of embarrassment or regret that are associated with errant behaviour. Shame is the consequence of a person’s disconnection from the life of God and their predestined name, which are only found in fellowship with Yahweh. It is the evidence that mankind has quantifiably lost something. As such, shame is an indelible trait of fallen human nature. People are ashamed because of their loss of unity with God and with others. Because they are ashamed, fallen men and women engage in all manner of activities to conceal their fear. However, fear should be a true motivation for repentance, causing them to turn to the Lord so that they can receive His word and be reconnected with Him. In this fellowship, their nakedness can be properly addressed. As the psalmist wrote, ‘May my heart be blameless [complete; or having integrity] in Your statutes, so that I will not be ashamed’.

In the same way that Adam and Eve’s fear motivated them to hide from the Lord, a person’s shame affects how they relate with others. Some people try to conceal their shame by withdrawing from others, while some seek to compensate for their shame by seeking acceptance and reassurance in social relationships. People either avoid the gaze of others because their gaze reminds them of their shame and inadequacy, or they seek the gaze, attention, and acceptance of others as a means of obtaining some form of personal verification. Attention-seeking behaviour represents a person’s concerted effort to recover their lost unity with other people, by pursuing a connection that neutralises the pain of shame and aloneness.