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Mark Stephenson
After receiving an M.Div. degree, I served as pastor of two Christian Reformed churches for a total of 17 years. From 2006 through 2021, I was the Director of Disability Concerns for the Christian Reformed Church, and relish the close working relationship CRC Disability Concerns has with the Reformed Church in America Disability Concerns ministry. I have served as interim Director of the CRC's Offices of Race Relations and Social Justice since Feb 2020. My wife Bev and I have five living children, two daughters-in-law, and three grandchildren. Our oldest child, Nicole, was born extremely prematurely in the late 1980’s and lives joyfully with severe, multiple impairments. That label does not define her. She loves magazines, loves interacting with people, loves roller-coasters and wild amusement park rides, and she loves to worship and to pray with God’s people. In any group, she shares her own unique gifts.
Posted in: Introducing A New Guide
Welcome Norm. Unlike Karl, I have no words of wisdom for you. Just hearty thanks for taking on this work, and a prayer for God's blessing on you in it.
Posted in: Platitudes: Translated
Anje, thanks for your insightful comments. In case a reader doesn't understand your reference to Holland and Italy, it comes from a story by Emily Perl Kingsley called Welcome to Holland. It's a wonderful story, but I can't agree with you more, Anje, that the story describes only the experiences of some people affected by disabilities, but surely not all.
Posted in: Adults with Disabilities: Abuse Prevention Tools
Rachel, thanks for your work on this helpful series on disability and abuse. It's painful to read the statistics of how people with disabilities are much more vulnerable to abuse and sexual assault than the general population. Readers may like to know that Disability Rights Wisconsin has produced a number of guides and background papers that may be helpful.
Posted in: Opening School Sports to Kids with Disabilities
Bill, I don't understand. Why wouldn't a person who has a disability be able to pull his/her share on a sports team if he has the abilities to perform the sport at the same level as the other athletes on the team? Mark
Posted in: Adults with Disabilities: Abuse Prevention Tools
An article reviewing President Barak Obama's remarks about mental health in a speech made on June 3, 2013, says, "The president also pointed out that persons with mental illnesses statistically are far more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators, and the vast majority of gun violence in America is not linked to people with mental problems. 'I want to be absolutely clear the overwhelming majority of people who suffer from mental illnesses are not violent,' he declared."
Posted in: Opening School Sports to Kids with Disabilities
Bill, you asked, "If a person is able to do everything well that is required to be done on a sports team, which requires mental, social, psychological, and physical qualities, then in what other ways might this person be "disabled?""
A blind or a deaf swimmer, or a deaf runner, or a deaf basketball player all could fit the definitions of "disabled" and "skilled athlete." We are so used to conventional ways of doing things in sports (a starting gun or a buzzer) that we can't imagine how someone with a disability such as hearing impairment could compete. But, for example, a series of flashes could be used in addition to a buzzer to start a swim event. Oscar Pistorius is a flesh and blood example; an outstanding runner who also has a disability.
My understanding of this law is not that it will force coaches to include kids without the necessary abilities to be included on a team, but that it requires organizers of the sports to rethink how to make it possible for kids who have disabilities to compete fairly with the rest of the competition. It's purpose is to reduce disability discrimination in school sports.
Posted in: Good Intentions Gone Awry
b-ver and John,
Thanks for your comments. I think what we are talking about is the whole matter of hope. This gets personal for me. My mother now lives with severe dementia. One of my daughters has lived with severe disabilities her entire life. I have never been able to have a conversation with her. And for a guy who loves words, this is a painful reality that I live with. Walking is difficult for her, and her lungs are full of scars so that she can only walk a few feet before become winded. I firmly believe that when all things are made new in Christ, mom will have her mind back, and my daughter will have abilities that she never had on this earth. I can't wait to sit down with her and have a conversation, but that won't happen on this earth.
My point in this blog has not been to question that God is going to renew all of our bodies in the new heavens and earth, my point is that those of us who write and speak must be very careful how we speak about that so that we foster hope, not crush it.
Since we've been talking about the Deaf community, let's imagine a man who is a member of that community. (b-ver, a man is as good example as a woman.) My example is hypothetical, but it is all based on real people. Let's imagine that this man, Ted, is born to parents who are also both deaf and speak American Sign Language (ASL) in the home. When Ted was born and his parents learned that he, like them, was deaf, they rejoiced because he would be much more a chip off the old block than if he had been born with hearing. Ted grew up in this home speaking, from his very first word, in ASL. He went to Deaf schools and graduated from Gallaudet University, whose mission is to ensure "the intellectual and professional advancement of deaf and hard of hearing individuals through American Sign Language and English." His wife, his occupation, and his friendships all revolve around the fact that he his deaf. Then Ted comes across this statement written by a Christian leader, "I hate disease. I’m sick of it. So is Christ. Consider his response to the suffering of a deaf mute . . . "
Ted might think to himself, "Wait a minute. People who were deaf in Jesus' day probably did suffer severely. But that's not me. Since when has deafness become a "disease?" I can't imagine myself not being deaf. It's has formed who I am. In fact, if heaven means that I have to give up my entire identity, then I don't want any part of it."
Now contrast Ted with Herm. (I was Herm's pastor, though I've changed his name.) As Herm's hearing grew worse and worse, he withdrew from his wife, his children, and grandchildren. He considered himself too old to learn to read lips, and didn't want to ask others to write things out. More and more, he was alone in his thoughts, and grew more and more depressed. Now imagine that one day Herm's wife reads these words in a devotional, "I hate disease. I’m sick of it. So is Christ. Consider his response to the suffering of a deaf mute . . . " When she finished the devotional, she said outloud, "Amen." She showed it to Herb who read it and a tear formed in his eye. They copied it off and sent it to all the children.
My main point in this blog is this: as leaders seek to foster hope, they need to keep people like Ted in view as well as Herm. I could give many more examples as well, such as Amos, who embraces his brother Mark's identity as someone who lives with Down Syndrome, and can't imagine why God would take away that identity when Mark goes to heaven.
Of course, the bottom line is that for each of us, our identity is not in the accidents of our bodies but in our union with Christ. For many who live with a disability, that disability is a horrible intruder in their lives, and they can't wait to shed it. But for some of our fellow Christians, their identities are closely allied with their disability. Those of us who speak and write need to be careful not to alienate those folks as we seek to comfort the people for whom disability is a rude intruder.
Posted in: Will People Have Disabilities in the New Heaven and Earth? Part 1
In a post about living with Cerebral Palsy, Chantal Huinink says, "The prospect of an eternity where everyone is fully known and understood by God and one another is more meaningful to me than that of a perfectly functioning body."
Posted in: Will People Have Disabilities in the New Heaven and Earth? Part 2
Tyl,
Thanks for your comments. A couple thoughts in response:
1. Eiesland's (and my) point is that Jesus bore the marks of his wounds in his glorified body. After his resurrection Jesus had a glorified body which was more unlike than like his body before his suffering and death, so unlike that his disciples did not even recognize him. I believe that we can assume that the same will be true for all who live with glorified bodies in the new heaven and earth. And I believe that we will bear the marks of our lives while here on earth. We will have new identities in Christ, and those identities will not be completely separated from who we were while here on earth. We will be transformed, but we will not be annihilated and turned into something completely different than what we were on earth. Will you see colors in heaven? Like you, I expect that you will, and you will bear the marks of your color-blindness in the new heaven and earth; you'll carry with you a wisdom and insight from living with color blindness now that will enrich your life in the new heaven and earth. Bev's comment last week about living with a deformed hand makes this point much better than I can.
2. The value in speculating about life in the new heaven and earth is to change our behavior and attitudes today. Raising this topic helps us think about the nature of disability, identity, and the value of people today. If it is true that people will bear the marks of their disability throughout eternity, as Jesus bears the marks of his suffering, then it means that God places a high value on our experiences while here on earth, and he values the people having those experiences. Too often, people with disabilities feel as if other people discount them and the contributions they make to life and society. But that's not God's perspective. If we said that God annihilated people and started all over, then who we are on this earth doesn't really matter. But if God values people so much that we bear the marks of this life in the next, then we and our experiences are valuable right now because God values people and their experiences and the wisdom gained through that experience including disabilities and the people who live with them.
Blessings, Mark
Posted in: Will People Have Disabilities in the New Heaven and Earth? Part 2
Tyl,
Thanks for this discussion. It's good to think carefully about this, and your insights help.
As I said in my comment above, I assume you will see colors in the age to come. Your and my longings are the same. As I wrote in my first blog about my daughter Nicole who lives with severe multiple disabilities today, "Of all the things I long for in the new heaven and earth one of the deepest is this: to see Nicole come running up to me, and say, 'Hi dad, let’s talk.'" Furthermore, I long for the time when I can have a clear-headed discussion with my mom once again; that's impossible now because she lives with severe dementia.
From the little the Bible says, the new heavens and earth will be familiar to us, yet will be dramatically better. Likewise, our identities, which God has shaped while here on earth, will be ours in the new heaven and earth, and those identities will be made new in Christ. Somehow, in the age to come, God will embrace and affirm all that Nicole and my mom are in this age, AND he will make them wonderfully new. To say it another way, in the age to come, we will all "bear the marks" of our lives in this age, and we will be renewed.
I agree with you that the followers of Jesus did recognize him, but the Scriptures seem to indicate that they needed something from the past to recognize him in his resurrected body. With the disciples (Luke 24) it was in the marks of his crucifixion, with Mary Magdalene his voice, and with the couple on the way to Emmaus in the breaking of the bread. Once again, it seems that the age to come will somehow embrace all of this age, and it will be wonderfully different and better as well.
Your question about Jesus showing the disciples his side (John 20) is a good one, and the Scriptures indicate that his piercing is a significant part of his identity (even though it happened after his death), so that he bears that mark in his resurrected body. Isaiah 53 and Zechariah 12 prophesy his piercing, and the apostle John makes sure to show how scripture was fulfilled. I assume that for the rest of us, what happens to our bodies after we die will not be part of our identity in the new heavens and earth.
I mentioned one application to you of value in this discussion, namely, to affirm the value of the lives of people with disabilities today. As I have been thinking about your comments, I think of a second application as well: how pastors conduct funerals of people who had disabilities when they died. When someone dies who did not live with disabilities, pastors usually focus on all the positive aspects of their lives. But when someone with a disability dies, pastors often focus on how they will be made new and different and better in heaven, using words like "freed" and "released" and "made whole." The danger with this emphasis is that it implies that people are better dead than disabled. (See Ben Mattlin's commentary for a pointed illustration.) That's the message of Peter Singer and his ilk, as well as the whole "right to die" movement, but not one that we Christians would want to communicate. Not at funerals or anywhere else. Each life is precious in this age and the age to come, and we Christians need to affirm that truth everywhere, perhaps especially at funerals.
Peace to you too,
Mark
Posted in: Good Intentions Gone Awry
John, thanks for your comment and this opportunity to clarify. I'm not suggesting that Jesus does not heal, nor am I saying that the new life we will have with our resurrected bodies won't be unspeakably wonderful. My concern is with Lucado's handling of these themes with regard to people with disabilities. In my opinion, in his attempt to foster hope for the future he diminishes people in the present. I'm especially concerned with his implication that people with disabilities are somehow automatically less Christlike because they have a disability. This may not be his intent, however, people with disabilities frequently endure subtle and overt suggestions that their disability is a punishment for their lack of faith or for some sin in their lives. For example, my wife and I were told once that our daughter lives with severe disabilities because we don't have enough faith. This devotion by Lucado plays right into the wrong-headed and unscriptural teaching that people with disabilities are less Christian than people who do not have disabilities.
Posted in: Will People Have Disabilities in the New Heaven and Earth? Part 2
Tyl,
The give and take of this confirmation helps me to clarify my own ideas. Thank you for sticking with it. (To avoid repeating the same phrase over and over, I'll use "the age to come," "the life to come," and "the new heavens and earth" as synonyms.)
I'll try to explain again what I mean by "bear the marks of one's disability." I assume that God is a God of economy. None of our experiences gets wasted. Instead our experiences conform us more to the image of Christ. The image of Christ is so big and broad, that no human can do so by him or herself. But we bring our own unique gifts to the body of Christ both in this life and in the life to come. As we listen to each other and value each other and value the unique gifts and perspectives that each member of Christ's body brings to the body of Christ, then the body of Christ becomes more complete, more whole, while here on this earth. But that is only the beginning of the process; the real completion and wholeness will come about in the life to come.
So for example, my daughter is a part of the body of Christ now, and she brings a unique contribution to the healthy functioning of the body that would not be there without her. I do believe that she will walk and speak in the new heavens and earth, but I would not want to say that she will be made "whole" in the age to come, unless we also use that same language about all of us who are members of Christ's body. Rather than say that Nicole will be made whole in the age to come, I would rather say that she makes the body of Christ more whole in this age, and she will make the body of Christ more whole in the age to come. She brings a unique perspective and gifts and presence to the body of Christ as she is today. Her unique perspective and set of gifts and presence comes to the body of Christ now because Nicole is as she is, not in spite of her disabilities but through her disabilities. (God is a God of economy.) And I believe God works in her life now and will do so after her death so that her unique perspective and gifts and presence will be brought into the age to come as well. And that's what I think of when I say that she will bear the marks of her disability in the age to come.
Mark