Suffering in the Liminal Space
I’ll be honest. The idea this week regarding threshold concepts was itself a threshold for me. It took me a while to wrap my head around the concepts of thresholds and liminality presented. Yet, when I made the idea a bit more abstract and took it away from the educational examples that were given, I was able to comprehend it a bit more. In his TEDx Talk, Dr. Coven suggests that we have “lost the essence of discovery. We have lost the browse.”[1] I began to think through the process everyone goes through as they come to know Christ and seek to image him more. I realized that there are threshold concepts that must be grasped in our walk with Jesus.
I lived on the south coast of Kenya for five years. As I reflect on my experience in Kenya, I have realized that I was in a state of liminality for much of the time. It was a prolonged stage and left me in a state of uncertainty.[2] I had grown up in a church that heavily favored knowledge, via doctrine and theology, over experience. This goes along with what Land suggests as, “A discursive shift has occurred over the last three decades from a language of education to that of ‘the student experience.’”[3] I am not suggesting that doctrine or theology are irrelevant or that experience is superior. Experience can become very flimsy and individually focused. What I am saying is that I lacked the experience to go along with the knowledge I had been given and when the knowledge did not line up with my experience I was left in a state of prolonged liminality.[4]
Growing up I understood that Christians might suffer for the name of Jesus. I understood that Christians in history had suffered and that there are still some notable martyrs in our present day. Yet, Christians around me did not really suffer. Our version of suffering was what I would consider just a part of living in a sinful world where cancer, accidents and sin affect us all, Christian, or not. Many trite Christian phrases make their way onto a cheap Hobby Lobby sign and then hang on our decorated walls. The problem is that they are often taken out of context and seemingly written by those who have never really suffered for the name of Jesus.
When people would hear of our suffering, the easy Christian answers would almost always end with, “Well, you know how the Bible ends, Jesus wins in the end.” What I had never truly understood was that God the Father allowed his Son to suffer and that he would allow us to suffer for his name as well. My theology lacked the experience and raw emotion of suffering. As our family suffered in a variety of ways, I kept asking God why he was allowing it? We had traveled across the world to share his good news, why was he allowing us to feel so defeated and allowing us to endure so much if he truly is in control. If God is in control, and I believe He is, then he was allowing our suffering. He knew what we were going through, and he allowed it to continue.
It was a threshold concept to understand that we were called to serve along the coast of Kenya, as Christ’s ambassadors simply for the sake of suffering for his name among a people group who had no knowledge of Jesus the suffering servant. Once properly understood, our worldview changed, our understanding of suffering changed, and our view of God changed. This was the same threshold concept that those among whom we were a witness also would go through when they decided to start following Jesus. It was my experience and knowledge that allowed me the opportunity to share what being a Christ follower really means.
It is this worldview shift that is necessary as people from other religions grow to a deeper understanding of Christ. I find that I often discuss Christ with those who are already in a state of liminality and trying to make sense of the lessons they have been learning. I find that this is where the idea of coaching and asking good questions intersects with helping seekers overcome the threshold concept that is holding them back. Camacho writes, “As coaching leaders, our role is to help them focus on the weightier issues of their lives: their identity, their calling, their character and their design”.[5] Asking Spirit led questions and coaching others to find their identity in Christ can help them overcome those thresholds.
It has been a few years now since I lived in Kenya. When asked what we did I simply will often say we went to suffer for the name of Jesus. I see it so clearly now and don’t understand why it was such a hard concept for me to grasp at first. I guess that is the beauty of persevering through the liminality and overcoming the threshold.
[1] Breaking Through: Threshold Concepts as a Key to Understanding | Robert Coven | TEDx Cary Academy, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCPYSKSFky4.
[2] Jan H.F. Meyer and Ray Land, Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding: Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge (London: Routledge, 2006), 22, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203966273.
[3] Ray Land, Jan Meyer, and Michael T Flanagan, Threshold Concepts in Practice, 1st ed. 2016., Educational Futures, Rethinking Theory and Practice (Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 2016), https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-512-8. XIV.
[4] Meyer and Land, Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding, 16.
[5] Tom Camacho, Mining for Gold: Developing Kingdom Leaders through Coaching, First published (Nottingham: IVP, 2019), 28.
About the Author
Adam Cheney
I grew up in California, spent five years living along the beautiful coast of Kenya and now find myself working with refugees in the snow crusted tundra of Minnesota. My wife and I have seven children, four of whom have been adopted. I spend my time drinking lots of coffee, working in my garden, and baking sourdough bread.18 responses to “Suffering in the Liminal Space”
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Adam, this is a powerful post. Your threshold concept of suffering for the name of Jesus must have come at great cost.
When you consider that time of liminality, when you hadn’t quite grasped hold of the concept that changed you, but were still wrapping your mind around it, how did you cope with the questions (and doubts?) brought on by that in-between place? Was there any one thing that pushed you across the threshold?
Debbie,
I had a few friends who I was able to talk with but mostly I felt free to argue with God. I wrestled with him and yelled at him and at multiple times along the way, I felt his presence wrap me up and comfort me. It was his immense presence that told me he saw me.
Hi Adam, thanks for sharing about your experience of suffering in Kenya.
As I was reading on threshold concepts, I was also wondering about how to apply this to a seeker. One threshold that I see in American non-believers is understanding that Jesus is good and kind. Many have ideas of an angry God, but when they see Jesus’ kindness that changes their whole paradigm. What other things have you noticed?
Christy,
I think that many people are happy to see Jesus as a good teacher, kind and giving. Yet, they do not want to see him as King. Instead, we want to be king of our own lives and not relinquish that. I interact with many Muslims, and I find that the threshold concept for them is on Jesus being the Son of God.
Wow Adam thank you for sharing your story and an example of a threshold concept in your life. Your story is a great reminder of how we can walk alongside others better when we’ve experienced similar things.
How has your story impacted the work that you are doing now in the States?
Ryan,
This week I met a Dinka pastor who came over to the states as one of the Lost Boys a couple decades ago. He had a very hard journey and his story was dynamic. I am amazed at what the Lord brings people through. He asked me about my life and I shared that I had lived in Kenya for five years. I did not share the challenges. I did not share any struggle. I simply shared that I had lived there. He said, “So, you are a survivor also.” I had never heard it said that way before. He did not know my story but maybe it was the way I was talking with him and the questions I was asking? I am not sure, but I do see that I now have a heart for hearing the stories of people’s journey and know that God brings us through our own unique journey.
Hi Adam, when I read your first sentence, I felt relieved because I thought I am the only one feeling this way. As you have written, ‘I’ll be honest. The idea this week regarding threshold concepts was itself a threshold for me. It took me a while to wrap my head around the concepts of thresholds and liminality presented.’ Adam, thank you for your openness!
I agree that the connection between coaching, asking meaningful questions, and helping seekers overcome threshold concepts is insightful and aligns with the principles discussed by Camacho.
Shela,
I can’t imagine doing it in a third language. I had to reread enough of those sentences myself at times and it was in my native language. I am generally an open book and am happy it helped.
Adam, thanks for your reflections on the concept of threshold moments and liminality in the context of your experiences in Kenya. And thank you for modelling the suffering of Christ so beautifully for us. We are grateful to God for you and your family, and the sacrifices you made in Kenya, and even now in your missional work.
The intersection of knowledge and experience, especially in the realm of suffering for the name of Jesus, forms a crucial threshold concept that not only transforms an individual’s worldview and understanding of God but is also a key element of what it means to be a disciple of Christ.
It was fascinating to read how the prolonged state of liminality led to a deeper comprehension of the call to serve and suffer in the name of Jesus.
In your ongoing journey, how do you envision integrating these insights into your current context? Specifically, how might coaching and intentional questioning be employed to guide others through their threshold concepts, especially those related to suffering for the name of Jesus and understanding the deeper aspects of being a Christ follower?
Glyn,
Thanks for the uplifting support.
I think that I have learned that following Christ is a journey. I learned there is room to question. Christ didn’t want the perfect Christian Adam who always looked good and had the right answers. He wanted the Adam who was fighting and searching for the truth. The Adam who questioned and argued and wasn’t willing to take a simplified answer. In my current context, I find that I have discussions with people often who are also in that stage of searching for truth and don’t like the standard answers they have grown up with, whatever the religion. I now can walk alongside others in their journey with much more patience and peace knowing that if they are seeking truth, He will guide them to it.
Thanks Adam, inspiring.
Oh, Adam, you just needed to embrace Romans 8:28.
But seriously, an almost constant state of liminality can be exhausting, especially before it becomes more of a norm or at least expected. I know your family went through a lot in Kenya. What was one response that you received that was particularly helpful and gave you hope in the liminal stage?
Kari,
Three things were really helpful.
1. A prophetic prayer over us before leaving of the idea of a shield from Ephesians 6. Yet, the shield of faith is both offensive and defensive.
2. Prayers from people around the world. Constant, and encouraging.
3. It wasn’t helpful at the time, maybe even taken as rude. However, over time I have come to appreciate the sentiment. “Praise God that he is allowing you to suffer for a people in his place. Jesus probably never got malaria, etc. but you get to suffer in this way for these people whom he loves.”
Adam, as you shared your perspective on suffering as a threshold concept for the Christian worldview and your personal experience of liminality associated with it, I thought of Paul’s words to the Corinthians in 2 Cor. 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ, we share abundantly in comfort too.” I have two questions: How do you recommend comforting those on a similar liminal journey as yours? What is your most recent experience of comforting those experiencing suffering for Christ in a similar way to your suffering, and how did you do it?
Chad,
In some ways comforting words can always be hard. But I do think that our posture is always important. One thing that churches can do better as they support workers who live in hard places is to support them when counseling and therapy is needed and also to support them in prayer and understanding.
Hi Adam,
What a beautifully written post this was. It was a pleasure to read. When I finished it, I felt like I just went to church and heard a good sermon!!
One of the things that I love about this format of learning is that we all get nuggets to chew on that someone else discovered in the book. Certain phrases stick out to us that don’t to others. I read them and think, “Huh.. I didn’t see that.”
You referenced ““lost the essence of discovery. We have lost the browse,” and the first thing I thought of was Google. We don’t have to ponder about things anymore; we don’t have to dust off the 10 lb. encyclopedia and look things up. We just Google it. I think we have lost some of our innocence because of it.
I don’t have a question for you, but I wanted to say thanks for making me think! (and maybe grieve a little.)
Adam, thank you for sharing these profound thoughts concerning Threshold Concepts and suffering. I can’t help but think of Paul’s words in 2 Cor. 1:8-9, “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death.” I have experienced this in different ways during my time in the desert. However, I am glad Paul completes his thought, “But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” I greatly appreciated your response to Debbie when you said, “I felt his presence wrap me up and comfort me. It was his immense presence that told me he saw me.” This is an incredible experience that I believe He generously gives to those who are suffering for His sake. After leaving Kenya, what was a concept threshold that helped sooth the wounds?
Elysse,
A few things have been helpful. Time is the first that comes to mind. Distance is another. I also processed much of my time there as I went through my master’s program and it was helpful to learn how to work in a new setting and reflect on the lessons God had taught me before. The threshold concept that has been harder for me to learn though is that I can’t expect others to have the same perspective as I do when they haven’t experienced the same thing as I have. This has been hard.