Why You Should Resist the Status Quo

“Differences enrich and improve our communities.”

60 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. reflected on the tragedy that “11:00 on Sunday morning is one of the most segregated hours, if not the most segregated hours in Christian America.” He remarked that “any church that stands against integration and that has a segregated body is standing against the Spirit and the teachings of Jesus Christ, and it fails to be a true witness.”

Racially segregated churches deny a reality that there is only one church: Christ’s church. They also miss out on the ways in which differences enrich and improve our communities. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned about the integration of people with diverse abilities into the church, it’s that the same is true when churches segregate people with disabilities. The presence of those with different abilities and needs forces us to resist the homogenous, look-like-me, think-like-me, growth-stifling model of church many of us have grown accustomed to.

The byproduct of diversity is a more irresistible church.

When people with diverse abilities are not merely present in our congregations, but engaging in reciprocal, mutual ministry, the unity of the body is reflected more clearly. Diversity highlights what truly unites us.

In short: Christ is revealed.

Welcoming people with disabilities into our churches will help us resist the pull of culture in several ways.

1. A diversity of abilities forces us to resist our fast-paced, performance-driven culture. As Jean Vanier so articulately put it, life isn’t about accolades or how much you can accomplish—it’s about love.

2. Having a diversity of abilities and stories in our church family gives us the courage to ask God “why?” and resist the “I’m fine” (insert smile) culture. This is where growth begins!

3. The more consistently we spend time with people who are “different,” the more we’re faced with the question, “Why does that bother me?” Our annoyance might boil down to a self-centered, consumer-driven attitude we often carry into church. The more we practice ridding ourselves of that attitude, the more equipped we will be for heaven (see Revelation 7:9)!

4. If we learn how to love ‘the weak’ and are known in our communities for this ministry, there will be an irresistible draw for more hurting people to come, meet Jesus, and find their place in his body.

Through it all, we are made more like Jesus. Unity in diversity isn’t just a command in Scripture, it is a beautiful gift.

---

Written By—Vinnie Adams

Vinnie Adams is the Reflectors Special Needs Ministry Director and Campus Worship Leader at Faith Church in Dyer, Indiana. He and his wife, Kate, currently live in Crown Point, Indiana with their sons, Jakob (7) and Josiah (4).