Understanding Disability in the Church

"Why me?" "Did God do this?" "Why can't I be healed?" These are questions that persons with disabilities often ask, and although there are no perfect answers, the Church should be the place where such questions are freely explored. Persons with disabilities, however, comprise a complex and varied culture that is often detached from that of non-disabled people. The Church must seek to understand this culture's uniqueness and the ways in which the behavior and beliefs of the non-disabled population perpetuate insensitivity and false Christian doctrine.

Language is extremely important when speaking about persons with disabilities and should always be well thought out. For instance, the use of "persons with disabilities" acknowledges first that the individual is a person and then adds that they have an accompanying disability. This language helps to dispel the tendency to equate one's identity with their disability, which is done with language like "handicapped" or simply "disabled." Language should confer dignity, and stress first and foremost the person rather than their impairment.

Too often, whether because of awkwardness or simply ignorance, persons with disabilities are excluded from mainstream culture and churches. While society may not move quickly to understand and accept persons with disabilities, the churches should. Christians more than any other population are in a position to help persons with disabilities understand their value as persons regardless of any physical or cognitive difficulties that they may deal with. While our culture urges us to correlate what we do with our personal worth, the Christian faith helps humankind understand that our value rests solely on our ability to relate to the God who created us. Persons with disabilities are of equal value as non-disabled people because they are in an equally sufficient position to commune with God through relationship.