Liminality

The latest buzz from the postmodern, millennial group in Baptist life is that “they don’t care about the conservative resurgence.” There is also a growing feeling that says, “They don’t care about the institutional church.” Perhaps a third reality is emerging saying, “I’m spiritual, but I’m not religious.” I realize these are generalizations but I’d be surprised if you disagree with them. Fueled by a desire to ‘hang with the herd,’ these young adults refuse, reject, and rebuff denominational loyalty for fear of causing separation or marginalization. Words like “community,” “intentionality,” and “ecumenicism” are mentioned way before words like “doctrinal,” “controversy” or “resurgence.” And it appears that this is happening on both sides of the aisle. Millennials cannot bear the thought of intentionally ostracizing a group. They tip their caps in appreciation to denominational bodies like CBF or SBC but do little to strengthen, to support, or to foster solidarity w

There’s an old story told of a father who left his dime store to his two sons in his last will and testament. After a terrible fight the brothers split the dime store, became competitors in the same town, and stopped speaking to one another for twenty years. The fight was over the misplacement of a one dollar bill. After twenty years of fighting, a well dressed man entered one of the dime stores telling a story of how twenty years ago he stole a dollar and he’d now come to repay his debt. In tears the one brother takes the man across town to his competing brother’s store asking him to tell his brother the same story. With tears in their eyes, thanks to the honesty of this well-dressed man, the two brothers reconciled. [1] This story sets in bold the dynamics that are always at work in our world. We never approach a situation, a relationship, or a conversation with full neutrality. We invariably bring with us certain images or emotional predispositions and these fact

The ascension is our most neglected doctrine. We don’t know what to do with it. Our liberal friends dismiss it on account of skepticism and rationality. Our extremely conservative friends believe scripture tells us exactly where Jesus goes – up. But then what? Where did that lead? Where did he land? Did he land? How far is up? We've been to space, we didn’t see heaven. Or did we see heaven? We've been as far up as science can take us – is Jesus higher than that? If we try hard enough could we fly a space shuttle into heaven? If Jesus went up in time and space, doesn’t that mean he is still in time and space? Where is this up? Can we get to this up? Is Jesus still up there? You can see the difficulty we have with this unique moment in scripture. So what do we believe about the ascension? A lot of people believe it is a symbolic way of saying that Jesus became “spiritually” present everywhere. I’m sure you’ve thought this on some level. When Jesu