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Should we teach the Bible to those with severe cognitive disabilities?

January 10, 2012 by John Knight

Pastor John’s message, The Word of God Is at Work in You, was exceedingly helpful to me and I commend it to you.

As he made seven observations about the text, 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16, to open the sermon, observations 3 and 4 particularly caught my attention.

3. The Thessalonians heard the words of Paul.

Verse 13b: “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us . . .” God spoke, humans gave his word through their words, and the Thessalonians heard that. They heard the sounds. They knew the Greek language. They construed meaning with their minds.

God uses humans to deliver his word, and he delivers it to humans. Human minds hear and understand the word from God, and then another set of human minds receive it from those human mouths and again hear and understand it.

From the perspective of having a child with severe cognitive disabilities, this appears to raise a problem.  My son Paul can ‘hear’ from the sense that his ears work, but he cannot understand or make sense of most of what he hears.  And he also cannot communicate much of what he actually understands.  Is the Gospel closed to him?

Thankfully, the fourth observation follows:

4. As they heard, God acted on their minds and hearts.

What did he do? And how do we know this?

What he did was enable them to receive Paul’s words as the word of God. Verse 13b: “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God.” That’s what God did.  He opened their mind and heart to know that Paul was speaking the word of God, and he gave them the inclination to receive it for what it is, not mere human words, but God’s word.

How do we know God did this? Because at the beginning of verse 13, just before saying that they received his word as the word of God, Paul says, “And we also thank God constantly for this.” For what?, “That when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God.”

But why would Paul thank God for this? Why would he thank God that the hearts of the Thessalonians grasped the divine nature of the human word? Why would he thank God that the hearts of the Thessalonians embraced the human words as divine word? The reason is that God enabled them to do this.

I may be going out on a limb with this, but if it is necessary for God to make this understanding possible for people with ‘normal’ cognitive abilities, is it not also possible for God to do so for those with limited cognitive abilities?  After all, he knows everything about every human being that he has made, and when compared to God, all of us live with pretty impaired cognitive abilities!

The Thessalonians could communicate that they understood these words were coming from God, but that doesn’t change the primary actor being God.  Paul was obviously encouraged to know how it was being received!  But the evidence of their receiving it was only that – evidence of God’s prior actions to give them understanding.

So, I don’t think it is a stretch to include those who have limited abilities to understand anything and no ability to communicate what they understand as being entirely able, through the work of the Holy Spirit, to embrace truths about who God is and what he has done for them.

When Paul was younger we spent time teaching him Bible verses. He even earned a bag after reciting five verses.  But I gave up on that because I didn’t think it was really worthwhile; he was just repeating a string of words.

Or so I assumed.  Maybe there was more going on than I realized through the work of the Holy Spirit.  It raises questions about whether I believe Isaiah 55:10-11 to be true:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
(Isaiah 55:10-11 ESV)

What do you think?

Posted in commentary, Scripture, Sermons | 38 Comments »

God kindly prepared us for worship in the Word – then blew me away

January 9, 2012 by John Knight

Church was about as good as it gets yesterday.

I ran into this verse on a wall before we headed into the sanctuary:

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
(Isaiah 35:10 ESV)

What a comfort – sorrow will flee rather than cling to us!  Joy – everlasting joy! – will be on our heads!

That was a good start.

Then the service began.  Over lunch every member of the family commented on how helpful the music was!

This was new for me: All Flesh Is Like the Grass

A favorite of mine: Our Great God:

Especially appreciated by the children: Christ is Risen:

And then the sermon!  Pastor John addressed a significant issue for those of us with children with severe cognitive impairment – not intentionally and not specifically in those words and I’m guessing he didn’t even have us in mind.

But as soon as the words left his lips, the connection between the point he made and comfort for those of us raising children with severe cognitive impairment seemed clear.  Lord willing, I’ll raise it later this week, after the sermon is up at Desiring God so I can read and listen to it again to make sure I heard what I think I heard.

Paul slept through the sermon and then through Sunday School, so he didn’t get as much out of it as I did!  But even that was a grace, in a way.  God is good.

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Grateful God values this kind of sight that doesn’t require physical eyes!

January 8, 2012 by John Knight

After kind of a long hiatus for me, I’m back to reading materials on disability and the Bible.

Since one of Paul’s disabilities is that he can’t see because he has no eyes, I tend to pay closer attention to any discussion about blindness and the Bible.

I keep bumping into arguments about blindness and physical sight and God’s purposes, usually attempting to make God justify himself in some way.  It gets a little discouraging.  I may write about that someday.

But Paul’s lack of eyes isn’t all that important in an eternal sense.  God has already told us what kind of sight we need, and it is a kind of seeing he gives as a gift:

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
(Ephesians 1:15-21 ESV)

I don’t pretend to understand all God’s purposes in making my Paul blind (or his other disabilities).  But I know he was created for God’s good pleasure and to bring him glory.  And he doesn’t need eyes, or a rational, orderly mind, or a strong body to do that.

Someday the whole world will know God creates purposefully, and that ‘all’ really did mean ‘all.’

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
(Revelation 4:9-11 ESV)

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Pray for our leaders, that they will endure to the end

January 7, 2012 by John Knight

My post this week for Desiring God was heavy, and was prompted by an email from a young staff member who had stumbled across North Carolina’s eugenics program and couldn’t believe it was possible in the United States.  Yet, it happened.  He thought people needed to know.

My next post for Desiring God, at least as conceived today, will be about the role of church leaders in supporting the eugenics movement of the early 1900’s and the abortion movement in the 1960’s and 1970’s.  It feels even heavier.  It is a horrible, shameful part of the history of the church in the United States.

But not one without hope.  There have always been good men who stood on the promises of the Bible rather than follow the latest intellectual or social movements of the day, and who then attempted to lead their people well.  Most of them we will never hear about.

Over the past several days I’ve heard from Christian men in missions in Africa and Asia, and several pastors or leaders in the United States, all of whom are doing hard things for the sake of their people.  In every case, it was a ‘small’ thing that nobody will ever hear about, except for the people they are engaging.  But it might change everything for those people.  All are connected to disability in some way.

They do it because of Jesus.  I love these men.

I know it is just a burden on me, but I invite you into it, to pray for our leaders, that God will give them strength and joy in all that they do in serving us.

And I pray that we can be a joy to them, even when we need to ask for something to serve our members with disabilities.  I know I can be hard on people when it comes to services for my son.  But I’d rather be known for my reasonableness (Philippian 4:5), and I need God’s help for that.  And it would be even greater for the entire community of people experiencing disability and their loved ones to be known for our love toward those who serve us.

And our respect:

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.
(1 Timothy 5:17 ESV)

I hope you will join me in prayer.

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Please pray for the families gathering in Oregon

January 6, 2012 by John Knight

Pastor John just spoke to 45,000 young people in Atlanta this week.

Greg Lucas will be leading 12 families through Mark 9 the next couple of days at The Elisha Foundation’s winter retreat for families experiencing disability.

I’m so glad Jesus showed us it is important to reach big crowds and small!

When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
(Mark 6:34 ESV)

And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
(Mark 7:32-35 ESV)

As you know, Greg is the writer of Wrestling with an Angel, the book I enthusiastically recommend to families experiencing any kind of hardship, but especially disability.  He is also a gifted speaker.  Most of all, he loves Jesus.

He emailed me this prayer request:

Please continue to pray for us at TEF. We have 12 families. A lot of hurt.

“A lot of hurt.”  He didn’t need to say more.  May God meet each and every one of them this weekend with the magnificence of Jesus Christ!

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 4:7 ESV)

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God made us!

January 5, 2012 by John Knight

Sometimes it is good to be reminded about the totality of God’s care for us.  We’re back to Paul having multiple seizures every day, and that is discouraging and painful.

One of the fine young men of Desiring God went to Psalm 100 as he lead devotions on Wednesday.  My heart melted at verse 3:

Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
(Psalm 100:3 ESV)

He made us!  What a comfort!

That reminded me of the three pillars of scripture I return to time and again in Psalm 139, Exodus 4 and John 9.

He carefully made us, and our children with disabilities.  He already knows our days and their days:

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
(Psalm 139:13-16 ESV)

Why am I certain this includes making some with disabilities, and all the suffering that goes with it?  Because he said so:

Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?”
(Exodus 4:11 ESV)

And he did it for a glorious reason:

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
(John 9:1-3 ESV)

Devotions yesterday ended on this incredible good news: he didn’t just do these things because he can, but because he is good and loves us and will never, ever fail us or our children:

For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
(Psalm 100:5 ESV)

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God never stops!

January 4, 2012 by John Knight

God never stops doing good to his covenant people.  And if an enemy is temporarily given the upper hand, we can say, straight into the muzzle of the gun, “You mean evil against me, but God means it for good” (Genesis 50:20). Since God is sovereign and has promised not to turn away from doing good to his covenant people, we can know beyond all doubt, in tribulation and distress and persecution and famine and nakedness and peril and sword, that we are more than conquerers through him who loved us (Romans 8:35-37).

John Piper, The Pleasures of God, p. 184.

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Please pray as I prepare

January 3, 2012 by John Knight

Pastor Kenny has asked me to speak to the Wednesday Connection at Bethlehem on January 25 under the theme ‘The Sanctity of Life of Those with Disabilities.’

He was moved by something Dianne said when some of the elders gathered to pray for Paul last summer: I would not waste my life if the rest of it were spent caring for Paul.

Nobody who has met Paul disagrees, at least not in my presence or the presence of his mother!

But there are people who, if given a hypothetical person with the list of things he lives with, would say this life doesn’t have value, and certainly shouldn’t interfere with the life of a productive, college-educated woman. They might even say it is a kindness to not let that person, or his mother, suffer and that abortion is justified in cases like this.  Given the prevalence of that thinking outside the church, I’m guessing there may be some inside the church who agree.

That reminded me of a couple of other things that Dianne says that people tend to remember which are radical and God-centered and shocking to ears not accustomed to a Biblical understanding of the sovereignty of God over all things.

In other words, I don’t think getting their attention will be too difficult!

Ultimately, though, I don’t want it to be about guilt or about some romantic sentiment about caring for another person.

It needs to be about Jesus and the joy found in him alone, which encourages people to do radical things in love with the expectation that God will help them and strengthen them.  If one outcome of this talk is more people with disabilities (and their families) are pursued and welcomed and included and invited to use their gifts to serve the church, I would be very grateful to God!

I would appreciate your prayers.

Posted in Special Events | 6 Comments »

Changes to The Works of God

January 2, 2012 by John Knight

I kind of doubt anyone will really notice the changes, however!

Several months ago a friend pointed out that the tagline, ‘the volunteer disability ministry blog of Bethlehem Baptist Church,’ wasn’t really true.

I could see her point.

More than three years ago we decided to start a blog for the disability ministry at Bethlehem.  At the time it was mostly going to be focused on prayer requests, news from church and the like for BBC folks connected to the disability ministry.

Since that time, The Table (Bethlehem’s own social network) has become a reality and has its own disability group, Brenda Fischer has created and recruited volunteers to oversee a regular prayer ministry, Hope Keepers (for women experiencing disability in a child or spouse) launched, and the church has its own space to make evident the disability ministry at BBC.

I also moved the blog to its present platform, changed the name and mostly write about whatever I feel like.

So, the purpose changed, and the audience changed.  It is time other things changed as well.

Functionally, I’m not changing anything. I still plan to write on the same issues of disability, the Bible and the culture.  I still plan to put up resources that are God-centered and Bible-saturated.  I hope to encourage more posts from Jan Lacher and Chris Nelson and others.

It has never felt like a chore.  Nor do I feel like we’ve covered everything, even in our little niche which is disability and the Bible.

The website needs a good going-over as well after more than two years.  There’s content from the ‘old’ blog that should be brought over, the links to Facebook and Twitter need to be tweaked, dead links need to be purged and good materials need to be added to the resource pages.

But I need to ask for patience on all this as it may take a while.  This blog lives in the margins of my life – over lunchtime, early in the morning, etc.  I enjoy it and I hope it brings glory to God, but my family needs me.  It is one of the reasons I don’t reply to comments very often.  I know good bloggers are supposed to do that, but I just can’t. I read every comment, however, and am grateful every time someone takes the time to do so.

So, whether you first read those sorry posts back in the summer of 2008 or just joined us last week, thank you for being part of our exploring and resting and trusting in what God has to say about disability, disease and suffering.  I’m grateful to be part of this community with you.

As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing with you,

John

He established a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
(Psalm 78:5-7 ESV)

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Why do disability ministry? For your joy!

January 1, 2012 by John Knight

I had lunch with a remarkable young man last week. He serves as the leader for a gathering of adults with cognitive disabilities at Bethlehem’s north campus.

He told me this story.

Parents of a 26-year-old woman with cognitive and physical disabilities heard about Bethlehem’s desire to serve adults who experience life like their daughter.

Their church experiences hadn’t been positive.  In addition to not having services for their daughter in a church, she experienced physical pain when sitting for long stretches.  Church, for her, was not a good place.

Her first weeks in the class at Bethlehem were hard.  She was frightened and desperately wanted to stay with her mother.

But God was working.  The young man leading the class is a natural leader, and several other college-aged young people joined him as volunteers.  He also had the help of wise people who have walked this path of disability for many years.  Most of all, God had gripped him with a desire to both communicate truths about Jesus AND love every person God brought to this class.  It is the kind of love that doesn’t quit, because it is about a God who doesn’t quit.

After several weeks, the young woman had a breakthrough.  She understood she could contribute to the class.  She felt like she was welcome.  She felt the real affections for her that were there.  If she needed to move around or lay on the floor to ease her pain, she was encouraged to do so.  Now, after several months, church is a delight to her.

Her parents felt it as well.

Think about that – after 26 years, God changed church from something that caused physical and emotional pain into a place she longed to be.

And as I heard this story, what I felt was the joy flowing out of this young man’s heart.  He loves the adults God has brought into this class.  He enjoys the hard work he must put in to prepare to teach those who have a hard time learning.  He loves that his future wife is working alongside him, seeing the value in and joy around what he is doing for the sake of God’s church.

I’m very grateful God has given this young woman a good experience, a safe place, and the opportunity to learn more about Jesus.

But I’m equally grateful that God lets me see a talented young man experience more than just the satisfaction of doing something well, but increasing measures of joy and affections for those who are most likely to be marginalized and abused in our culture because of their cognitive disabilities.

I don’t know what God has for him; he’s still working on his schooling.  But this I know: he is being changed by this experience; he is not the same man I first met about six months ago.

And that’s why we do disability ministry, not out of reluctant obligation or to earn favor from God, but for our own joy!

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