I shared with my good Friend Gordon Hathaway several entries from Dr. McNair's blog, concerning ministry to adults with intellectual disabilities. In response, Gordon wrote the following superb paper. In order to help the reader understand the context of his comments, McNair's blog entries are posted preceding Gordon remarks. McNair's entries are in blue.
...ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have
omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
Matthew 23:23b&24
...ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have
omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
Matthew 23:23b&24
As I read over the notes that were given to me by my friend Rick Eastin, the above verse came to mind. Within the variety of papers I read, I definitely found some common ground. I consider the common ground to be analogous to the gnats mentioned in the passage above. None of us would want gnats in our drinking water, so we can all join in on that straining project. But, what about the camel that someone is unfortunately swallowing. In the passage above the camel represents the "weightier matters."
For the purposes of this article, I will try to keep the focus on the "weightier matters," such as the underlying premise, the foundational basis, the core motive of the themes we are discussing.
These thoughts are a response to some ideas that were presented to me. It is therefore not intended to be a stand alone read. However, with enough imagination, one might draw out some valuable concepts that could serve as a food for further investigation. Rick has mentioned to me that he intends to post the original text with my responses inserted.
When writing it is difficult to convey the temperament and emotion in which the author intends to share. It’s important to me that anyone reading this treatise know that the entire thing was written calmly and peacefully. Capital letters can be interpreted as angry and resentful. I’m using caps merely for emphasis. My hope is that these thoughts will be helpful for my brothers and sisters in Christ.
************************************************************************************* stig·ma·tize - vb. to set some mark of disgrace or infamy upon:
The crime of the father stigmatized the whole family.
de·vi·ant - adj. Differing from a norm or from the accepted standards of a society. n. One that differs from a norm, especially a person whose behavior and attitudes differ from accepted social standards.
society - 1. Mankind considered as a whole. Example: He was a danger to society.
2. A community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions,
institutions, and collective activities and interests
3. The socially dominant members of a community.
**************************************************************************************
First, it is necessary to differentiate childishness and child likeness. Jesus shows us that becoming like a child (child-likeness) is a requirement for Kingdom entrance. However, Paul reminds us that when he became a man, he put away childish things. Childish THINGS can be isolated acts or attitudes that are often self-centered and therefore need to be left behind. For adults to enter true child likeness is a transformational journey only accomplished by God.
"STIGMATIZING FACTORS"
To talk with and treat adults with developmental disabilities in adult-like ways is important. However, there are different motives for doing so. One may have a Christ-like motive of giving them the respect and dignity that they deserve. A very different motive might be to attempt to hide his or her disability and thereby pacify the prejudices of society. It is also possible to actually look up to them as valuable however they present themselves, rather than refusing them admiration until they ACT like adults. From another perspective, one might find oneself actually admiring them because they DON’T ACT like adults. After all, the masks, facades, fear of what other’s think, condescending attitudes, prejudices, and yes the strong tendencies to stigmatize others are often strangely lacking in their demeanor. Treating people in this condition with dignity should be based in our love in Jesus, not in an effort to cater to people’s self righteousness and religious pride (stigmatic outlooks).
There are no "stigmatizing factors." It is not the factors that stigmatize people.
People stigmatize people. (See definition above) (Jesus was uniquely harsh with this particular sin)
If someone is being stigmatized, it’s because somebody (society) is doing this TO them. Stigmatizing someone involves prejudice, judgementalism, condescending attitudes, excluding those who are different from us in some specific way, etc.
Individuals or groups of people can be stigmatized for childish behavior, or skin color, or height, or accent, or weight, or age, or gender, or dress, or language, or teeth with braces, or buck teeth without braces, or any one of thousands of characteristics that set us apart as different from the "norm" (deviant from society). I wonder, as the Church, can we possibly cater to all of these "stigmatizing factors"? Should we even be attempting to?
A better focus for the Church would be that we join our brothers and sisters with disabilities in sharing the love of Jesus with those who are alienating and rejecting them. Maybe then the STIGMATZERS will find God beginning to melt down the pretense, masks, and facades of their spiritual pride.
CHILD LIKENESS AND CHILDISHNESS
I intentionally surround myself with friends who have developmental disabilities. Why? I do this because they are my heroes and role models. I learn from my friends, not in spite of their disabilities, but BECAUSE of their disabilities. My heart’s desire is to be Christ-like and so I build relationships with people I find to be much more Christ-like than myself.
What’s so terrible about being childlike? Some people see having "the mind of a child" as a bad thing. Didn’t our Savior himself put a child in the midst of his disciples? He then told them that they would in no way enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless they were to BECOME like this child. This was unheard of. Children were looked down upon (stigmatized) in that culture. According to what I’ve read in the papers that were given to me, the disciples should have been concerned about the stigmatizing "factors" present in this child. To avoid others rejecting this child and our ministry, we need to give him some stilts, teach him to talk in a deep voice, and dress him in adult clothing. But most important we must try to teach him to "ACT" like an adult. In other words, we must make him become like us for his sake (so that others don’t reject him for being like a child). After all, this could harm the image of the ministry. And don’t forget, we are acting on behalf this person, so that he will be accepted by "society". It is for him only that we are doing this.
Obviously, these were not the intentions of Jesus. In essence, he said that we are to look up to that child, for in many ways he is far more Christ-like than us. The disciples were the ones who were being called to change. And that would not be changing a few factors. They must be literally transformed by God to become like a little child. This would require THEM to change and break free from their society’s stigmatic attitudes toward children.
Now, the disciples may well have been thinking, aren’t men supposed to teach boys how to be adult men? Yes, they would be correct (like age appropriateness approaches are correct). But, in attending to surface issues (gnats), they might overlook the deep treasure that Jesus set before them.
During my 33 year quest for intimacy with Christ, I have found that building friendships with those of us who are "intellectually challenged" have been the most transformational experiences I've had. That's why I've intentionally surrounded myself (both in my private life, church life, volunteer life, family life, and work life) with people in this condition.
When I compare our intellects, my friends in this condition have the disabilities.
When I compare our hearts, myself and my society have the disabilities.
Ask yourself, which one’s more important to our Savior?
So, more specifically, what is it that so different about this population in general? Would it be a lack of being afraid of what others think of them? Might we find that our friends with these disabilities are exhibiting a much "less-conditional" (Not necessarily UNconditional) love than our own? I've personally seen supervisors treat a such a person like dirt. That supervisor was still that client’s hero. Might it also be their appreciation for the simple things in life? Or is it their lack of facades (masks)?
I realize this greatly depends on functioning level, temperament, family life, etc. of the individual. But will many of our friends in this condition be shunned and made fun of the rest of their lives, and most likely not shun or make fun of others, ever? I realize that that does not make my friends sinless, angels, or perfectly pure in heart. But, neither was the small child perfect that Jesus selected. Yet that does not negate our Lord's command to us to BECOME like this little one.
We spend a lot of time teaching those of us with developmental disabilities to BECOME like "normal" adults, and to some degree that may be necessary and good. However, too often (like the disciples might have) we focus on those surface issues and miss the priceless treasures of simplicity found in a little child (or in our disabled friends).
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Monday, October 04, 2004
Deconstructing disability: Role perceptions/eternal child
In 1972, Dr. Wolf Wolfensberger, wrote about what he called deviant role perceptions. These were ways in which persons with disability were sometimes perceived. The word "deviant" should be thought of in terms of differing from the norm (American Heritage dictionary). The word deviant itself can be very charged in its connotations. I thought it might be interesting to examine each of these role perceptions briefly and think about the applications for today. The following role perceptions are from Wolfensberger. 6. The deviant as an eternal child Unfortunately, much work in psychology has led to the perpetuation of this role perception. We have measures of intelligence translated into "mental age" apparently because such a measure will help professionals in programming. So we hear people say that Johnny has a mental age of 12 or the mental age of 11 months. Even people who are not professionals talk about a person as having the mind of a 6 year old. We see people as never growing up. Therefore, we place them in childish environments with decorations unfitting for their age. At times we even see adults with disability housed with children, the obvious thinking being that they are functioning at the same age level. As a reaction to this, beginning around the 1970's, professionals have developed the term "chronologically age appropriate" as a description of programs, interactions, environments, etc. for persons with disability. We want these aspects of their lives to reflect their chronological age, not their supposed mental age. There are a variety of reasons why we would want to do this. Persons with disability simply by virtue of the fact that they have a disability are often stigmatized. Disability is not seen simply as a characteristic of these individuals, it is a negative characteristic which limits typical positive interactions which might be enjoyed between people. This of course depends upon the mindset of the person without disability, however, at the very least, stigmatizing factors may at least cause one to pause. They cause one to wonder, thinking that something is not quite right. These stigmatizing factors may be overt, or discovered through further interaction. In order to facilitate normalization in interactions, we do well to not add stigmatizing factors to people who may already be devalued by societal constructions. Back in the early 80's (before I knew better) I once worked at a camp for adults with cognitive disabilities. The theme of the camp was "cowboys and Indians." We rode horses, shot guns, made bows with arrows, Indian jewelry and headdresses, and barbecued. The problem with this was that the persons with disability who attended the camp were adults, some in their 50's with cognitive disability. They had a great time at the camp, but the following week, some were walking around Pasadena California with headdresses on carrying a bow and arrow. Now they wouldn't be a danger to anyone (as hard as we tried, we weren't very good bow makers), however, what we did in holding a camp that was not age appropriate was to send them into the community with artifacts that they carried around which did little more than stigmatize them. Can you imagine walking down the street and seeing a fifty year old guy with a bow and arrow and a headdress (made out of construction paper no less) walking toward you on the street in Pasadena? I suspect your response wouldn't be to think, "I gotta get me one of those head dresses" but rather "What is wrong with that person?" By engaging in activities which were not age appropriate, particularly those which produced artifacts that the people carried around for the next 3 weeks, we hurt their potential for positive interactions with the general public by stigmatizing them. By contrast, there is a fellow who attends my church. Lets call him Chuck (not his real name). Now I have know Chuck for probably 10 years now. He is a good looking young man who dresses well. He regularly attends church with his mother, and I believe he works in some sort of sheltered setting. The point is, you would never pick this guy out of a crowd as being someone with a cognitive disability. So in every first interaction, he has the opportunity to sell himself to you (if he cares to) as the great person that he is. In discussion you would quickly learn that he has a disability, however, you would also learn that he is a great guy. Contrast that with the people I helped to stigmatize with the construction paper head dresses. Certainly your approach to them would be different. You would approach thinking these persons have cognitive disabilities. But the typically reply is, "But they enjoy the juvenile activities." Well, there may be juvenile activities that I enjoy as well, but I am careful to whom I share that interest of mine, or at the least, I have competence in other areas to overcome the deviance of my preoccupation with some juvenile activity. The poster child for the competency/deviancy hypothesis (I first heard described by Dr. Marc Gold) was Dennis Rodman, the outstanding NBA player. As long as Rodman got 17 rebounds a game, he could behave poorly and act crazy. He really was an outstanding rebounder and defender. But as he aged, his competence (rebounding) began to wane, while his "deviance" (acting crazy) remained the same. Ultimately, he was unable to play any more in the NBA. It is arguable, however, if he had been a better "citizen" he might have lasted longer as there would have been less deviance to be overcome by competence. Persons with disability, at times due to their disability and at times due to the societal construction of their disability, carry around "deviance" which must be compensated for with competence. Age inappropriateness on the part of the person with disability only adds to their perceived deviance, requiring more competence of some type to overcome it. If the captain of the football team starts carrying a Spongebob Squarepants back pack, it will be cool. However, if the person with cognitive disability who attends the same school tries to initiate the style, he will be devalued because of the lack of competence he has to counterbalance the deviance. So by way of instruction, when you interact with a person with cognitive disability, independent of the severity of their condition, the way you interact, as much as possible the content of your interactions, the environment for your interactions, etc. should be as age appropriate as is possible. Your language might be simple in style and content, however, it is not age inappropriate or demeaning, and reflects a respect for the person's age. McNair (fcbu)
THE CAMP ILLUSTRATION
I had the privilege of being the Assistant Director of a summer camp designed for persons with developmental disabilities. Our age groups ranged from 7-77. We ran a six week program for approximately 80 guests (campers). It was a blessing to be involved in this ministry for 8 years. (That adds up to approximately 4,000 campers overall, though some attended multiple years) We ran an "age INappropriate" program, and we had a blast. We had an Indian theme, complete with the Red Tribe, Blue Tribe, and Yellow Tribe. We made head dresses, fruit loop necklaces, and the like. It usually took some time, but our counselors eventually humbled themselves and began to join in the fun. Next, the counselor’s masks came down one by one. It is interesting to me, that in all those years I don’t recall seeing any of the campers going through a transformational change. But I always treasured seeing the transformed lives of so many of the counselors. This was simply due to their friendships with our campers. Many came for a summer job and left with changed hearts.
That was twenty years ago. I’m involved in "age appropriate" family retreats now. I doubt that I would run a camp like that now, but I would also not take a stand against it.
Stigma
When a person with a disability enters a room, people will tend to notice the differences about that person. Perhaps it is his facial characteristics as with people with Downs' sydrome. Perhaps it is the fact that she uses a wheelchair for mobility. Perhaps it is some scar from an operation. Perhaps it is some other type of equipment that the individual uses to communicate or move safely, or breathe. These things stigmatize a person. That is, they cause those in the environment to think in a particular manner about the person who has the characteristic. If I show up in a wheelchair, people in the enviornment have their minds flooded with every idea, every notion they may have about who a person is who uses a wheel chair, be those notions correct or not. If a person uses a wheelchair, I cannot entirely help the fact that the enviornment will stigmatize them in particular ways. But I can do things that will help to remove the stigma or I can do things that will perhaps exacerbate the stigma. Let me give you some examples.People with intellectual disabilities enjoy life as it is presented to them. Now I can present things to them via my disability ministry at church which gives the impression that disabled adults are really children. I can have them coloring pictures even though they are 50 years old. I can have them singing "Jesus loves the little children" even though they are in their 20's and 30's. I can communicate to those around the person with the disability that I believe that that person is not really an adult, she is really a child and because I am the expert in my church as the disability ministry guy, people will believe me and treat adults as children. Will the persons with disabilities enjoy coloring pictures and singing children's songs? Many will. However, I do not have them coloring pictures at church or singing children's songs because I know how this will stigmatize them towards others in the environment resulting in them being treated as children when they are not children. Instead, we will sit around tables like any other adult class at the church, sing choruses although they may be simple, which are typically sung in the church. If you walk into our class you feel like you are in a class for adults, not in a children's Sunday school class.I think too many ministries for adults with cognitive disabilities convey the message through the activities that they do with those they are attempting to serve that these adults are children which is a great disservice to those to whom we claim to be ministering. Part of this problem is our knowledge focus in the Christian church. Sunday school is too often all about imparting knowledge, so if a person is cognitively disabled, then (it is thought) they need children's knowledge, delivered in a manner children would accept or be comfortable with. I would argue that knowledge should not be the primary focus of the Sunday school (even though it is called school) but it should rather be faith development. Faith development and knowledge development are two very different things. Is there knowledge associated with faith development? Of course there is. But I can become confused and end up just providing knowledge without worrying about faith development. Programs stigmatize adults with cognitive disabilities when they are exclusively knowledge based, partly because the accumulation or understanding of knowledge may be the weakest point for the person with intellectual disabilities.However, faith development implies some knowledge, but also a lot of behavior. I can teach behaviors to persons with intellectual disabilities and it will likely result in faith development. For example, I can teach these people how to pray and then encourage them to pray daily, pray without ceasing, pray in faith. Will conversation with God via prayer increase their faith. I believe it will. I can teach them to fill their lives with uplifting media like Christian music or Christian video. Will that help them to grow in faith? I believe it will. I can also teach service and caring as a way of being like Jesus. In using these approaches, I am using the same approaches that those without disabilities should arguably use to grow their faith as well: doing something rather than just passively listening to something. As a result I am growing their faith in a manner that is not stigmatizing them by treating them as if they were children. I am also recognizing the fallacy of a overly intellectualized presentation of the faith that is too knowledge based for everyone in church, not just those with intellectual disabilities.
THE COUNTERBALANCING AND DEVIATION APPROACH
This whole idea of "counterbalancing the deviation" is problematic and is not supportive of Biblical ministry. This is a very shallow analogy which says far more about the "student body’s" attitudes than it does about the behavior of the captain of the football team or the student with pronounced disabilities. We don’t know anything about this football captain, maybe he actually values those with disabilities and treats them with the dignity that they deserve. Maybe he would wear a Sponge Bob backpack due to the friendship he has with this fellow student with a disability. I realize that’s not your point, but please hear out my point. In the example given, it seems like you have you actually stereotyped the captain of the football team? Maybe he doesn’t care to initiate the style of Spongebob backpacks. I’m quite sure our high school student with the developmental disability couldn’t care less about whether he’s starting new "style" or not. He may not even notice the cruel stares and glares of his peers that concern themselves with such shallow things. It is not the person with the disability that needs to develop some kind of competence. It is the cruel teenagers who need God’s love to change their unacceptable treatment of those who are simply not designed to retaliate or defend themselves. Apparently, according to your stated approach, the student body is alienating their peers due to behavioral abnormalities and even for something as small as what kind of backpack they choose to wear. And yet you advocate teaching the alienated one some competency, so that proud, self-centered teens will be more likely to accept him. It is hard for me to believe that you really believe that additional competence will change the cruelty that the world dishes out (especially in the typically self-centered teen culture.) Isn’t this really all about the crowd (society). Say society is rejecting me. Therefore, I need to work hard at developing some competency so that their view of me can be balanced out. You and I, as "able minded" persons might care about developing these competencies (possibly due to our fear of what others think of us if we don't conform). I doubt, however, that this teenager with a developmental disability would care about any of that. I’m trying to imagine a competency that this young man could work on that would balance out his "deviation." (And thus increase his chances of being accepted by the cruel and self-centered members of the student body). I wonder if in a million years this adolescent could achieve a competency that would effectively cause society be okay with him having a disability. I’m serious, what on earth are you thinking? Please, give me some examples. What would be good enough to raise his status to the level of backpack trend setter? There are individuals with disabilities who are virtually unable to develop any "competence." What of them? Are they left to a lifetime of personal rejection without the hope of ever balancing themselves with competence? Whether you judge someone’s value based upon their disabilities (deviancies in behavior) or based upon their abilities (competencies), it’s all the same thing. HATEFUL JUDGEMENTALISM! You are simply advocating solving one prejudice with another.
After all of this work building up competencies, the crowd has not changed, nor has that even been suggested. My guess is, that if our young disabled teen finally develops enough competencies to appease these prejudices, the crowd will move on to the next person with a disability who hasn’t heard about his need for competencies. Or, possibly the crowd would simply focus its attention on another one of a myriad of "stigmatizing factors" and then use it to justify its own judgmentallism. It is the crowd that has been wrong all along. The crowd needs to change, nondisabled persons who have done absolutely nothing to deserve such treatment. Do the crowd’s (society’s) perceptions really matter that much? Jesus didn’t seem to be concerned about that at all. He didn’t seem to be working up competencies so that society would be more acceptive of His social deviances (and he was indeed Deviant). It seems God’s approach concerns changing the hearts of people who look down on others. His approach does not include eliminating all of the differences in the human race so that no one is looked down upon.
ON SPECIAL SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES
How about Sunday School? If everything in a special program is just like the adult programs, then why have a specially designed program at all. Why not integrate people who have this disability (I hope we do for people with other disabilities)? If Christians are condescending, they need to be lovingly confronted and instructed. Better yet, maybe we should invite those who "act" like adults to integrate into the special Sunday School classes. Eventually their adult pride may begin to melt. Ground will be gained if they dare join their child-like brother or sister in some "age INappropriate" activity. (Coloring perhaps?) Joining in on the singing of Jesus Loves the little children Me, may cause them to revisit the simplicity of their own childhood. In so doing, they may begin to treasure the humble childlikeness of those with these particular disabilities. In other words, they may experience something transformational. THEY will be the ones changing, rather than always expecting others to change to fit their arrogant requirements.
However, it is possible that these church goers may actually move from rejection of others to an outlook just as cruel! They may now see themselves as quite noble due to this new prideful compassion they have toward whoever they used to reject and alienate. They have now achieved a sympathetic viewpoint and feel deeply sorry for these individuals. They may be overheard praying to themselves, "Thank you Lord that I am not like these."
STAGES OF TRANSFORMATION: FROM PRIDE TO HUMILIY
(Looking down on)……………….Alienation
(Feeling sorry for)…………………Sympathy
(Treating as equal………………… Empathy Person with a disability
(Looking up to, honoring………….. Dignity
I attended a church once where a man with cognitive disabilities was a part of the team that served communion. The man fulfilled those responsibilities admirably. However, there was a changeover of the elders, and a psychiatrist became one of the elders. He advocated removing the man from the serving of communion because to use his words, "He has the mind of a 10 year old." I guarantee to you that no one in the congretation would have even suspected that the man had a congnitive disability on the basis of his communion serving. However, because of an overzealous application of mental age, the man was seen as a disabled man, not a man
MINISTRY ROLES FOR THOSE WITH DISABILITIES
Let’s take this matter of the developmentally disabled usher. Now this is an illustration I DO NOT understand in the least. In this example, the person you refer to is perfectly capable of performing the duties of an usher and has proven himself for some time. Apparently, he has done a good job of hiding his disability so that no "stigmatizing factors" are evident. Now a physiatrist becomes an elder and blows this young man’s cover. Now his stigmatizing factors are exposed, and, of course, the congregation will in turn have great difficulty with his stigmatizing factors (notice it’s his problem again). Apparently, we never get the end of the story. I certainly hope the new board member was lovingly confronted about his unChristlike attitudes. If he was unwilling to change his views, I certainly hope the pastor would have the courage to remove him from the board of elders and any other service role in that church. I certainly hope that the congregation would resist the temptation to stigmatize and alienate this individual. I would hope that they would instead choose the love of Jesus. They would then encourage this individual in his God-given gifts, and release him from the burden of trying to hide his disability. If the congregation hardens it’s heart, the pastor should probably teach from the pulpit on this subject. Leaders could be trained by Para church organizations whose mission is to change people’s misconceptions toward those who have disabilities. As a professor of disability ministry, I would think that you would be spearheading these efforts to enlighten Christian’s who are sinning by stigmatizing their brothers and sisters in Christ who happen to have pronounced disabilities (or any other "deviance" for that matter.)
What if your usher were black in a mostly white church and an elder had a problem with it? What should be done? Should we ask the black man to hide his deviance. What if an elder was adamant that this usher be dismissed from the position due to his differences? Isn’t it also the congregation’s problem because it is stigmatizing him? (Or, allowing him to be stigmatized by others). Is he wrong for being different "deviant" or are the Christians who "ACT" like adults wrong for harboring their prejudice. My guess is that you may be thinking that a person with the mind of a ten year is a different case. And that a man with the mind of a ten year old cannot or should not perform the duties of an usher unless they can hide their disability. How ABOUT a ten year old, could they do the job? Better yet, how about a woman, or someone in a in a wheelchair, or a woman in a wheelchair, or even a child with CP, or a blind man, or a sister who is deaf? It’s a little more difficult to ask them to try to hide their disabilities so that they won’t have any stigmatizing factors showing. (I prefer to say, "So that others won’t stigmatize them.") Why is it "the norm" to have only adult males take the offering? I asked my sister that question, years ago. Her answer to that question was not positive. Maybe you could help me understand why this is such an exclusive ministry role. Would Jesus be so exclusive? I don’t know. Is their no room for children, women, the disabled to serve (even if their spiritual life and love for Jesus is healthier than there able-bodied counterparts)?
In the waking hours of this morning, a word picture came to me that sums up the underlying problem with this usher illustration. Allow me to borrow some of our Lord’s imagery. The disabled man is trusted with usher responsibilities at his church. He had beautiful diamonds in his eyes, but nobody noticed. A new elder came on board. He happened to have a huge log in his eye. Everyone noticed, but pretended they didn’t. He said he saw a speck in this usher’s eye and someone needed to remove it or this usher was obviously unfit for the job. The congregation found that they couldn’t see the speck. Someone ventured that it may have been our board member’s special log-filled eye that allows him to see the speck. So, they too put huge logs in their eyes. Amazingly they could now see the speck. "Now the problem is exposed," they said, "there really is that horrid speck in his eye." One of our log-eyed brothers was asked to escort the now disqualified brother back to the Special Class. On the way, he talked with the ex-usher. He kept making eye contact. In the reflection of the diamonds he saw this huge log in his own eye. He began to compare his log to the diamonds in his friend's eyes. He prayed that God would remove the log. It was removed instantly. When the healed man made eye contact with his disabled friend again, he noticed that the speck was no longer in his eye. But even more amazing was in place of the reflection of the log was a reflection of a new set of diamonds. He asked his friend, "Did God remove your speck as well as my log?" The gentle answer came, "There never was a speck in my eye. The speck was companion to your log and part of your healing. You are now seeing me through the eyes of Love, which overlooks a multitude of specks."
Please don’t tell me we need to insert logs into these guys’ eyes so that they will fit in with the congregation! Please tell me it is our new sighted friends mission to help his visually impaired (log eyed) brothers and sisters (one by one if necessary) to see their need for humble healing. In doing so, the church will not just accept our brothers and sisters in spite of their disabilities. We will instead begin to treasure and celebrate the God given differences in each and every one of us.
By this time I imagine you’re probably about ready to stop reading these notes. You may feel that my responses indicate that I don’t understand the original text. You may be thinking, "He’s assuming that I don’t know all of this already." I can assure you, I do have an understanding of the text (though possibly quite different from your understanding). Please bear with me. I’d like to go a little deeper.
LET’S GO DEEPER
Let Jesus be our example. When he was walking the earth, many people were stigmatized (or as you say, had stigmatizing factors). Women, children, Gentiles, Samaritans, the immoral, and especially the disabled were targets of stigmatization by "society."
Who did Jesus hang out with? Don’t we see him interacting with women even prostitutes with respect and dignity? When the disciples stigmatized the children and tried to keep them from the Master, what did he do and say? How about the disabled? What if a leper attended your church, how would the congregation respond? How did Jesus respond? Jesus’ ministry was focused on the disabled and the outcast, not on placating "society." He did not cater to the stigmatizing whims of society. He did not ask the prostitute to change clothes and wash up before washing His feet with her tears. After all, shouldn’t He assist her in diminishing her stigmatizing factors for her sake? After all, high society was about to be offended BY both of them. This is exactly what happened because He stuck with His approach. In fact, I think he intentionally allowed her to come "as is" in order to expose the hard hearted arrogance of those Pharisees. He seemed to vehemently challenge and even condemn the societal stigmatizing of the time. He had compassion on the outcasts that were stigmatized (They were outcasts because somebody (society) cast them out, stigmatized because somebody stigmatized them). He appeared to side with the alienated persons, and, in doing so, He exposed the hearts of the alienators.
Come to think of it, Jesus himself was an outcast (stigmatized, if you will). By nature he was deviant from the norm and was laden with stigmatizing factors (whatever that means). He didn’t seem to be at all concerned about catering to the arrogant, pride-filled, condescending society that He lived in. He chose not to fit into society, that was not His goal. He actually couldn’t fit in, even if He did want to. He was love, humility, and compassion. That’s part of the reason one must humble oneself to start a friendship with Him. I guess it’s just one of His "stigmatizing factors." I suppose we could assist Him in hiding (diminishing) this stigmatizing factor from the proud. After all, they may alienate Him and we wouldn’t want that. How would the congregation respond if Jesus attended one Sunday morning? Would we ask Him to change His clothes, trim his beard, wash up, or bandage His wounds before entering "the sanctuary"? Would we allow Him to be an usher? Maybe if His behavior and appearance, and social interactions were deviant enough, He might find himself escorted to the Special Class. I personally think He would prefer it there, especially if His children were to sing Jesus Loves Me in simplicity and sincerity.
Jesus actually does come to every church, every Sunday. As you are well aware, Jesus said that what we do to the least of His brothers, we have done unto Him. I take that to mean that those society chooses to stigmatize and alienate are "the least of these my brothers." We are actually (often unknowingly) alienating our Savior. He is not going to change to meet our requirements. But, if we will let Him, He will change us. (Often through those who are extremely deviant from the norm.)
IN CONCLUSION
This is my final question. Should a ministry seek to conform people to "society?" Or, should it instead be seeking the transformation of "society"? Answer…
And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…
RO 12:2a
SOME SPECIFICS
Please be reflective of what I have shared as you read these quotes from your own texts.
"We do them no favors if we communicate that they are different."
"When a person with a disability enters the room, people will tend to notice the differences about that person…These things stigmatize a person. That is, they CAUSE those in the environment to think in a particular manner about the person who has the characteristic."
"If you have a visible disability, society will consider the difference a form of deviance and devalue you. You will therefore need to have additional competence in some area to balance out that deviance in order to be accepted by society, or not devalued by society."
"Once their connection is made with him, he will sink or swim socially based upon his skills and the flexibility of the person with whom he is interacting."
"The man was seen as a disabled man, not a man." (now we wouldn’t want that)
"I am advocating that we be a respecter of persons." (possibly a typo)
"The point is, you would never pick this guy out of a crowd as being someone with a cognitive disability" (This is supposed to be a good thing?)
"Certainly your approach to them would be different. You would approach thinking these persons have cognitive disabilities." (like that’s a bad thing?)
"Well, there may be juvenile activities that I enjoy, but I am careful with whom I share that interest of mine, or at least, I have competence in other areas to overcome the deviance of my preoccupation with some juvenile activity." (Why?)
"Often it is not the disability itself that is the CAUSE of stigmatization. "
"…let them at least have a fighting chance to be known by a discriminating church."
"If you have a visible disability, society will consider that difference a form of deviance and devalue you. You will therefore need to have additional competence in some area to balance out that deviance in order to be accepted by society, or not devalued by society."
Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest.
And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him,
And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me:
and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me:
for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.
LUKE 9:46-48
He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me;
and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
LUKE 10:16
After all of this work building up competencies, the crowd has not changed, nor has that even been suggested. My guess is, that if our young disabled teen finally develops enough competencies to appease these prejudices, the crowd will move on to the next person with a disability who hasn’t heard about his need for competencies. Or, possibly the crowd would simply focus its attention on another one of a myriad of "stigmatizing factors" and then use it to justify its own judgmentallism. It is the crowd that has been wrong all along. The crowd needs to change, nondisabled persons who have done absolutely nothing to deserve such treatment. Do the crowd’s (society’s) perceptions really matter that much? Jesus didn’t seem to be concerned about that at all. He didn’t seem to be working up competencies so that society would be more acceptive of His social deviances (and he was indeed Deviant). It seems God’s approach concerns changing the hearts of people who look down on others. His approach does not include eliminating all of the differences in the human race so that no one is looked down upon.
ON SPECIAL SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES
How about Sunday School? If everything in a special program is just like the adult programs, then why have a specially designed program at all. Why not integrate people who have this disability (I hope we do for people with other disabilities)? If Christians are condescending, they need to be lovingly confronted and instructed. Better yet, maybe we should invite those who "act" like adults to integrate into the special Sunday School classes. Eventually their adult pride may begin to melt. Ground will be gained if they dare join their child-like brother or sister in some "age INappropriate" activity. (Coloring perhaps?) Joining in on the singing of Jesus Loves the little children Me, may cause them to revisit the simplicity of their own childhood. In so doing, they may begin to treasure the humble childlikeness of those with these particular disabilities. In other words, they may experience something transformational. THEY will be the ones changing, rather than always expecting others to change to fit their arrogant requirements.
However, it is possible that these church goers may actually move from rejection of others to an outlook just as cruel! They may now see themselves as quite noble due to this new prideful compassion they have toward whoever they used to reject and alienate. They have now achieved a sympathetic viewpoint and feel deeply sorry for these individuals. They may be overheard praying to themselves, "Thank you Lord that I am not like these."
STAGES OF TRANSFORMATION: FROM PRIDE TO HUMILIY
(Looking down on)……………….Alienation
(Feeling sorry for)…………………Sympathy
(Treating as equal………………… Empathy Person with a disability
(Looking up to, honoring………….. Dignity
I attended a church once where a man with cognitive disabilities was a part of the team that served communion. The man fulfilled those responsibilities admirably. However, there was a changeover of the elders, and a psychiatrist became one of the elders. He advocated removing the man from the serving of communion because to use his words, "He has the mind of a 10 year old." I guarantee to you that no one in the congretation would have even suspected that the man had a congnitive disability on the basis of his communion serving. However, because of an overzealous application of mental age, the man was seen as a disabled man, not a man
MINISTRY ROLES FOR THOSE WITH DISABILITIES
Let’s take this matter of the developmentally disabled usher. Now this is an illustration I DO NOT understand in the least. In this example, the person you refer to is perfectly capable of performing the duties of an usher and has proven himself for some time. Apparently, he has done a good job of hiding his disability so that no "stigmatizing factors" are evident. Now a physiatrist becomes an elder and blows this young man’s cover. Now his stigmatizing factors are exposed, and, of course, the congregation will in turn have great difficulty with his stigmatizing factors (notice it’s his problem again). Apparently, we never get the end of the story. I certainly hope the new board member was lovingly confronted about his unChristlike attitudes. If he was unwilling to change his views, I certainly hope the pastor would have the courage to remove him from the board of elders and any other service role in that church. I certainly hope that the congregation would resist the temptation to stigmatize and alienate this individual. I would hope that they would instead choose the love of Jesus. They would then encourage this individual in his God-given gifts, and release him from the burden of trying to hide his disability. If the congregation hardens it’s heart, the pastor should probably teach from the pulpit on this subject. Leaders could be trained by Para church organizations whose mission is to change people’s misconceptions toward those who have disabilities. As a professor of disability ministry, I would think that you would be spearheading these efforts to enlighten Christian’s who are sinning by stigmatizing their brothers and sisters in Christ who happen to have pronounced disabilities (or any other "deviance" for that matter.)
What if your usher were black in a mostly white church and an elder had a problem with it? What should be done? Should we ask the black man to hide his deviance. What if an elder was adamant that this usher be dismissed from the position due to his differences? Isn’t it also the congregation’s problem because it is stigmatizing him? (Or, allowing him to be stigmatized by others). Is he wrong for being different "deviant" or are the Christians who "ACT" like adults wrong for harboring their prejudice. My guess is that you may be thinking that a person with the mind of a ten year is a different case. And that a man with the mind of a ten year old cannot or should not perform the duties of an usher unless they can hide their disability. How ABOUT a ten year old, could they do the job? Better yet, how about a woman, or someone in a in a wheelchair, or a woman in a wheelchair, or even a child with CP, or a blind man, or a sister who is deaf? It’s a little more difficult to ask them to try to hide their disabilities so that they won’t have any stigmatizing factors showing. (I prefer to say, "So that others won’t stigmatize them.") Why is it "the norm" to have only adult males take the offering? I asked my sister that question, years ago. Her answer to that question was not positive. Maybe you could help me understand why this is such an exclusive ministry role. Would Jesus be so exclusive? I don’t know. Is their no room for children, women, the disabled to serve (even if their spiritual life and love for Jesus is healthier than there able-bodied counterparts)?
In the waking hours of this morning, a word picture came to me that sums up the underlying problem with this usher illustration. Allow me to borrow some of our Lord’s imagery. The disabled man is trusted with usher responsibilities at his church. He had beautiful diamonds in his eyes, but nobody noticed. A new elder came on board. He happened to have a huge log in his eye. Everyone noticed, but pretended they didn’t. He said he saw a speck in this usher’s eye and someone needed to remove it or this usher was obviously unfit for the job. The congregation found that they couldn’t see the speck. Someone ventured that it may have been our board member’s special log-filled eye that allows him to see the speck. So, they too put huge logs in their eyes. Amazingly they could now see the speck. "Now the problem is exposed," they said, "there really is that horrid speck in his eye." One of our log-eyed brothers was asked to escort the now disqualified brother back to the Special Class. On the way, he talked with the ex-usher. He kept making eye contact. In the reflection of the diamonds he saw this huge log in his own eye. He began to compare his log to the diamonds in his friend's eyes. He prayed that God would remove the log. It was removed instantly. When the healed man made eye contact with his disabled friend again, he noticed that the speck was no longer in his eye. But even more amazing was in place of the reflection of the log was a reflection of a new set of diamonds. He asked his friend, "Did God remove your speck as well as my log?" The gentle answer came, "There never was a speck in my eye. The speck was companion to your log and part of your healing. You are now seeing me through the eyes of Love, which overlooks a multitude of specks."
Please don’t tell me we need to insert logs into these guys’ eyes so that they will fit in with the congregation! Please tell me it is our new sighted friends mission to help his visually impaired (log eyed) brothers and sisters (one by one if necessary) to see their need for humble healing. In doing so, the church will not just accept our brothers and sisters in spite of their disabilities. We will instead begin to treasure and celebrate the God given differences in each and every one of us.
By this time I imagine you’re probably about ready to stop reading these notes. You may feel that my responses indicate that I don’t understand the original text. You may be thinking, "He’s assuming that I don’t know all of this already." I can assure you, I do have an understanding of the text (though possibly quite different from your understanding). Please bear with me. I’d like to go a little deeper.
LET’S GO DEEPER
Let Jesus be our example. When he was walking the earth, many people were stigmatized (or as you say, had stigmatizing factors). Women, children, Gentiles, Samaritans, the immoral, and especially the disabled were targets of stigmatization by "society."
Who did Jesus hang out with? Don’t we see him interacting with women even prostitutes with respect and dignity? When the disciples stigmatized the children and tried to keep them from the Master, what did he do and say? How about the disabled? What if a leper attended your church, how would the congregation respond? How did Jesus respond? Jesus’ ministry was focused on the disabled and the outcast, not on placating "society." He did not cater to the stigmatizing whims of society. He did not ask the prostitute to change clothes and wash up before washing His feet with her tears. After all, shouldn’t He assist her in diminishing her stigmatizing factors for her sake? After all, high society was about to be offended BY both of them. This is exactly what happened because He stuck with His approach. In fact, I think he intentionally allowed her to come "as is" in order to expose the hard hearted arrogance of those Pharisees. He seemed to vehemently challenge and even condemn the societal stigmatizing of the time. He had compassion on the outcasts that were stigmatized (They were outcasts because somebody (society) cast them out, stigmatized because somebody stigmatized them). He appeared to side with the alienated persons, and, in doing so, He exposed the hearts of the alienators.
Come to think of it, Jesus himself was an outcast (stigmatized, if you will). By nature he was deviant from the norm and was laden with stigmatizing factors (whatever that means). He didn’t seem to be at all concerned about catering to the arrogant, pride-filled, condescending society that He lived in. He chose not to fit into society, that was not His goal. He actually couldn’t fit in, even if He did want to. He was love, humility, and compassion. That’s part of the reason one must humble oneself to start a friendship with Him. I guess it’s just one of His "stigmatizing factors." I suppose we could assist Him in hiding (diminishing) this stigmatizing factor from the proud. After all, they may alienate Him and we wouldn’t want that. How would the congregation respond if Jesus attended one Sunday morning? Would we ask Him to change His clothes, trim his beard, wash up, or bandage His wounds before entering "the sanctuary"? Would we allow Him to be an usher? Maybe if His behavior and appearance, and social interactions were deviant enough, He might find himself escorted to the Special Class. I personally think He would prefer it there, especially if His children were to sing Jesus Loves Me in simplicity and sincerity.
Jesus actually does come to every church, every Sunday. As you are well aware, Jesus said that what we do to the least of His brothers, we have done unto Him. I take that to mean that those society chooses to stigmatize and alienate are "the least of these my brothers." We are actually (often unknowingly) alienating our Savior. He is not going to change to meet our requirements. But, if we will let Him, He will change us. (Often through those who are extremely deviant from the norm.)
IN CONCLUSION
This is my final question. Should a ministry seek to conform people to "society?" Or, should it instead be seeking the transformation of "society"? Answer…
And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…
RO 12:2a
SOME SPECIFICS
Please be reflective of what I have shared as you read these quotes from your own texts.
"We do them no favors if we communicate that they are different."
"When a person with a disability enters the room, people will tend to notice the differences about that person…These things stigmatize a person. That is, they CAUSE those in the environment to think in a particular manner about the person who has the characteristic."
"If you have a visible disability, society will consider the difference a form of deviance and devalue you. You will therefore need to have additional competence in some area to balance out that deviance in order to be accepted by society, or not devalued by society."
"Once their connection is made with him, he will sink or swim socially based upon his skills and the flexibility of the person with whom he is interacting."
"The man was seen as a disabled man, not a man." (now we wouldn’t want that)
"I am advocating that we be a respecter of persons." (possibly a typo)
"The point is, you would never pick this guy out of a crowd as being someone with a cognitive disability" (This is supposed to be a good thing?)
"Certainly your approach to them would be different. You would approach thinking these persons have cognitive disabilities." (like that’s a bad thing?)
"Well, there may be juvenile activities that I enjoy, but I am careful with whom I share that interest of mine, or at least, I have competence in other areas to overcome the deviance of my preoccupation with some juvenile activity." (Why?)
"Often it is not the disability itself that is the CAUSE of stigmatization. "
"…let them at least have a fighting chance to be known by a discriminating church."
"If you have a visible disability, society will consider that difference a form of deviance and devalue you. You will therefore need to have additional competence in some area to balance out that deviance in order to be accepted by society, or not devalued by society."
Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest.
And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him,
And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me:
and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me:
for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.
LUKE 9:46-48
He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me;
and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
LUKE 10:16
