Some eight or nine years ago my wife and I had our world turned up-side-down when our oldest son was diagnosed with autism. The good news is that he has since recovered from it, but there were a few harrowing years there where we wondered whether or not our little boy would ever be able to function in society. We began noticing something was wrong when he started to lose speech that he had picked up, then lost the happy side of his emotions, and began odd repetitive behaviors.
I'll save the full details for a future post, but will sum it up by letting you know we credit God with working a miracle in our firstborn. God led us to the right doctors and therapists, and thousands of people lifted Jeremiah up in prayer, and over the years we saw him go from low-functioning autism to normal.
It was during those difficult years, though, that one of the greatest crimes of the church came to our attention. Sadly, it's an atrocity that most people don't even realize exists. It simply passes under the radar. The problem comes in how we deal with handicapped people.
You see, I had learned the lesson of the atrocity during our son's bout with autism. We realized very quickly that churches simply are not set up to handle handicapped people, especially children.
During the time we were fighting autism, we came into contact with several Christian families with handicapped children who did not attend church. These people loved Christ and badly wanted to be in church, but because churches are not designed to handle handicapped issues, it was impossible for them to go anywhere.
You see, the vast majority of churches can usually handle an adult in a wheelchair. Yes, it might cramp the isles a little bit, but it can be done. However, try putting a full size wheelchair in a children's area and the situation becomes more complicated. Now, consider children with mental issues who may not be able to function socially or physically in a way that the average person can.
The problem arises in that these special-needs children usually require a single person to work with them. Many times, that's one volunteer too many for churches, and these children get neglected or shipped back to their parents. And, specialized volunteers who are trained for these situations likely come with a price.
This continuing cycle eventually leads to the parents deciding it's not worth the hassle and horrid responses they get from their church, and they just stay home.
The end result is that we have a lot of families in our communities that want a church home, but can't find a church willing to invest in their kids. Imagine that for a moment. Entire families who desire to worship Christ and be taught the scripture, but the church can't accommodate their special needs and turns its back.
Church, here's my challenge to you today. Spend the extra resources it requires to provide care givers during your services to help the special-needs children in your community. Build a church home for these families who desperately want one. Yes, it'll require sacrifice. Yes, it may even require spending money. But, I believe God will be extremely pleased with the churches who recognize and meet these special needs.
Tomorrow, I want to discuss the same atrocity we commit toward handicapped adults.
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