Gospel > inclusive ministry
/
Friends, I'll be blogging next week to share with you pieces of this past weekend's Accessibility Summit, especially for those of you who couldn't be there or who couldn't be in my session on recruiting, training, and supporting volunteers.
But first.
I've been challenged by God with a truth that we all ought to be mindful of. While it is a blessing to labor hard after the inclusion of all people of all abilities in this Christian community that we - and the Bible - calls the church, sometimes we can get so focused on the efforts that we forget why we're doing it.
Sometimes we exalt the idea of inclusive ministry so much that we begin to worship that idea rather than the God who placed it on our hearts.
Remember this, my friends. If our churches become places in which people of all abilities are included and in which everyone is knowledgeable about autism and in which no family is turned away because of disability and in which people can be real in admitting their struggles and in which our inclusion of our friends with disabilities doesn't end at age 12 (or 15 or 18), we have failed if the gospel isn't proclaimed.
We are never called to worship the church, even though we love the description of it including all weak parts in 1 Corinthians 12. We are never called to worship people with disabilities, even though we love Jesus' words in John 9 describing the man's blindness as a way for "the works of God to be displayed." We are never called to worship the created thing, including our own created programs of ministry, no matter how effective they are.
Inclusive ministry is great, but we must be careful not to love it so much that it becomes an idol. Let's not be guilty of this:
...they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator...
But first.
I've been challenged by God with a truth that we all ought to be mindful of. While it is a blessing to labor hard after the inclusion of all people of all abilities in this Christian community that we - and the Bible - calls the church, sometimes we can get so focused on the efforts that we forget why we're doing it.
Sometimes we exalt the idea of inclusive ministry so much that we begin to worship that idea rather than the God who placed it on our hearts.
Remember this, my friends. If our churches become places in which people of all abilities are included and in which everyone is knowledgeable about autism and in which no family is turned away because of disability and in which people can be real in admitting their struggles and in which our inclusion of our friends with disabilities doesn't end at age 12 (or 15 or 18), we have failed if the gospel isn't proclaimed.
We are never called to worship the church, even though we love the description of it including all weak parts in 1 Corinthians 12. We are never called to worship people with disabilities, even though we love Jesus' words in John 9 describing the man's blindness as a way for "the works of God to be displayed." We are never called to worship the created thing, including our own created programs of ministry, no matter how effective they are.
Inclusive ministry is great, but we must be careful not to love it so much that it becomes an idol. Let's not be guilty of this:
...they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator...
{Romans 1:25}
Treasure Christ, not special needs ministry. And then, as we treasure and esteem the gospel, we'll desire to bear fruit through ministry.