Transitional Space
Kay and I are midway through the Marriage Covenant Retreat as I type this email from the sunny side of our Mexican pool. I know… suffering for Jesus. But, on a serious note, the debauchery and godless attitude of the poor lost folks that are filling the many bars in this concrete play-land, just makes me long for our sacred space and holy congregation.
… if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard)
2 Peter 2:6-8 ESV
The NLT says it this way, “Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.”
Lot’s righteous soul was being tormented over the culture surrounding him and his family. The internal, Godly desires planted by Abraham’s encounter with the Most High God were set in direct conflict against the wicked lawlessness of his community. He was stuck between right and wrong…
I am reminded about a term I learned about the awkwardness of being stuck in a place like this. While here (Mexico), we are passionately doing deep Kingdom work impacting possible generations to come though reviving marriage covenants. Yet, there is a swarm of activities around us leading the masses to personal destruction and intending to pacify or numb that ever throbbing heartbeat for the love that only our creator can give. The term about this awkward crossroad between the righteous and the wicked is: “liminal space.”
The short definition is: the middle of nowhere or a place of becoming.
A clear, biblical illustration is the Hebrew’s journey from slavery in Egypt towards the promised land. The forty years in the wilderness and valley of indecision where an entire generation emaciated spiritually and eventually became unmarked graves in the sand would be reminiscent of a liminal space experience.
Despite undeserved grace that rescued them from tyranny, only a small transformation has taken place. The Hebrews fled Egypt as a mixed multitude, refugees and former slaves seeking a better life. They leave Sinai, where God mercifully gave them the plan and the Torah way of life, as a well-organized nation, registered and marching tribe by tribe in divine order but without revelation of their identity. That change was not easy. Important questions plagued the first part of their journey, like the plagues that pressured Pharaoh. Are we safe here? Where are we headed? What will we eat and drink? Who’s in charge? What kind of god is Yahweh anyway? And what does Yahweh expect of us personally?
You and I can relate. It’s like being lost on a hike. You know where you want to end up, but you can’t figure out how to get there because you don’t know which direction you’re facing or should face. It is like you have lost your compass. Or maybe you’ve felt disorientated in life, stuck in between where you’ve been and where you’re going. You do not know exactly what you’re cut out to do, nor can you get the traction you need to get there.
The memorable word to describe this state: liminality. It’s from the Latin word limen, which means, “threshold.” Imagine yourself standing in the doorway, neither in nor out of a room. That’s liminal space. Airport (not at home, yet not at the destination), pregnancy (not a mom, yet not not a mom…), college (adulting, but only kinda), Isreal’s wilderness journey…
God loves to show up in liminal space.
The next two verses in 2 Peter 2 (vs. 9 and 10) tell us how God knows this place and knows what needs to be done:
…then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.
A committed and faithful trust in God to help us navigate liminal times and places is crucial for each of us to sincerely develop. Especially here and now while the world is wheels off, pedal to the metal, headed for the bottomless pit of deception, ignorance, and self-centeredness. Those that will arrive in THE Great Awakening filled with passion and compassion will be these folks that navigate this liminal space with an authentic reliance of the Spirit’s leading and the wisdom of the Word of God.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances. Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.
Ezekiel 36:26-28 BSB
“We WILL successfully transverse this time together,” is my solemn proclamation. There is no quit in me, and crossing this crazy chasm is how my compass is pointing… and y’all are right with me.
I love you greatly!
Steve
