If it's about Jesus, why are some of the best resources outside of the church?
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Yesterday I replied to an email from a new friend at The International Baptist Church in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, He is interested in disability ministry, and he wanted some suggestions about where to start exploring this ministry area. My first piece of advice might surprise you.
Yes, as I wrote yesterday, this ministry - any ministry - is about Jesus.
But, in many cases, the church has failed to love people with disabilities as we should. And those outside of the church have done a far better job.
Therefore, my first suggestion to him was this:
I pray that a day might come when my advice can be different. I pray that the ministry at our church and in your church and in other Gospel-centered churches will so clearly demonstrate our love for others and our desire to serve rather than exclude that those outside the church will say, "You want to learn about working with people with disabilities? Then you need to check out what these Christians are doing. We may not believe what they believe, but what they're doing and the way they're doing it is excellent. We can learn from them."
This isn't a ridiculous hope, because it's not our excellence that they would be seeing. It's His.
Which, once again, is why it's crucial to not only talk about the practicalities of special needs ministry, but also the reasons, the Reason. Him. The Gospel.
If we seek our own best, we'll fail. We'll continue to be in a place in which non-Christian resources for serving individuals with special needs are the first place we recommend because the Christian resources are limited (and, in some cases, simply not excellent).
If we seek His best and do it for His glory, though, our ministry can reflect an excellence that can only comes from God. Isn't that what we ultimately want?
(Quick disclaimer: Please, please, please do not misinterpret my words to mean that I think that every resources related to special needs ministry is terrible or lacking in excellence. If you've read any other posts here, you know that isn't true. However, if you examine almost any other ministry area, you'll find more resources than what's out there right now for special needs ministry. There is good stuff, just not as much as there should be; there are churches doing special needs ministry well, just not as many as there should be.)
Yes, as I wrote yesterday, this ministry - any ministry - is about Jesus.
But, in many cases, the church has failed to love people with disabilities as we should. And those outside of the church have done a far better job.
Therefore, my first suggestion to him was this:
My first recommendation would be to research what non-religious groups are doing to help people with disabilities in Santo Domingo and the rest of the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, the church hasn't typically done a good job caring about people with disabilities, so this is an area in which we can learn a lot from what public schools and other groups are doing well.
I pray that a day might come when my advice can be different. I pray that the ministry at our church and in your church and in other Gospel-centered churches will so clearly demonstrate our love for others and our desire to serve rather than exclude that those outside the church will say, "You want to learn about working with people with disabilities? Then you need to check out what these Christians are doing. We may not believe what they believe, but what they're doing and the way they're doing it is excellent. We can learn from them."
This isn't a ridiculous hope, because it's not our excellence that they would be seeing. It's His.
Which, once again, is why it's crucial to not only talk about the practicalities of special needs ministry, but also the reasons, the Reason. Him. The Gospel.
If we seek our own best, we'll fail. We'll continue to be in a place in which non-Christian resources for serving individuals with special needs are the first place we recommend because the Christian resources are limited (and, in some cases, simply not excellent).
If we seek His best and do it for His glory, though, our ministry can reflect an excellence that can only comes from God. Isn't that what we ultimately want?
(Quick disclaimer: Please, please, please do not misinterpret my words to mean that I think that every resources related to special needs ministry is terrible or lacking in excellence. If you've read any other posts here, you know that isn't true. However, if you examine almost any other ministry area, you'll find more resources than what's out there right now for special needs ministry. There is good stuff, just not as much as there should be; there are churches doing special needs ministry well, just not as many as there should be.)