Disability: Living into the Diversity of Christ's Body

by Brian Brock, Jason Byassee (Series Editor)

Leading ethicist and pastoral theologian Brian Brock reflects on the challenge of disability, refuting widely held misconceptions and helping readers respond well to the pastoral implications of disability. Brock, the father of a child with special needs, weaves together theological commentary with narrative reflection, offering rich theological wisdom for shepherding people with disabilities. He shows pastors and ministers-in-training that thinking more closely and theologically about disability is a doorway into a more vibrant and welcoming church life for all Christians.

Genres: Theology, Disability

192 pages, Paperback

Published May 18, 2021

Reviews

[Heinrich DuBose-Schmitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this book with an odd mix of emotions. It challenged my preconceptions about disability and normalness, and it changed how I think about church somewhat. But at times there were sections with bold statements and not enough discussion to explore it fully.

[James Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is challenging and great. Full of prophetic fire for churches and people too, who want to relate in a healthy and wholesome way to folks with disabilities.

As a clergy member, I am grateful that Brock. who is an accomplished academic in the field of disability theology who worked hard to provide an accessible book. Chapter 5 was filled with excellent practical advice for churches.

It strikes me, that we tend to overblow or oversell healing in the church, and do this from an ableist view (cringe). This is also attached to an anemic ecclesiology. If we had a broader view of what the communion of faith looked like, integration of those who have disabilities would be less awkward. The question Brock poses is "how broad and diverse are we imagining the body of Christ?" 141

[Jon Coutts · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It is part of being a human to be unable to do things." Brian Brock has done rigorous academic work on questions of church, technology, ethics, and disability. Here he puts that clearly and accessibly in the hands of those pastors and church-folk who can do something about it. It's a book I hope many will read.

[Isaiah Padgett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible introduction to disability theology, and one that I can't recommend highly enough. Brock's work here is a gift to the church, and one that I hope more and more pastors and congregants read.

[Richard Propes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've struggled over the past couple of days with how to review Brian Brock's "Disability: Living Into the Diversity of Christ's Body," an ambitious endeavor continuing Brock's longstanding devotion to the world of disability theology.

As an adult with significant lifelong disabilities and a seminary graduate with a pastoral background, I've long lamented the myriad of ways in which the contemporary Christian church falls short in addressing disability in daily Christian living, in the pews, at the altar, and in faith communities.

In some ways, it simply must be noted that I'm not truly the target audience for "Disability." It's a primer, really, an entry-level course into disability theology yet a book already being recognized for its "new and original ways of thinking about disability."

If this is "new and original," we have so very far to go.

To be fair to myself, I fully expected to embrace "Disability." The author is a leading ethicist and pastoral theologian who parents a child with disabilities. Early on, this academic writer puts forth his effort to make this book more accessible than most of his writings and to make this book a guide for ministers and ministers-in-training in rethinking and reimagining disability to create more vibrantly diverse faith communities.

The truth is, at least from my own personal experiences, I know very few people with disabilities who feel truly welcomed within faith communities. While there are certainly churches that have "special needs" ministries, very few set aside their insatiable to serve in favor of actually inviting those with disabilities to be part of their community.

Interestingly enough, at least for me, it's this failure that largely inspired my own move toward ministry as I sought to become the type of minister I needed as a child and as a young adult trying to deal with my own mental and physical disabilities within the framework of faith and being a Christian.

This does not mean I found "Disability" to be an entirely disappointing experience. Far from it. Brock lays a solid groundwork for rethinking scripture and biblical stories through the lens of Christ's embrace of those who were physically and emotionally disabled in a variety of ways. The culture in which Christ lived on earth was wholly rejecting of disability for the most part, at least for those who survived, and Christ healed not only bodies but cultural divisions. Christ heard what so many ministers today do not hear - while many of us with disabilities embrace a concept of healing, it's more about healing of society than it is body and it's more about healing within communities than it is removal of some perceived limitation.

There is much value to be found within "Disability" for those new to the discussion and for those pastors lacking familiarity with a topic that impacts nearly 20% of all Americans.

For others like myself, however, "Disability" is more a reminder of how frustrating it is to be a person of faith yet simultaneously either treated as a sin, a burden, or a project if not all three.

The language in "Disability" is, at times, disabling itself. Brock speaks to the difficulty of appropriate language, deferring perhaps to the latest trends or seeking to more empower by actions. However, language does matter and a phrase like "special needs," for example, is widely rejected these days precisely because there isn't a single need that Brock writes about in "Disability" that can be deemed as "special." As long as we "other" people with disabilities, we place people with disabilities outside our communities.

This does not mean I fully embrace people first language. Disability is a culture, a fact that Brock wisely touches upon here, and no full immersion in community can be complete without an understanding and embracing of that culture. I don't shy away from calling myself disabled precisely because disability is about far more than my body - it impacts my daily life and how I live and I love and how I experience a God whom I believe embraces me as made in His/Her image.

I also struggled early on, especially within the book's first two chapters, as Brock repeatedly drew a relationship between an injury he obtained and disability. I understood this temptation - trust me, I've lived it my entire life. However, it's an incredibly false comparison that doesn't begin to hold up on closer inspection because, again, disability is about more than our bodies - it's our culture.

In fact, I wish Brock had more embraced his own life experiences as a parent of a child with disabilities. While I knew this going into the book, he mentions it only in a literary reference at book's end. This would have been so rich and valuable to share - his own experiences, his child's experiences, his community's experiences - yet these things aren't found within a single page of "Disability." Instead, we get two chapters with repeated references to an injured finger.

Don't get me wrong. I'm sure that injured finger DID, in fact, teach Brock lessons about limitation and life but it only scratches the surface of a subject that desperately needs to go so much deeper.

"Disability: Living Into the Diversity of Christ's Body" is at its best when Brock is reminding readers that those with disabilities are, in fact, part of Christ's Body and reinforcing that with scripture and with stories. He does this beautifully and effectively. He leans into the discomfort and confronts familiar theological concepts, for example disability seen as a result of sin, and is willing to rattle the cages and challenge Christians to view things differently. In these ways, "Disability" is of tremendous service.

I will admit, perhaps, that my hopes for "Disability" were perhaps too high. I live every single day of my life in a myriad of ways how the church continues to fall short in truly welcoming those with disabilities into its faith communities, small groups, leadership, and pastoral roles. "Disability" is, at least for this reader/writer, a baby step toward removing the stigmas and embracing those with disabilities as people of faith disabled more by society than by our bodies and able to serve our communities and be present in our communities exactly as we are.

Let the discussion continue.

[Daniel Rempel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite simply the best introduction to disability theology that I’ve come across. An excellent resource to help congregations start to think theologically about disability.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rarely have I been so gripped and so frustrated at the same time.

After a wonderful first chapter, which gently but firmly challenges unhelpful church thought and practice, BB gets into all sorts of knots for a hundred pages or so (tendentious exegesis, confused philosophical theology, illustrations and stories that are often very powerful in themselves but don’t actually support what he is apparently saying at a given point, poor organisation and repetition that suggests this was all stitched together in the wrong order) before finally bringing in more consistently practical and directly challenging material from the latter part of chapter 4 and into chapter 5.

Throughout the book there are undoubted flashes of real quality, and many fresh and provocative (to me at least) thoughts. But it is a bit like putting your hand in a bag and pulling things out one by one — it might be clods of earth, it might be a sparkling gem, it might be a suggestive model or interesting sketch, it might be a random postcard from someone else…

[Detailed review to follow if I have the time.]

[Josh Olds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early on in the book, Brian Brock writes that the majority of pastors, when asked how their church accommodates individuals with disabilities, respond with some form of “Oh, we don’t have any members with disabilities.” If this is true, then huge numbers of people are not in church. If false, then why are pastors not seeing what’s right in front of them. Either way, there’s a problem.

Disability: Living into the Diversity of Christ’s Body is a foundational look at that problem and how churches and church leaders can work towards its resolution. The answer the Brock provides isn’t what most would term “practical.” Accessibility isn’t about wheelchair ramps, special education Sunday School, or trained staff (though that’s part of it!). Instead, the answer lies deeper in how disability is perceived—not as something to be accommodated or worked around, but as something to be welcomed.

The church’s problem with disability might stem from a flawed idea of Jesus’s ministry. That’s the subject of the second chapter. “Well, Jesus heals everyone he meets!” was the proclamation of one well-meaning individual. But the truth is, “A Jesus determined to miraculously make everyone ‘normal’ feels threatening to most disabled people.” Brock interprets the healing ministry of Jesus is the context of Jesus removing barriers to community. Disability kept individuals from their communities and kept them from the Temple. By healing, Jesus removes this barrier. Jesus, Brock says, is more concerned about community than what the community perceives as “normal.”

Chapters three and four interweave theological musings, biblical examples, and the countering of poor exegesis. For example, Brock makes the case that our human idea of physical wholeness might not be what God has in mind. In Luke 14, Jesus confronts a version of the gospel that leads to social prestige. He tells a story about a man inviting people to a great banquet, but only “the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame” will attend. That, Jesus says, is a picture of heaven. Note that outsiders and outcasts are not changed into social elites when they enter the banquet. In other words, God’s kingdom and disability are not incompatible. The two can exist together—and if we’re to believe Jesus, might even do so in eternity.

The final chapter turns to what might be deemed “practical advice.” It’s a primer on how to change one’s church and one’s posture to be welcoming to individuals with disabilities and provide an atmosphere where they can flourish alongside others. Part of me wishes that Brock had spent more time in this area because knowing something and knowing how to implement it often very different things. Part of me understands how our focus is so often on doing that we never focus on being. And that’s the true focus on the book: not to simply address outward actions but inward thoughts, it’s about thinking more theologically about disability.

As part of the Pastoring for Life series, this book is a much-needed resource alongside other books like it (see also Disability and the Church by Lamar Hardwick or Brock’s Wondrously Wounded). It doesn’t give pastors more tings to do, but alters their mindset so that what they are already doing can also benefit and empower those with disabilities. It’s life-changing for the leader and will serve your community well.

[Dylan Katthagen]

With each day that passes, the human being inevitably draws closer to experiencing various forms of disability. Due to the corruptive and vulnerable human nature, no person is immune to physical, psychological or intellectual limitations or degradations. Disability is a reality that all will eventually become aware of—whether voluntarily or involuntarily. Each disability (temporal or permanent, all-encompassing or isolated) carries significant and life-altering effects. As a result, these transform the way that people relate to, and operate within, society—not least, Christian society (i.e. the Church). In his book, Disability: Living into the Diversity of Christ’s Body (2021), Brian Brock, highlights the fact that the Church has largely failed to understand the subject of disability and how the body of Christ is to serve and involve those affected. There is an overarching ignorance or theological misunderstanding(s) that causes the indirect exclusion of the disabled from their full participation within the body and vocation of the Church. In response to this issue, Brock produces a book which endeavours to help Christians begin reflecting upon the subject of disability and the Church, in order to enhance the practice of genuine inclusivity within the ecclesial setting. It is important for the faithful to recognise and increasingly understand their own vulnerability, along with the biblical accounts and theological claims associated with disabilities, in order to better comprehend, and relate to, the vulnerability and disability of others.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most accessible Brock writing I've encountered, and I am grateful for it. In the vernacular of the book, Brock may have written it as an attempt to "wait for" people like me.

Despite its accessibility, the thoughts within are profound, including observations such as:
- "the interdependence of creatures depends on their being limited and bounded. Having limits and a particular body is not a product of the fall but an original feature of a good reaction designed for communion."
- "Any gospel that thinks the good news of Jesus is all about achieving strength and perfection is disposing the very weakness through which God shows His redeeming power. Christians prove they desire weakness in the way they act toward those they assume to be weak."
- "Humans are valuable not because they have God's image but because God made them so that they should display Christ's love in the world...The human being is defined not by their attributes, their dispositions, or their capabilities but by the image that God has promised to bestow on them in Christ."

If you serve or lead a church community, you must read this book, because but demands a change in your perspective, and in the perspective of your church (especially if you are a westernized, evangelical, Christian church, which is the kind of church that probably needs to hear these words the most.

[John Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough as a survey, offering unusual interpretations of Scripture and general guidelines for being the Church to folks with disabilities, but the observations are often cursory and shallow, and sometimes seem to be tilting at straw men.

[Hilda Lamani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a Beginner to the Theology World, this book is very informative and easy to understand. Brian Brock shared a lot of areas and experiences which helps me to be aware of. It helps settle my uncertain mind surrounding my work at church and answered my wonders on how to share God’s love.

[Pam Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thought provoking book. Brock is concerned, not that we set up special programs for those who have disabilities, but that we slow down so all people can participate and have the opportunity to use their God-given gifts in the church.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good introduction into the field of Disability Theology, and I look forward to reading more

[Zak Schmoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent pastoral resource as it emphasizes the importance of inclusion in the church. Brock thoughtfully seeks to create understanding and considers how even elements of certain Bible stories might stand out more to readers with disabilities. Like I have learned to think about accessibility in ways that other people might not if it doesn't apply to them, he suggests that certain details like people asking Jesus to provide healing rather than forcing healing upon them might be significant to people who see their disability as identity-centric and not something that needs to be actually fixed.

Theologically, I did have problems with the work, especially related to resurrection bodies and the presence of disability in heaven. I do not believe they will be there while Brock does. However, I still believe this is a valuable theological resource. Like I have written before, a lot of people don't know how to talk about disability or don't even know how to think about it. Even if you disagree with some of his conclusions, I think this resource can help make church members were aware of others around them and help everyone create churches that are welcoming to people with disabilities.