Jason Bourne, Jesus, and Disability Awareness
In the movie The Bourne Identity, Jason Bourne is sitting at a table in a roadside truck stop trying to figure out who he is. He is aware of everything going on around him but he doesn't know who he is. In an exchange with an accomplice named Marie, he says, "I can tell you the license plate numbers of all six cars outside. I can tell you that our waitress is left-handed and the guy at the counter weighs two-hundred and fifteen pounds and knows how to handle himself. I know that the best place to look for a gun is the cab of the grey truck outside. I know that at this altitude I can run flat out for half a mile before my hands start shaking. Now, why would I know that? How can I know all that and not know who I am?"
It is safe to say that Jason Bourne is a very aware person. When it comes to recognition and perception, he is unlike any around him. Yet, there is another story of one whose awareness runs deeper than that of Jason Bourne. John 5:1-15 recounts Jesus’ awareness of a paralyzed man who was surrounded by crowds of disabled people. It is in this encounter that Jesus shows us three qualities of disability awareness.
Quality #1: Disability Awareness Means Going to Where the Need Is.
John 5 opens by telling us that it is festival time and Jesus is headed up to Jerusalem for these holy days. At this time in Jesus’ ministry, he has moved on from a year of obscurity and into a year of popularity. He's a known Rabbi with a group of disciples. His teachings, miracles, and Temple cleansing have created a stir. Heading for the festival means time at the Temple. However, this is not where Jesus goes. Instead, he goes to the pool of Bethesda. A pool surrounded by five colonnades and multitudes of disabled people. Each sick person there - the blind, lame, and paralyzed, hopes for healing that could come from the pool. Rather than hobnobbing with the religious elite in the Temple complex, Jesus has chosen a pool surrounded by disabled individuals.
To put that in perspective, imagine a notable pastor who is part of a national pastor's conference. He flies into the city for the conference but instead of going to the pre-conference meet-and-greet or an early roundtable discussion, he heads to the local homeless shelter or adult foster care facility. It's hard to imagine because it's the kind of thing that rarely happens. But, Jesus did it. He went to where the need was. While many other religious leaders would have avoided the Pool of Bethesda for the potential of being made unclean, Jesus goes there to meet a man who had been disabled for thirty-eight years.
Today, if a pastor is approached about starting a disability ministry in the church, he may respond by saying something like, "I just don't think it's needed in our church." What he is saying is that he's looked within the stained-glass walls of the building and there doesn't appear to be that many disabled individuals in the congregation. While that may be true about that particular church, it is more than likely not true about the community the church is in. Disability awareness today means going where the need is. This in turn means going beyond the four walls of the church and into the community that surrounds the church.
Quality #2: Disability Awareness Means Starting a Conversation
John tells us that Jesus "saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time" (John 5:6a NLT). Jesus approaches the man and asks what is probably the oddest question in the Bible. Jesus asks him, "Would you like to get well?" (John 5:6b NLT). Scholars debate the meaning of this question. Yet, perhaps the purpose of the question is quite simple. Jesus' question is a conversation starter. It is this question that will lead to the healing of the paralyzed man.
Disability awareness today means starting a conversation with an individual who has a disability. The challenge for most of us is that this is almost impossible because we rarely come in contact with those who are disabled. So, there is a connection between going where the need is and starting a conversation. You can't start a conversation if you don't know where the need is. You can't engage those who are disabled if you are never around them to start a conversation.
Quality #3: Disability Awareness Means Leading the Disabled into a Personal and Developing Relationship with Jesus.
At the end of Jesus' encounter with the now once-paralyzed man, Jesus catches up with him at the Temple. Jesus gives the man a second opportunity to respond in faith. He says to the once-paralyzed man, "Now you are well; so, stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you" (John 5:14 NLT). Given the context of the paralysis and the subsequent healing, Jesus' words are designed to warn the man of his eternal fate if he does not respond to the one who has healed him. This is an "alter call" moment. Jesus is calling him into a relationship. Sadly, we have no record of this man ever entering into this relationship with Jesus. Instead, he responds to this call by reporting Jesus to the very people who were persecuting Him.
The disappointing reality of some ministries that masquerade as a disability ministry is that they never get around to teaching about Christ in a way that those who are disabled can hear and respond in their own way. These ministries are content to host events and run programs but never go about proclaiming the salvation available through Jesus Christ. Disability awareness today means becoming so familiar with the Gospel that you can tell the old, old story in such a way that those who are disabled have the opportunity to respond to what Jesus Christ has done for them.
You don't need to have the situational awareness of Jason Bourne to win the day when it comes to disability ministry. Effective disability awareness comes down to going where the need is, starting the conversation, and leading the disabled into a personal and developing relationship with Jesus Christ.
Chris Hulshof serves as a Board Member for The Banquet Network and is also an associate professor and department chair for Liberty University’s School of Divinity where he teaches Old Testament Survey, Inductive Bible Study, and a Theology of Suffering and Disability. For more stories like this one, go to our blog page, or click to connect, learn or donate to the mission of The Banquet Network.