What about our disabled brethren?

Why is it in some circles we’re only supposed to give testimonies of the things that have gone right in our lives? How come everything shared publically has to hone in upon our success and victories? What makes our glory to be so outstandingly important?

One of the main problems I have with the Prosperity Gospel is that it turns the church of the living God into an American success story. Everything has to be one hundred per cent blessing; anything else is just unbelief and ‘negative confession’. So, yes, by all means, if you’ve been healed of a terminal cancer or delivered from a crippling disease, then you are free to get on the platform and proclaim your liberation aloud. Doubtlessly you will be met with a rapturous applause from the delighted audience.

But here’s a question: what happens with all the suffering people that didn’t get healed? What testimony can those who continue to be crippled give? Where is the voice of the disabled?

As long as we keep forgetting that the church is the church of Christ, this distortion will be ever present. Jesus wasn’t just resurrected in glory but He was also crucified in humility. Ever since the church came into birth the power of God has been made manifest in weakness. Only a superficial faith will deny pain and suffering its place in God’s purpose. Every believer- whether he/she is as healthy as an ox or as sick as a parrot- has his/her place guaranteed in the precious body of Christ.

So why don’t we start allowing our sick brethren to speak of how God has maintained them and strengthened them in their battle against sickness? Why shouldn’t our disabled brothers and sisters be granted public space to glorify the goodness of the Lord in front of their congregations? Do they not have a message of deliverance to share? Are they not as immersed in God’s presence as the rest of us are?

All throughout church history our forefathers have been fighting to save the church from various divisions: Jew or Gentile, lord or slave, man or woman, old or young, black or white, etc. Today one such pressing issue is the division between healthy or unhealthy, whole or sick, able or disabled. No one on earth has any God-given authority to look down upon our suffering brethren as some kind of ‘second class’ citizens. They are God’s treasure, God’s pearls and God’s inheritance.

Every one of God’s children has a powerful word of testimony to speak forth. So in our contemporary utilitarian quest for success and numbers, let’s not forget the prophetic voice of our disabled brethren who prophecy of Christ’s glorious saving power by their mere existence. They remind us that God loves us all: not just the high-flying fat cats with perfect health and bleached white teeth. 

God has compassion on the lowly, on the weak, on the poor and it is in and through them that true goodness- God’s goodness- is made known in the world.