We see movements all the time in the streets about Christians and the church being pro-life or trying to get people into their church. We see billboards, emails, social media posts, protests on the streets, but what does this really mean? That they want everyone at their church?
The special needs community and their families are by far the most neglected and forgotten about within the church. Churches beg for you to keep and care for a special needs kid and not have an abortion; however, once you have this kid they want nothing to do with you. This is wrong and something all churches in America need to take responsibility for and change.
According to Church4EveryChild, about 85-95% of families with children who have special needs do not go to church or do not have a church they can call home. Why is this? It’s due to the fact that a majority of churches do not have a safe place for these kids in their churches. Are churches and the people running them not called to take care of all of God’s people?
Acts 20:28 says the following: “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” All the flock, not just the ones who look normal or act normal but the sick and the hurting and the ones who are different and hard to care for and provide for.
Moving forward, churches need to recognize the underserved community that is special needs families, and not focus on convenience or cutting costs. Pro-life is something the church supports and rightly so. We hear devastating stories of parents killing their kids before and after birth because they are born with a disability. The church pleads with these parents that a disability doesn’t diminish your value as a child of God. Though once that kid is born the church goes silent.
The Bible calls for community and that is taken away from them because they don’t fit perfect Christian standards. Our churches have this false idea in their heads that to be a good church you have to look and act perfect. In reality, we lose sight of what the Bible calls the church to be, and that is a place for the sick. When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” (Mark 2:17)
I grew up with a special needs brother, which means I am a proud member of a family with a special needs kid. My older brother Travis lived in a home with many special needs kids where some of their families would visit and some would not. In his five years of living in this home, not once did a church step into the home. Some say this may be because they see no point in teaching to kids who really can’t learn efficiently, but that reasoning is flawed because not only do those saying so just underestimate the Lord's abilities but also forget about the families with these children and their salvation.
My brother, who had the memory of a two year old, was able to repeat and remember the Bible verse Philippians 4:13, which is “ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” He can remember a Bible verse when many people can’t or don’t out of laziness. These kids that they are keeping out of their churches are walking miracles of Christ.
My mom and dad were told that Travis wasn’t going to make it through the night of his birth but he ended up living for 25 whole years. Doctors couldn’t explain it, but my family and I knew who saved my brother and that was Jesus.
There are so many kids in the special needs community who are walking miracles, and our churches are missing out on these stories and chances to bring people to Christ. God doesn’t care about how old you are, what you look like, who your family is, or your level of ability. He can and will use you to bring others to his kingdom and no church or pastor has any right to tell you otherwise.