Disability Within the Body of Christ

by Hunter Steinitz, M.Div.

Looking ahead to disability inclusion Sunday (third Sunday in September), I am reflecting on the importance of inclusion and diversity within the body of Christ. Disability is all around us; 1 in 5 people will experience disability at some point in their life.

There are over 54 million disabled Americans, and yet there is this stigma around the word ‘disability.’ I am one of those 54 million, as are most of the members of PDC. I would bet that someone you know is also part of that 54 million. Probably even more than one.

“Why does disability make some people’s skin crawl?”

Hunter Steinits, M.Div.

But why is that taboo? Why does the word ‘disability’ make some people’s skin crawl? What do we think it says about the people who wear that label? I’ve worked with a number of families of children with disabilities who do not want their children to know that they have a disability. This is strange to me because if we ignore such an important facet of someone’s life, how can we expect them to feel welcome and wanted in our community?
Shawn Copeland in says:

“If my sister or brother is not at the table, we are not the flesh of Christ. If my sister’s mark of sexuality must be obscured, if my brother’s mark of race must be disguised, if sister’s mark of culture must be repressed, then we are not the flesh of Christ… The sacramental aesthetics of the Eucharist, the thankful living manifestation of God’s image through particularly marked flesh, demand the vigorous display of difference in race and culture and tongue, gender and sex, and sexuality. Again Gregory of Nyssa: “The establishment of the Church is a re-creation of the world. But it is only in the union of all the particular members that the beauty of Christ’s body is complete.”

Copeland, M. Shawn. Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, and Being. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2010.

Copeland is right, and I would add to his list. If a sister’s disability must be pitied rather than embraced, we are not the Body of Christ. If a brother’s autism is not accepted, we are not the Body of Christ. If a sibling’s gluten allergy is not respected, we are not the Body of Christ. Having a disability is not a circumstance to be pitied or fixed; it simply is. How we react to that circumstance says much more about us than it does the person with a disability. Including people with disabilities shouldn’t be extraordinary; it should be widespread and mundane. So consider joining us in celebrating the full diversity of those made in the Image of God this September.