Last year, Pastor Bill Mead and I had a wonderful meeting with the head of LAC's Beyond Barriers ministry, Pam Swanson. I learned a lot from Pam that day, and one of the lessons has direct relevance for today's service. Pam told me that when people have noticeable disabilities, the correct language is not to label them as "disabled." Instead, we should speak of people who have disabilities. I've mentioned this to others at times and occasionally received the response, "Oh, Pastor, don't make a big deal out of such things. It's just language. It doesn't really matter."
I disagreed rather firmly. Why? First, it matters because language matters. We believe that God created the world through speaking. We also believe that God reveals himself through words, specifically through the words of Scripture. So, words matter. Second, finding the right way to describe people matters because labels communicate a person's identity. It is enormously different to identify a person not by saying, "He is disabled" but by saying, "He is a person with a disability." The important thing in that second description is that the person we encounter is in first respect a person, i.e., a human being—one made in the image of God.
In this weekend's service, I'll say a few words about how Jesus came to give all who believe in him a new identity (from Mark 3). Who are we? We are people...
• wanted by Jesus
• being recreated by Jesus
• walking daily with Jesus
• sent to further God's good news about Jesus in the world
• belonging in the new family Jesus came to establish
When I finish, we will hear from Jen Barrick. Jen is a person wanted by Jesus, in process of being recreated by Jesus, walking with Jesus, sent to further the gospel, and, as we all we clearly recognize, belonging as a sister in God's unexpected and eternal family. You may also notice that Jen is a follower of Jesus who has some disabilities. But, soon, you will recognize that this is a secondary and temporary reality because Jen's main identity is that she is a genuine follower of Jesus, the one who has come to make all things new.
In preparation for our service, reflect on 2 Corinthians 5:16–17:
We regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
-2 Corinthains 5:16–17
To His Glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor