Liminality

A couple of years ago, I attended a graduation ceremony at a major university.  The keynote speaker was the chief surgeon at one of the nation’s leading hospitals.  I didn’t know him, but apparently he was a huge deal. As you might expect, he had a laundry list of credentials but wasn’t the most dynamic communicator.  He opened with all the usual pomp and circumstance that comes with graduation speeches. But then he made the switch from flowery, forced graduation rhetoric and started to tell a story.  This story alone goes down in my book as the best/worst graduation speech I’ve ever heard.  It went something like this: When I graduated from medical school, I was dubbed the up-and-comer.  I had opportunities other classmates didn’t have, and I was seen at an early age as a specialist.  I remember the pride I felt for making it to where I was.  I remember the hard work, sacrifice and dedication.  I had earned my place. My first sur...

It seems to me that in order to join a church in today’s religiously charged culture, you have to do more that declare “Jesus is Lord!”  You also have to have an opinion on a litany of questions: MSNBC or Fox News? Republican or Democrat? Liberal or conservative? NPR or Rush Limbaugh? Evangelical or mainstream? Liturgical or contemporary worship? Pro-life or pro-choice? Open and affirming or love-the-sinner-hate-the-sin? Jon Stewart or Glenn Beck? Israel or Palestine? Jimmy Carter Baptist or Southern Baptist? And the list goes on: Heaven-on-Earth or Rapture-from-Earth? Retributive justice or redemptive justice? Social reform or cultural seclusion? Jesus as moral exemplar or sacrificial lamb? Expository or narrative preaching? Infant baptism or believer's baptism? Limited atonement or unconditional grace? I could be wrong, but it appears that to be a member of a church means more about whether we land on the left or right side of th...