Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 Christian Approach to Differently Abled

 Exodus 4: 1-17

Verse 11. Who had made man’s mouth? Or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord?

In life, we are all given opportunities to stand up for God. Whether we do it or not is fully up to us. Moses is in a similar situation in this passage. God calls him to lead a nation. Knowing that the job is very big and the responsibility equally challenging, Moses, relying on his human weakness, tries his level best to deny the opportunity.  He presents himself as a poor leader first and then not eloquent in speech. God obviously becomes angry with Moses and reminds him of who is the creator of mankind. 

In the Old Testament, a disability is considered to be a curse from God. To prove that God is above all disability He asks Moses to put his hand in his bosom which turns leperous first and when God asks him to put it again and remove it from his bosom, it heals. Disability is not a curse in front of God. It is a human concept that disability is a negative thing. In John 9:3 Jesus answers that the blind man has not sinned and it is for the glory of God that he had been blind till then. In Moses’s and the blind man’s case disability is a process of healing and God's power being held high. 

If we dwell deeper into the concept of disability, it is basically a human concept created to bring differences between humans. It is a social concept and most often is congenital in approach. A so-called disabled person is as equal as everybody else. Each person is unique and has an ability that the other person may not have. The Bible tells us that Christ equalizes everyone. There is no difference between one person to the other in ability. We as Christians must bear witness through our acceptance of people being able in all circumstances. The ability to accept a person as they are irrespective of what kinds of differences they may have as per social challenges is bearing true witness to Christ and our faith.

Prayer
Dear God, thank you for making us all equal before your eyes. We know you love us all the same. Help us to see each other with your eyes. Enable us to care and strengthen one another and thereby bearing your witness to the world

Thought of the day
The greatest gift in this world is to see each other the same way we see ourselves.

Anu Kalikal
Marthoma Church of Greater Washington, MD

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