Sharing Our Faith

Tonight at church, the preacher taught that every church member is expected to share their faith with others on a regular basis. With that in mind, I have a question to pose. Can a moderately or severely disabled person and a nondisabled person both meet the expectation of the church? Granted, there are communication variances between different disabled individuals. Some can speak well and others cannot. Some can use sign language and others cannot. You get the idea. But bear with me for a moment as I flesh out this question.

Take me for example. Besides the occasional excursion across the street on my electric wheelchair, I'm pretty much homebound except for when my wife takes me out to church or somewhere or when I take Medicaid transportation to go to the doctor. I have very little face to face contact with people outside my wife's family and my church family. I cannot work and have basically no friends that I can hang out with so those outlets are in the toilet. Finally, I couldn't go on a mission trip if I wanted to because I couldn't pass the physical.

On the other hand, when I do encounter people, they notice a difference about me almost immediately. I almost always have a smile on my face and I greet people with a "Hi" or a "How are you?" I tell people "God Bless You" when I feel like I should say that. Talk to me very long online or off and you'll find out I'm a Christian. Offline you'll already know I'm disabled, online that tidbit of information won't be long behind my profession of faith. I may not be able to do a lot offline, but I spend a good bit of time online trying to encourage people and lead them to the right path.

How many nondisabled people do you encounter every day (even ones who profess to be Christion) who have frowns on their faces? How many fail to greet you and ask how you're doing? How many have conversations with you for months or even years before you find out they are believers? How many, even after they profess to be Christians, are you truly unable to tell a difference between them and nonbelievers?

Personally, I think disabled Christians have an advantage over nondisabled Christians in sharing our faith. People notice us right away and they see that something is different about us. If we have smiles on our faces and if we are being nice to people, folks will notice not only our disabilities but the way we live our lives despite our disabilities. They'll want to know how we do it and we have the answer for them, "Jesus Christ." We don't have to go on mission trips or seek people out. People will find us if we go through our daily lives with the Love of Christ overflowing.

So let me ask that question another way. Can a nondisabled person share their faith just as easily as a moderately to severely disabled person? For once, I think the disabled people have it easier. :-)

Where Do You Look For Your Purpose In Life?

Several days ago I was privy to a conversation in which a woman stated she had no purpose in life because she could no longer work. She also stated she had no hope because her life was full of endless suffering. Praise the Lord that a few people involved in this conversation were able to offer her solace and hope for a new day but I've thought a lot about her words over the last few days. Where do I find my purpose in life? Where do I look for hope for a better life? Let me ask you those questions. Where do you look to find your purpose in life and where do you go to find hope for a better life?

As human beings, we tend to try to find a purpose that will cover everything from birth to death. "I'm going to be the President of the United States." or "I'm going to start a company and turn it into a multibillion dollar corporation." The purpose you have in mind probably isn't that ambitious but it probably has something to do with a longterm goal. Maybe it's simply that you are going to stay married for over 50 years and raise children and grandchildren. No matter what it is, if your life's purpose is tied to a long term goal then you have a problem. Such purposes can be ripped away from you at a moment's notice, exposing your empty shell and leaving you questioning your very existence on this earth. Similarly, if your hope is tied to the things of this world (to your accomplishments or to your finances for example), then it, too, can be stripped away from you without notice and you will be left hopeless.

How, then, should we define our purpose in life and where should we place our hope. I'll answer the easy one first. As the old hymn says, "Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' Blood and Righteousness." Our hope is in an eternity with the Three-in-One, the Master and Savior, Himself. If we are suffering, the Scripture says our suffering is nothing compared to the glory which will be revealed when we get to Heaven. If we are in grieving, Revelations says Christ, Himself, will "wipe away every tear." If we are in need, the Bible teaches that God will provide for our every need. If we ill or disabled, we will be healed whether it be on earth or in Heaven. Our Hope is in Eternal Life with our Lord, Jesus.

But where is our purpose? Our purpose is in Him as well. Christ gave us a purpose when He said to Love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and body, and to love others as ourselves. He gave us a mission statement in Matthew 28:19-20, "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." So our overall purpose is to be a light in this dark world.

He does, however, give Christians unique roles to play in this mission. One Christian might be a pastor and another a Bible Study leader. Your role may be to smile and make people feel welcome as they come to your church or to send out cards letting people know you are praying for them. You might be great with children and your role could be to volunteer in the nursery or children's class. You could even be someone whose role it is to work in a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. Every Christian has a role to play in the Body of Christ. The trick is learning what your spiritual gifts are and how to apply them. If you want more information on what your spiritual gifts are and how you can serve, your pastor should be able to help you.

I know this has been a long one but I want to remind you of two key points. First, every Christian has the ultimate Hope and the ultimate Purpose in life. Second, even when you forget where your hope or your purpose come from, Christ is still right where you left Him, waiting on you to turn around and go back to Him. Remember, you're the one that leaves Him behind, not the other way around.

To Eliminate Prejudice, Start With The Children

Have you ever been in a mall or other public setting and overheard a child ask his or her parent a question like, "Why is he walking funny?" "Why is he sitting in that chair?" or "Why is her skin so dark?" If you have, I would venture to guess that almost immediately afterwards you heard the parent scream at the child for asking the question or even say, "Never ask a question like that again!" Perhaps the question you heard was asked about you and maybe it embarassed or upset you that the child would ask such a question. You might have even gone back and told the parent what you thought of their loud mouthed kid.

Now let me tell you what happened to me tonight. I was at my church just before the service started and I was using one of the church's electric scooters to help me get around. As I passed a man and his three little girls, I heard one of the children say, "Daddy, why is that man riding that thing?" I continued on for a moment then my better sense took over. I turned around and rode up to the father and his three girls. Note that he had not reprimanded the child for asking the question. I looked at the gentleman and said, "If I may ask your permission sir, I overheard one of these young ladies ask why I am riding this chair and I would like to answer her question." He agreed to let me talk to his daughter and told me the child's name. I stuck out my hand and introduced myself to the little girl who looked to be about 5 years old. Then I asked her if she wanted to know why I was riding in the scooter. She shyly said "no" then she changed her mind. I answered her question by explaining that I was born differently than her and I could not walk as much as she can so I use the chair to help me get around. She then became excited with this new knowledge and gave me the biggest smile.

What is the difference between the two senarios I have presented? The obvious difference is that tonight nobody got upset and the child got her answer. But there is more long term difference. The child in the first senario who was told to shut up for being curious, if he is told that too many times, will think asking such questions is bad. Then the belief that asking the questions is bad turns into the belief that the answers are bad, hence being different is bad. I believe with all my heart this is the root of prejudice in today's society. We have all kinds of civil rights laws but they don't change the fact that our children are growing up thinking being different is bad so they fear people who are different. And the foundation of prejudice is fear. On the other hand, the child in the second senario, the one I spoke with tonight, will hopefully grow up knowing it is alright to ask questions and she will learn that most differences are God endowed. That child, prayerfully, will not grow up fearing people who are different but will, instead, grow up embracing the differences that make us all part of the human race.

I challenge you to embrace childhood curiosity. If you are a parent and your child asks a question, even if it embarasses you, try to answer the question for the child to the best of your ability. Please do not punish your child for asking the question, he or she is only being a child. And if you are a person who hears a child ask a question about you, I challenge you to swallow your pride and take a little time out of your schedule to speak with that child to explain why you are different. I challenge you to be as friendly and nonthreatening as possible and to ask the parent's permission before talking to the child but to make sure that child knows that his or her question is important.

Love Is A Decision

I was in a bookstore a long time ago and saw a book entitled Love Is A Decision by Gary Smalley. Admittedly, I did not buy the book and I have not even checked it out from the library but I have thought long and hard about the title. Tonight, as I reflect on the sermon I heard in church this evening, I am yet again thinking about this book and the truth behind the title.

Just to give you a quick rundown of the sermon, the minister was answering questions members had submitted to the church about the family. He spoke about the church's stance on divorce and its policy on divorced people remarrying. He spoke about raising children to be Godly adults. Finally, he spoke about rekindling the love in a marriage when the spark has dwindled. He said something that really stuck out in my mind. He said that God meant marriage to be "one man, one woman, one time."

That is a far cry from the way society and, even many mainstream Christians, feel about marriage. Divorce is accepted as a natural conclusion what was once sworn to be a "till death do us part" relationship. But then I look at people like my grandparents. July 1st of this year they celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary. Their marriage has been through a lot of bad times, ones that people from newer generations would have called it quits over, but they stayed committed to their marriage covenant and to each other. When there appeared to be no love there, they decided to continue loving each other. They knew that "love is a decision."

If you're a regular reader or one who has come looking for writings about disability rights/education, you're probably wondering why I'm talking about love. It's simple, people who are disabled need love too. The problem is that too many of us have closed ourselves off from others and do not allow ourselves to feel love for others or to be loved by others. We do this because of fear of rejection or because we are just downright positive that nobody could love us the way we are. Perhaps we think we are ugly ducklings or we that it would look like Beauty and the Beast if we ever went on a date. I can tell you from experience, until you allow yourself to receive love and feel love for others, you are missing about 99.95% of what life is about. The Scripture teaches that you could be the smartest, most good looking, richest person in the world but if you don't have love you have nothing at all.

Jesus stated that "Greater love hath no man than that he lay down his life for a friend." Then He did exactly that. He showed how great His love is for all of us by laying down His life for each and every person in the world. It wasn't until I allowed this love to invade my heart and soul that I was truly able to love others and to trust in the love of my wife and my friends/family. Since that time, the walls have been coming down and I've been changing from the inside out. I truly believe that such a change can happen in anyone's life if they just let the Love of Christ overwhelm them. If you haven't done that yet, then please made a decision to receive Christ's Love and His Grace today.

In His Love,
James Hart