Indispensable People
Making the Gospel Accessible to people of ALL abilities so that they may know Christ, grow in Him, and serve Him with the gifts He has given them.
Indispensable People
Hard Conversations
Understanding the complexities of disability within faith communities requires honest conversation and a rejection of pity. Exploring tough questions, like the presence of disabilities in heaven, prompts us to consider how we honor the worth and identity of those we serve.
• The importance of hard conversations in faith contexts
• Compassion as a critical element in disability ministry
• Setting appropriate expectations for individuals with disabilities
• In-depth discussion on whether disabilities will exist in heaven
• Emphasizing identity beyond physical limitations and conditions
• The need for continued dialogue and education in faith communities
Hi, my name is Tracy Correll and welcome to Indispensable People. I'm a wife, mom, teacher, pastor and missionary, and I believe that every person should have the opportunity to know Christ, grow in Him and serve Him with the gifts that he has given, no matter their ability. Over 65 million Americans have a disability. That's 25% of the population. However, over 80% of them are not inside the walls of our church. Let's dive into those hard topics biblical foundations, perceptions and world-changing ideas.
Speaker 1:Hey, welcome to this episode of Indispensable People. And we're talking about the hard questions. And listen, if you're in ministry of any kind a parent, a caregiver, a friend, whatever you are to someone else, there's always hard questions, right, and I always say I need someone in my life who will tell me when my zipper's down and there's toilet paper stuck to my shoe or there's something in my teeth, right, you need the friend who's going to say hey, listen, you're kind of being a jerk, you need to fix that or whatever it might be in your life. That's going on. You need someone who will tell you the truth, even if it hurts, even if it's hard and even if you don't really want to hear it. And serving people with disabilities is really no different. There are going to be hard moments, hard questions, difficult things that come across, and having people in your life that will help you see the answers or call you out when necessary All of those things are very valuable people in life. So let me give you a little example.
Speaker 1:Not a big deal at all, but I was attending a women's event and one of our ladies who happens to have a disability was attending as well, and they were selling t-shirts and I'm going to say this in the best, worst way to say it because there's just no great way to say it, but a lot of times people with disabilities are pitied and then given anything they want. It's not something I recommend. I don't think that's how anyone should live. Understanding and compassion should always be at our fingertips and available to share. Compassion should always be at our fingertips and available to share, but pity means that we're looking down on someone as less than and sometimes giving them what they want, because we just want them out of our way, and that is not something that I want to live on. I don't want someone to treat me that way, and so we often say this statement pity blocks purpose, but compassion leads to understanding. So I say that because there's nothing wrong with holding a person with disabilities with some expectations and, honestly, you are showing that you see that their life has value and something to offer if you're holding them to a certain set of expectations and I'm not saying unreachable expectations, but so, anyway, in this situation, the individual with the disability was asking to be given a T-shirt, not to pay for the T-shirt, and I had had a conversation with her earlier and she was just telling me how she was kind of having fun shopping on one of the you know the cheaper online app kind of things, and she had bought some things and she was kind of sharing she had bought a t-shirt, a gift for a pastor or something like that, and so I had that history, had that relationship with her. We've had a conversation, and so I kind of went up to her and reminded her like, hey, if you really want one of these t-shirts, that's fantastic and awesome. Just save your money and you'll be able to get it. You know, maybe the next time the ladies meet. And she absolutely received that and she's like, oh yeah, I can do that and all good, right, no, no big deal.
Speaker 1:However, on the other end, the person who is responsible for selling the T-shirts, um, kind of stopped, didn't know what to say, didn't want to handle it. And sometimes that comes from whether or not you have a relationship with that person, because if you have a relationship it's easier to say something to someone than if you just kind of cold called, stepped in and were like sorry, no, this is the situation. Still OK to hold uphold someone to some expectations and help them understand why that is the case. So I say that to say kind of where we're going is a little bit of a different path. But having things to say and to realize is going to help people along the way.
Speaker 1:Being able to tell them the truth, help them to realize the full intent or expectation or scripture or what God says about their life, really matters, even when it's hard. Why, well, you go back to early childhood and you think of a child that's having a tantrum. Right, they're having the tantrum because there was something that they probably wanted and they did not get. So they throw a fit so they could get the thing. So the likelihood of them throwing another tantrum or acting in that type of behavior is greater if the person gave in and gave that child what they wanted.
Speaker 1:And if we do that with people with disabilities just because we don't want to deal with whatever situation they're bringing to us or we're not sure how they're going to react or handle themselves in that said situation, we're going to lose out on helping that person process through and become more of what God wants them to do. Holding someone to expectation says I love you enough to not leave you where you're at. And that's what God's saying to all of us. He's saying we are all in a process and a progress and he doesn't want to leave us where we're at. And so we are to become more like him, day after day after day. But in that process of figuring out what God is doing with our lives and teaching us those things, people with disabilities and those without disabilities are going to have some hard questions to ask, and it is in our best interest to kind of be prepared to be able to answer those in truthful and honest ways, so that we can continue to grow together, so that we can continue to be discipled and disciple others, so we can grow into the gifts and talents that God has for us, so that we can fulfill the plans that he asked for our lives so that he may be glorified, so that he may be made known, so that others may come to know him, and I mentioned in an earlier episode that it is really hard to be what God intended you to be if you don't accept it, and so answering some of these really hard questions becomes the answer to the next step in growth, and so I'm not going to answer all the questions today. I'm actually going to focus on one particular question, and maybe we'll do some follow-up podcast with some other questions, but I want to give you some examples of some of the hard questions that I've been asked before.
Speaker 1:If God made me perfect, then why do I have a disability? Why did God make me this way? Did God make a mistake when he created me? Does my disability change my worth in God's eyes Now? Does God love me despite my disability? Will my disability be present in heaven? How can I use my disability to glorify God? How can I reconcile the suffering caused by my disability with a loving God?
Speaker 1:Today, I want to focus more time on the discussion about will there be disabilities in heaven, and I'm going to be perfectly honest with you I don't have a direct answer to this and here is why so kind of going back to the episode where we were talking about unmasking autism and we were talking about kind of whether we're growing as a person and we make changes and accommodate for the expectations of life, or is parts of the autism actually part of our personality and then meaning that's part of who we are? And this is where we don't have the full picture, the full answer in will there be disabilities in heaven? Well, first of all, we know the basis of what scripture tells us and, let me be honest, it's not really a lot. So, gotquestionsorg, we're going to start there, which is your questions and biblical answers is kind of their tagline. It says the Bible does not say exactly what we will look like in heaven. What age will we appear to be? Will the texture of our hair stay the same? Will we have the same eye color, the same fingerprints? We can't answer any of those questions.
Speaker 1:We do know that whatever was associated with our natural perishable condition will be removed no more pimples, pains, no more cataracts, coughs or cancers, no more missing teeth, lazy eye or hereditary defects. It says that Jesus may still bear his scars in heaven, but ours will be gone. So, first of all, let's go dive into a few different scriptures. So we will have a body in heaven, heaven, and it will be the same body. Uh, we, we will have a body in heaven, but will it be the same body that we have now? So, um, we need to know that God redeems the whole person body, soul and spirit. But our resurrected body will be heavenly, okay, which you find in first Corinthians, 15, 40, and it says there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of heavenly is of one kind and the glory of earthly is of another. And then so a lot will change, but we'll not lose our identity. You will still be you is kind of what we're saying to that. But also, philippians 3.21 contains the promise that Jesus will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. So this is what it says who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Speaker 1:Okay, so after his resurrection, jesus was recognizable for who he was, except when God prevented people from seeing him. He had his hand. Luke 24, 39 says that he had his hands and feet. The scripture says see my hands and feet, that it is myself, touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have. He also ate food. So Luke 24, 42 says they gave him a piece of a broiled fish. His body was transformed, but it was still his body. The same will hold true for us in the resurrection.
Speaker 1:But also we know that our natural bodies are associated with the word dishonor and we can find that in 1 Corinthians 15, 43. And it says it is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. Dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. And it's because our bodies sustain damage. They scab and they scar, they lose function and eventually they decay and die. So they bear some sort of marks of sin and sometimes our bodies are damaged to our own personal sin and other. It's damaged by the Mars and sin of others. But everyone grows old and the you know that takes a toll on our bodies. But God, through Christ transforming power, is able to raise up his children with new, glorious bodies.
Speaker 1:And when Jesus healed the man with the shriveled hand, his hand was completely restored. So that comes from Luke, chapter six, verse 10. And it says and after looking around at them, all he said to them was stretch out your hand. And he did so and his hand was restored. So here's the thing he was recognizable. Yet it's saying without those scars and those sins.
Speaker 1:So who you are without that, who you are without those physical things, you will be recognizable for who you are. Does that tell us what you're going to take with you and what you're going to carry with you? Does it say whether or not a person who has a stutter will have a stutter? Does it say that you, you know if you're blind, if you're all that thing? I think we can believe that those things, those physical things, those changes to our bodies based on the physicality of them, those things change. But it's basically saying who you are to the core will still be recognizable. So Jesus was recognized regardless, and so will we. And whether that means you know, I think of you know those who have kind of a comedic approach in their personality, if they have a kindness, a sweetness to them, someone who's overzealous, you know all that kind of stuff. In the end, we don't know exactly what it will look like.
Speaker 1:The Bible doesn't tell us exactly what that's going to be like, but in all honesty, it says that we'll be recognizable, which means we'll be recognizable to others, that they will be reunited with others, and, at the same thing, there is concern for others that say, well, if that's gone and that's a piece and part of them, how does that change their interaction and who they are? Um, but I think of it as a similar situation, as you know, maybe a trauma or an occurrence in in your life right when, um, you have that experience and it shapes and changes who you are and what you do, but it isn't who you are. And that's the same thing with, I feel and this is a developing thought, but I is the. You know, the sensory things and the preferences that they have that shapes them, those things shape them, but it is not who they are. So, will your disability go with you to heaven?
Speaker 1:I think we'll go exactly with what the scripture says, and that says that you'll be identifiable, but your core of who you are and what you do because of that disability may be a part of what is recognizable, but it's not the physicality, because scripture tells us that we'll be completely restored. So, instead of fully knowing the answer to will our disabilities go with us in heaven, I think we can hold on to this truth and that first Corinthians, 15, 40, which is where we started says that our resurrected body will be heavenly, imperishable, glorified, spiritual, immortal and bearing Christ's image. So a lot will change, but we will not lose our identity. You will still be you and, honestly, when we receive the blessed hope and we have that place in perfection, I don't think we'll really be worried about all those other parts and pieces. We'll know that a sovereign God has orchestrated it all and has the perfect place that he's set out for us in advance. I don't think we'll be bothered by who and how he changed to do it.
Speaker 1:Do I know everything about disability ministry? Do I have all the answers? Have I done everything perfectly? I have absolutely not, but we are going to continue this conversation so that people of all abilities can have the opportunity to know Christ, grow in Him and serve Him with the gifts that he has given them. For deeper dives into these topics and more, check out indispensablepeoplecom and visit Amazon to purchase the books the Indispensable Kid and Gospel. Accessibility and the Indispensable People.
