Liminal Behavior

We've all heard of "subliminal" but what about "liminal"? Chuck Colson uses the term in his column today and defines it as someone who stands, "... at the edge of some religious tradition, unsure whether to identify with that tradition or not." As an example, he describes "Sheila" from a book by Bellah and Madsen, Habits of the Heart:


"Sheila described her belief system this way: “I believe in God. I’m not a religious fanatic. I can’t remember the last time I went to church. My faith has carried me a long way. It’s Sheilaism. Just my own little voice . . . It’s just trying to love yourself and be gentle with yourself . . .”

In other words, God resembles Sheila in more than a passing way.

This issue has been talked about numerous times at the leadership meetings of our church. It used to be focused in 20 and 30 years olds but it has now gradually moved out into older age groups. The Northwest seems especially susceptible to this mindset, but it is happening all over the country.

The problem is that liminals are me-centered and not God-centered. God has never been particularly concerned about building our individual kingdoms. Rather, He is focused on building His Kingdom and invites us along to participate. Free will means that we can pass on His invitation and that is what liminals are doing, whether they realize it or not - to not decide, is to decide. No, you have to choose to follow wherever He may take you and some of those places are not so comfortable, as the Lenten season reminds us. But it is what we, as humans, were made for and the retirement plan is heavenly.



www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/19055