Context No. 2500 of 4322 · Sirach

Sirach 4:17-31: in context

17For at the first she will walk with him in crooked ways, and will bring fear and dread upon him, and torment him with her discipline, until she may trust his soul, and try him by her judgments. 18Then she will return him again to the straight way, and will gladden him, and reveal to him her secrets. 19If he goes astray, she will forsake him, and hand him over to his fall. 20Watch for the opportunity, and beware of evil. Don’t be ashamed of your soul. 21For there is a shame that brings sin, and there is a shame that is glory and grace. 22Don’t show partiality, discrediting your soul. Don’t revere any man to your falling. 23Don’t refrain from speaking when it is for safety. Don’t hide your wisdom for the sake of seeming fair. 24For wisdom will be known by speech, and instruction by the word of the tongue. 25Don’t speak against the truth and be shamed for your ignorance. 26Don’t be ashamed to confess your sins. Don’t fight the river’s current. 27Don’t lay yourself down for a fool to tread upon. Don’t be partial to one who is mighty. 28Strive for the truth to death, and the Lord God will fight for you. 29Don’t be hasty with your tongue, or slack and negligent in your deeds. 30Don’t be like a lion in your house, or suspicious of your servants. 31Don’t let your hand be stretched out to receive, and closed when you should repay.

Sirach gives a stretch of blunt practical wisdom, and one distinction in it is worth pausing on: there is a shame that leads to sin, he says, and a shame that is glory and grace. Do not be ashamed to confess your sins, he adds; do not hide your wisdom out of a false modesty; strive for the truth to the death, and God will fight for you.

The two kinds of shame are easy to confuse. One kind restrains us from evil, the healthy reluctance to do what is wrong, and that is glory. The other kind drives us into sin, the shame that keeps us from confessing a fault, from speaking an unpopular truth, from being seen as weak or wrong, so we cover and pretend and go along. That false shame, the fear of how we will look, pushes people into deeper trouble than the honest admission ever would. Sirach's counsel is to refuse it: confess the sin, speak the truth, and let God defend you.

Which shame is running me, the kind that restrains me from evil, or the kind that keeps me from confessing and speaking the truth?

Sources

Sirach 4:21: For there is a shame that brings sin, and there is a shame that is glory and grace.
Sirach 4:26: Don't be ashamed to confess your sins. Don't fight the river's current.
Sirach 4:28: Strive for the truth to death, and the Lord God will fight for you.