living gently in a violent world requires Christ
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As I've immersed myself in disability theology, I am discovering more and more that those who have studied and written about it don't believe in basic doctrines like the inerrancy of the Bible or the sufficiency of the Gospel. This isn't true for all, and occasionally I'll be highlighting churches and theologians who do it well, as well as practical how-to books that are helpful. It's those - the practical guides - that usually have solid theology, but those aim to answer the "how" of disability ministry not the "why."
And it's the "why" that's sadly missing a Gospel-saturated voice, at least in the works I've reviewed. In the absence of Gospel-rich theology, I have to be careful to heed the words of 1 Thessalonians 5:21, testing everything and grasping hold of what is true and good.
That's how I approached Living Gently in a Violent World by Stanley Hauerwas and Jean Vanier. It's a slim resource that's part of a series called Resources for Reconciliation in partnership with Duke Divinity School's Center for Reconciliation. Each of the reconciliation resources is a short book that is co-written by a theologian (in this case, Hauerwas, a professor at Duke who was named America's best theologian by Time magazine in 2001) and a practicing ministry worker (in this case, Vanier, the founder of L'Arche). I like that approach. It can be far too easy for the thinkers and the doers to be disconnected.
Vanier founded L'Arche in France, and it is now an international network of communities that join together people with and without intellectual disabilities. They live together and eat together and talk together and do life together. The realities of disabilities aren't ignored, as some of the folks living in L'Arche communities do have extensive special needs, but the stigma of disability is virtually non-existent in L'Arche.
As I read about L'Arche in this book and in other research I've done, it makes me think about how little children rarely mae a big deal about a peer's disability. Sure, they notice a difference, but then they get over it.
I found this quote interesting (from the introduction by John Swinton):
While I would argue that Christ is the heart of the Gospel and not any specific ministry attitude or action, I do agree that the Gospel demands that we not marginalize people with disabilities as separate from or less than the rest of the body of Christ. We don't do disability ministry out of obligation or pity; it's vital because every person created by God bears His image and has inherent worth.
To put it another way, let's check out Matthew 28:18-20
While I agree with them on the importance of disability ministry, where I diverge from Hauerwas and Vanier is in the execution. I believe our calling is the Great Commission, the verses above. It's about understanding that people with disabilities are part of "all nations" and figuring out what it mean and looks like to put it into practice. Meanwhile, Hauerwas and Vanier seem to put disability ministry first and the Great Commission second. Most L'Arche communities are interfaith, and a requirement is tolerance of all religions. One - Christianity or any other - can't be exalted as the right one. Their community is Bangladesh began with Hindus and Muslims (p. 24). They almost weren't allowed to set up a community in Rome because Vanier, while Roman Catholic, wouldn't agree to restrict it to Catholicism or even Christianity (p. 28). The group in Kuwait is identified as a Muslim group that also welcomes people of other faiths (p. 27).
To me, that ceases to be disability ministry. If it's about love and compassion and community apart from Christ, then it's just social services or non-profit charity.
Vanier writes, "...there are many complexities in L'Arche. 'Good' religious people don't always come to us; we get the ones who don't quite know what it means to be a 'good' religious person and who will discover simply that to be a Christian is to grow in compassion" (p. 28). While compassion is part of Christianity, I would challenge him to provide biblical support for that statement. Christians should grow in compassion, but being a Christian is about treasuring and submitting to Christ who transforms us so that we can show compassion to others. It's Christ first and always, then compassion.
He (Vanier) talks about "living in a gospel-based community with people with disabilities" (p. 34-35). Hauerwas discusses living out the Christian life alongside people with disabilities as an expression of hope (p. 45). As I pondered those things, I thought about how wonderful it would be to see a community similar to what Vanier has created and describes in this book. Rather than a community that is just gospel-based but then all-embracing of even those religious ideas that contradict the Gospel, though, I would love to see one that is Gospel-based, Gospel-centered, and Gospel-driven.
I know those exist, and in the next year or two I'm going to be researching and visiting some churches and community that could be described in that way. In the words of Psalm 133:1, "How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!"
Many thanks to the folks at InterVarsity Press for providing Living Gently in a Violent World for my review. They asked for nothing other than my honest opinion of it.
*Edited to add this postscript: If you're interested in another review of this book from a similar viewpoint, I just found this one by Trevin Wax.
And it's the "why" that's sadly missing a Gospel-saturated voice, at least in the works I've reviewed. In the absence of Gospel-rich theology, I have to be careful to heed the words of 1 Thessalonians 5:21, testing everything and grasping hold of what is true and good.
That's how I approached Living Gently in a Violent World by Stanley Hauerwas and Jean Vanier. It's a slim resource that's part of a series called Resources for Reconciliation in partnership with Duke Divinity School's Center for Reconciliation. Each of the reconciliation resources is a short book that is co-written by a theologian (in this case, Hauerwas, a professor at Duke who was named America's best theologian by Time magazine in 2001) and a practicing ministry worker (in this case, Vanier, the founder of L'Arche). I like that approach. It can be far too easy for the thinkers and the doers to be disconnected.
Vanier founded L'Arche in France, and it is now an international network of communities that join together people with and without intellectual disabilities. They live together and eat together and talk together and do life together. The realities of disabilities aren't ignored, as some of the folks living in L'Arche communities do have extensive special needs, but the stigma of disability is virtually non-existent in L'Arche.
As I read about L'Arche in this book and in other research I've done, it makes me think about how little children rarely mae a big deal about a peer's disability. Sure, they notice a difference, but then they get over it.
I found this quote interesting (from the introduction by John Swinton):
L'Arche shows, as the church is called to show, that Christianity is true by demonstrating what community would look like if the gospel were true. Unlike learning moral principles, following Jesus requires a change of heart. "The very content of Christian connections requires the self to be transformed if we are adequately to see the truth of [its] convictions." L'Arche is a sign of hope and new possibilities, but above all it is a marker for the truth of the gopel; it is living proof that the story Christians bear is not fantasy or a collection of abstract principles but real and true and revealed clearly. When we view L'Arche this way, we begin to see how the question, "What does L'Arche mean for the church?" might have implications far beyond the idea that disability theology is a "specialist interest." It is the heart of the gospel.
While I would argue that Christ is the heart of the Gospel and not any specific ministry attitude or action, I do agree that the Gospel demands that we not marginalize people with disabilities as separate from or less than the rest of the body of Christ. We don't do disability ministry out of obligation or pity; it's vital because every person created by God bears His image and has inherent worth.To put it another way, let's check out Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”There isn't a side note here specifying an IQ limit. There isn't a point of clarification that we shouldn't bother teaching those who don't learn like everyone else. Nope. The command to go and make disciples and baptize and teach isn't a command to only do those things to certain groups. All nations includes those who are foreign to us in far-reaching lands...and just down the street.
While I agree with them on the importance of disability ministry, where I diverge from Hauerwas and Vanier is in the execution. I believe our calling is the Great Commission, the verses above. It's about understanding that people with disabilities are part of "all nations" and figuring out what it mean and looks like to put it into practice. Meanwhile, Hauerwas and Vanier seem to put disability ministry first and the Great Commission second. Most L'Arche communities are interfaith, and a requirement is tolerance of all religions. One - Christianity or any other - can't be exalted as the right one. Their community is Bangladesh began with Hindus and Muslims (p. 24). They almost weren't allowed to set up a community in Rome because Vanier, while Roman Catholic, wouldn't agree to restrict it to Catholicism or even Christianity (p. 28). The group in Kuwait is identified as a Muslim group that also welcomes people of other faiths (p. 27).
To me, that ceases to be disability ministry. If it's about love and compassion and community apart from Christ, then it's just social services or non-profit charity.
Vanier writes, "...there are many complexities in L'Arche. 'Good' religious people don't always come to us; we get the ones who don't quite know what it means to be a 'good' religious person and who will discover simply that to be a Christian is to grow in compassion" (p. 28). While compassion is part of Christianity, I would challenge him to provide biblical support for that statement. Christians should grow in compassion, but being a Christian is about treasuring and submitting to Christ who transforms us so that we can show compassion to others. It's Christ first and always, then compassion.
He (Vanier) talks about "living in a gospel-based community with people with disabilities" (p. 34-35). Hauerwas discusses living out the Christian life alongside people with disabilities as an expression of hope (p. 45). As I pondered those things, I thought about how wonderful it would be to see a community similar to what Vanier has created and describes in this book. Rather than a community that is just gospel-based but then all-embracing of even those religious ideas that contradict the Gospel, though, I would love to see one that is Gospel-based, Gospel-centered, and Gospel-driven.
I know those exist, and in the next year or two I'm going to be researching and visiting some churches and community that could be described in that way. In the words of Psalm 133:1, "How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!"
Many thanks to the folks at InterVarsity Press for providing Living Gently in a Violent World for my review. They asked for nothing other than my honest opinion of it.
*Edited to add this postscript: If you're interested in another review of this book from a similar viewpoint, I just found this one by Trevin Wax.