Liminal Space

In preparation for an upcoming sermon series, I came across a word I was not familiar with. Ever since I have not been able to get it off my mind. The word is liminality and it comes from the Latin word for threshold. Liminal space is that messy middle when we have stepped away from what was and have yet to reach what will be. It is a disorienting space of utter vulnerability. Liminal space is the playground of transformation, but it is also the playground of pain.

As human beings we tend to overvalue what is and undervalue what may be. It is the reason why growth and change are so difficult to endure. It is also the reason why most people prefer the status quo. We gravitate toward the tangible and familiar like a polar vortex. Me too!

Here is the reality: we cannot grow into God’s better without enduring the pain of letting go. The implications of this are huge for everyone but particularly leaders. Pain, no matter to what degree, is the price we pay for stepping into the liminal space. Leaders are not absent of fear (I lie awake some nights with the fear of failing impressed on my mind) or self-doubt (my nagging inner voice that tells me I am foolish), they just believe that the joy of experiencing God’s better is worth enduring the pain. When leaders or organizations stop growing, it is likely because they have reached a threshold of pain they are unwilling to endure.

I live by the belief that leadership is influence and we all have a varying degree of influence. Therefore, we are all leaders. Not everyone has the same degree of impact. The expanse of our influence will likely correlate to the degree we are familiar and comfortable with navigating the liminal spaces in our lives, families, and organizations. Discomfort and transformation are two sides of the same coin.

Sometimes we choose to step into a liminal space and other times God pushes us into a liminal space. Whether we choose to except it or not, we are in such a space right now. The world has changed drastically over the past few months. Leaders with any degree of influence are going to have to make some difficult decisions over this season to embrace the liminal space or retreat to the familiar. I am wondering if the familiar will be there upon the return?

As we all make choices in the weeks ahead, I pray that we embrace the liminal space. Everything in us will urge us to orient around the familiar, but I am afraid that will only be a temporary salve on an unrelenting reality: the world has changed. I hope you will join me in the liminal space, embracing productive pain on the way to God’s best. I know from experience the pain that accompanies regret.