Why is it important to focus on disability?

If you are involved in youth leadership, how often do you run a session for your young people on the theme of disability from a Biblical perspective? My guess is not for a loooooooong time, if ever.

And who can blame you? – you may not have heard a sermon on the topic; you might not have had input at Bible College; the number of disabled youngsters in your group is probably less than two; and you don’t know where you can find useful material.

We believe the theme of disability is important because it’s close to God’s heart.  In the Bible we read of many characters who were used by God despite their disability.  Moses protested that he was ‘slow of speech and tongue’; Jacob wrestled with God and ‘acquired a limp’; and Samson and Paul both had experience of sight loss.  In the gospels we read that Jesus spent a lot of time with disabled people.  He was very approachable to disabled people, who sought him out because he accepted them for who they were.

We believe there are many Bible verses which demonstrate that disabled people should, not only be welcomed, accepted and valued in our church communities, but enabled to contribute and play their unique role.

We therefore want to help leaders, churches and people like you to explore the subject with young people; providing ideas, resources and content to engage further with the subject and disabled people.

Visit our Resources section for materials or contact us tim@throughtheroof.org if you want to discuss things further.