Liminality

We’ve all seen this man. He sits on street corners and uses newspapers for insulation. He sleeps under the bridge to stay out of the way of the wind and the rain. He stands on the off-ramps holding a sign. He’s a nuisance. He’s going to ask for money. He has sores. He’s unkempt. He’s dangerous. He’s other. What if he tries to attack me? What if he wants my car? What if I talk to him but I can’t help? What if I realize he’s crazy? What if he smells? What if he touches me? What if he sees me looking? What if he sees me turn away? What if he hears my car door lock? What if . . . In Atlanta alone there are over 50,000 men like this. They sleep where they can stay warm. They eat what’s available. They are poor. They are dirty. They have sores. But they are also someone’s brother. Someone’s son. Someone’s friend from second grade. They have a favorite color and a memory of childhood they never seem to forget that only makes them laugh when remember

Luke 13 is a parable that penetrates the Christian hearts of past generations and surely will for ones to come. It carries with it an alluring application. It is truth, but it is truth that is masked in the social dimensions of first century Palestine. Once upon a time there was a rich man who had a dishonest, household slave (i.e. Luke 16:1-13; it’s worth reading). The landowner finds his manager has done shady business deals but instead of becoming inflamed and firing him on the spot while demanding reimbursement, the shrewd landowner commends his servant for a job well done. Scripture concludes our story by saying: And I tell you, make friend for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. (Luke 13:16, NRSV) What?!?! How is this parable in the Bible? Keep in mind Jesus is talking to the disciples only. Jesus himself is being quite shrewd by telling his disciples that true living; true followership

Sometimes one person’s celebration can be really annoying for you, especially if you don’t understand the reason for the party. And this was the case for the Pharisees and Scribes in Luke 15. The three parables, lost sheep, lost coin, and prodigal son, are told because Jesus is making a habit of having parties with all the ‘wrong’ people, and some thought it was a nightmare. Throughout Luke 15 we witness how Jesus responds to “the least of these” and, perhaps, how we should too. At the heart of the trouble is the character of the people Jesus is eating with on a regular basis. The tax-collectors are disliked not just because they are tax-collectors – nobody much likes them in any culture – but because they are collecting money for either Herod or the Romans, or both, and nobody cared for them at all. And if they are in regular contact with the Gentiles, some might have considered them unclean. Sinners are disliked because they are considered to be unclean. (N.T. Wright)

Humanity, to me, is made in the image of God yet is sinful but renewed in Christ. Being created in the image of God means humans find identity in each other. To take it even further (since I am a Christian), I believe there is a connection made among all humans who seek identity in Christ to be in community with one another in mutual love. Anthropology, therefore, carries with it a significant sociological function. To be fully human is to bear the image of Christ in community. But I also believe the world carries with it an ontological anxiety that comes from a sense of fallenness and an utter sense of lack. Rene Girard, a philosophical anthropologist, calls this sense of lack the Mimetic Desire. He argues that because of humanity’s fundamental lack we are all forced to settle for cheap imitations of fulfillment. Communities (although they attempt to be Christlike) are formed around cheap fulfillment options and inevitably developed charged emotions against other commu