"You brought shame to my house."
That certainly was a novel conversation starter when I picked up the phone at my desk in the newsroom. Since the caller spoke in heavily accented English, I had to ask her to repeat her opening line. Sure enough; it was the same: "You brought shame to my house."
It turned out that one of the town's ne'er-do-wells gave this poor lady's address when he was arrested and that information appeared in the Police Blotter. It was not uncommon for people being arrested to give a false address.
This knowledge did not make the caller feel any better. She had probably lived there for seven or eight decades, and no one in her family had ever been in trouble with the law. Now, her house itself bore the disgrace. We ran a correction and we changed the newspaper policy to not list the house number in a police report.
I still don't think you can bring shame to a particular address, but I can see the lady's point. What we do can reflect favorably or unfavorably on our family, as well as ourselves. It's relative. Most of us are proud of our family name and live lives that do not harm it. Others not only don't care; they go on daytime talk shows and boast of their misdeeds.
The same holds true for people who consider themselves devout followers of God. They strive very hard not to smear God's name by their actions.
They seek God's grace and not disgrace. If successful, they do not bring shame to their Father's house. They earn glory.
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Live to give glory to God.