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
FAQ: Answering Hard Faith Questions About Disability With Honesty And Care
We face the hardest question families and self-advocates ask about disability and faith, starting with validation and moving toward hope rooted in Scripture. We share practical ways to make the gospel truly accessible through language, presence, and relationships.
• US disability and church attendance gap
• framing the core question families ask
• meeting people at their spiritual starting point
• validating grief and daily struggle
• Scripture anchors for dignity and purpose
• testimony that reveals impact and meaning
• fallen world, no blame, sovereign God
• language without jargon, clear next steps
• relationships as the bridge to access
• ongoing commitment to accessible ministry
If you want to dive deeper on your own, you can check out the indispensable-people blog or my books on Amazon called The Indispensable Kid or Gospel Accessibility and the Indispensable People
Hey, hey, my name is Tracy Coral and welcome to Indispensable People. I'm a pastor, a teacher, a missionary, a mom, a wife, and I believe that every person should have access to the gospel so that they can know Christ, grow in him, and serve him with the gifts that he has given. Over 65 million Americans have a disability. That's 15 to 20% of every community. And over 85% of those individuals do not attend church. 90% of pastors believe that they are a disability-friendly church, but only 20% of parents and families agree. Let's dive deep into hard topics, big questions, perceptions, stereotypes, and so much more. Thank you for joining me today on this episode of Indispensable People, where we're talking about frequently asked questions. We've had supporters, readers, listeners enter some questions that they would like answered about disability ministry. And we figure if one person has the question, there's probably a lot more out there that do. So let's dive into these questions today. This particular question is difficult to answer, not only in content, but also in emotion. And it says, How do you answer questions from families when they are questioning God about the disability of their child? So this is a hard question because sometimes it is the answers don't change, but the way in which you answer them do based on where they're coming from. Okay. Are they Christians? Do they already believe in Jesus? Are they exploring and they don't have a lot of background knowledge on the scriptures? Where are they in their walk? Because here's something someone said to me once, and it had nothing to do with disability ministry, but they were talking about the support systems and discipleship and that building discipleship models are difficult because it is more of a natural relationship with intention. And so they were talking about, you know, how one person guiding another person. So they're on the wagon, all is good, everything is, and when they fall off the wagon, that mentor, that leader gets to go over and pick them back up and put them back on the wagon. They get to help them. And you can do that in different ways because you know what they already know. So understanding where they're coming from is really important. Also, that plays into the verbiage that we use, right? So if you're speaking all in Christianese, but they're not Christians or they're new Christians, they're not gonna understand what you're saying. So here's a couple things simple across the board, apply to everyone kind of deal. You're gonna validate their feelings, right? I can see how you feel that way. I can understand the weight of what you're carrying. I can I see that this is making you really upset and really sad. And this is not only just, I would say, not only just the questions that family members would ask about the disability of their child. I am going to tell you that you're gonna get these questions from the person with a disability themselves as well. Why did God make me this way? Did God mess up? Is that was this on purpose? Why it, why do I experience pain? Why it why doesn't God heal me? I mean, the questions are going to come and they're going to come from the parents, caregiver. It's going to come from the individual who's experiencing the disability. All of those things, these are going to be really important things and questions to ask. And here's the honest thing: we don't always know the answers, right? We can lean on scriptures and know Genesis 1.27 says that um we're made in the image of Christ, and that is for everyone. We can know that, yes, there are some disabilities that are caused from bad choices in life, but we can say that Jesus gave the example in scriptures when the disciples were asking him about the man that was born blind. Why, why is why was he born blind? Where's the line of sin? All of that kind of stuff. And you have the reply, you know, that it is these didn't happen because his parents sinned or because he sinned, but it was so that the works of God could be displayed. And so we know that we're created in the image of God, we know that we're fearfully and wonderfully made. We know that we are knit together in our mother's womb. So God knew before. We know that we serve a sovereign God. And so it's not that he causes disability, but that he allows it. And if he allows it, then there's purpose in it. And you could give examples of other lives that God has used of people with disabilities that have brought glory to him and have made other people know more about him than a person without a disability could. So for example, I met with a, I met a lady a couple weeks ago at a church visit, and she just came to say, you know, thank you so much for what you do. I just want to tell you about my son to encourage you. And so she told me about her son who was, I believe he had cerebral palsy, and the disability was extensive, and so struggled with words, and he needed full care for his personal care needs. And mom said that whenever he passed away, the amount of people that showed up and said that he brought them to Christ was just unbelievably endless. She had no idea, she hadn't understood all the things that he had done, but God had moved in his life and brought him to other people. And even two days before he passed away, he the person that he that worked with him, he was insistent that he speak to them about following Christ. And it was as if the parent was said, it was as if he knew that he was going to be gone and he had to take care of this before he was gone. Testimonies of someone else's life can really bring perspective and help understanding, but it's not all the answers, and you have to gauge that person and their acceptance of things because they may not want to hear that at all. And we'll go back to the basics of the reminders of knowing that you're created in God's image, so you're made to be like the creator of the world. You are knit together in your mother's womb, which means he knew about you beforehand. Another scripture is Exodus 4.11, where Moses is talking to God and telling him how he is not enough or equipped or doesn't have everything to do what God is asking him to do. And God replies by saying, you know, who makes man? Is it and he goes through, you know, who makes him blind, who makes him deaf, who makes him mute, is it not I the Lord? And so he takes full credit for the allowance of that. We live in a fallen world, so understanding that, you know, what God meant for perfection was changed by Adam and Eve in the garden when they made the choice to disobey him. And so, you know, there's no blame, there's no shame. They were purposefully created, they're here for a reason, and that God can and will use their lives for his glory. And those are all things that are confirmed in scripture. And so those would be the pieces of encouragement that I would use for those families. But sometimes they just need someone to listen, listen. They just need someone to understand that yes, the world is saying celebrate disabilities. Disabilities is great. And I'll also understand the struggle that they're living with, the difficulties that they're living every single day, whether it's health, whether it is school, whether it's just interactive, friends, social, the things that they're struggling with, to validate and understand that those feelings exist. And yes, we can see without a doubt how that is a struggle for your life. But at the same time, God did not say we would live a life without struggle. But he also told us that he would never leave us, he would never forsake us. And he says that we are chosen, that we are royalty in his family, and that he has plans and he has purposes for us. So those are all things to live by. But also these questions give opportunities for building relationships, for walking alongside of someone. And when you build those relationships and you walk alongside of someone, then you open the access to the gospel. Because if you've invested in them and they feel safe with you and know that you love and you care for them, then they will be willing to hear the word of God from you. And that is what makes an accessible gospel. I can't claim to have all the answers. I can't claim to know all the things, but here's what we are gonna do. We're gonna keep this conversation going. We're gonna make the accessible gospel available to individuals with disabilities in our churches and in our communities so that every person has the opportunity to know Christ, to grow in him, and to serve him with the gifts that he is given. If you want to dive deeper on your own, you can check out the indispensable people blog or my books on Amazon called The Indispensable Kid or Gospel Accessibility and the Indispensable People.
