The Church Accepting the Disabled
I was talking to a friend, who is strong in her faith in the Lord and who also has a disability. She made a profound statement. She said that people with disabilities need to be strong in the Lord because we have to depend on Him more than able-
However, I used to seek for God to heal me. There was a time in my Christian maturity that I strove hard to be healed just to be accepted by the church as a whole. My motivation was wrong with also the Christians who prayed for God to heal me. When the healing did not come, I believed Satan’s lie in that the trouble was that I must not have had enough faith. Now I see that He is using me far more than if I was not disabled. If I were not in my wheelchair, I would be just another person preaching the Good News, of course. However, this is easy to find. Any preacher can do that. All I know for sure is that God is using me in my weakness. It is much clearer that my strength and joy is from the Lord. I am far more effective right now. Hallelujah!
Yet, a segment of the church who does not really know me prays out of a sympathetic heart for me to raise out of my chair and walk. I know they are sincere. They forget that the heart is deceitfully wicked and do not listen to the Holy Spirit by praying that the Lord will heal me. I am quite used to this after 54 years as a Christian and countless of times of being prayed for. For this reason, many people with disabilities are afraid to come to a church, especially in charismatic and Pentecostal circles and for not being accepted for who they are.
I was saddened by a message from a man with a severe disability because he said that he felt ignored by the members of his church. Unfortunately, this is common. People are scared of the unknown such as a disability. This is where Spirit Wheels Ministry, now a Ministry Associate of Joni and Friends, would like to bring disability awareness to churches to let the people know that a person with a disability is the same inside. In fact, a Christian with a disability is probably stronger because he or she depends on the Lord out of weakness. So, if you know somebody in your congregation, take time to know him or her. Embrace the power that comes through weakness.
It is estimated that over ten percent of America’s population have disability of some kind or another. But, what percentage of the disabled from that attend church services on a regular basis? Three percent? Two percent? Or, even lower? The good news, however, is in having Micah fulfilled. In that day, declares the Lord, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. I will make the lame, a remnant, those driven away and a strong nation.” Matthew 14:13 says, “But when you give a banquet Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind and you will be blessed.”
So how will the Lord accomplished this if the disabled are afraid to come to church, as I used to be in having preachers slap my forehead to command my healing? Romans 10:14 puts it another way. “How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And, how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And, how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” The answer is for the disabled to feel accepted exactly for who they are along with their disabilities.
Acceptance of one another is a big deal to God. In the early church, a huge controversy arose. If the gentile believers had to follow the Jewish customs and ceremonies in order to be saved, then they were not saved by grace through Christ, but by their customs. Peters says that there is no distinction between Greek and Jew in Acts 15:7-
Praise God! I know that I am accepted just as I am now with my wheelchair and everything! As I said in an earlier post, there was a time in my Christian immaturity that I strove hard to be healed just to be accepted by the church. My motivation was wrong with also the Christians who prayed for God to heal me. When the healing did not come, I believed Satan’s lie in that the trouble was that I must not have had enough faith. I did not consider God’s sovereignty and his perfect time for everything! Micah 4:6 fit in that plan. It says, “In that day,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. I will make the lame, a remnant, those driven away and a strong nation.’” We need to wait patiently on the Lord and accept everyone regardless of what they look like. We need to discover again the beauty and the gifts He gives us. The disabled who have been forgotten are very dear to God and we need to embrace them. Jesus said in Luke 14:13, “But when you give a banquet, Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind and you will be blessed.”
So, if you want your church to be blessed, embrace people with disabilities. Invite them to your fellowship. If it is difficult for them to come, ask if they would want you to come to them for a Bible study and most importantly to become friends. God delights in weaknesses, for His power in us is made perfect. I love the passage in 1st Corinthians 1:27 which says, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things and the despised things that are not to nullify; the things that are so that no one can boast before him.”
These verses are very heartening to me because I have felt all of these things, foolish, weak, lowly and despised. I don’t blame them, but most people when they first see me don’t know what to think of me. This was especially true when I did not have my communication device. People I knew thought that I could not think or hear as they shouted at me! “Hello! How, are, you, today?” they would yell slowly. Sometimes, I would have liked to say, “Please! Do not shout! My brain is not paralyzed!” Sometimes my old church, after I got my DynaVox speaking device, asked me to preach and give Bible studies. Most of the people there cared about me, but never thought of me but, “the other than a man in a wheelchair.” So, when I spoke from the pulpit, their minds were boggled and jarred. I loved it! Tripping them out was so much fun!
Indeed, God chose the foolish things, the lowly things, the despised things of this world to confound to shame the wise. I don’t mind being foolish for Christ’s sake. He uses weakened vessels. Paul boasts in his weaknesses so the Lord could be strong. I don’t know how many times that I have been to church services when God touched my heart to respond to an alter call. We need to discover again the beauty of weakness. Instead of complaining about his disability, whatever it was, Paul understood, and he was content. He says, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” –
I have learned to be content with my circumstances and know that He is using me in my weakness just as I am. The church, however, needs to learn this lesson and also to appreciate the beauty of weaknesses. Years ago, I don’t know how many times I had been to church services when God touched my heart to respond to an alter call. He showed me things on my heart, like anger and resentment that I desperately needed to get rid of. But instead of praying for the issues in my heart the people who pray for me, they see my wheelchair and disability and ask God to deliver me from my afflictions. I went home from church angrier and in a worse condition.
But I have good news for you! God is ready to bring a harvest! God will wake up the church so that the disabled will feel accepted, so that Micah 4 can be fulfilled. The question is how then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? The answer is for the disabled to feel accepted exactly for who they are along with their disabilities. So contrary to the thinking of today’s society weakness is good so that the Lord can work in our lives.
Now, I wonder if there is anyone here that would like to give his or her life to Jesus? You are tired of being strong in yourself and would like to ask the Lord to be in your life to make you strong. Who would like to do that? Who would like to come to Jesus for the first time or rededicate their lives to Him?
God bless you!