Ministry to the Disabled: Individualism, Independence, Autonomy, and Self-Advocacy July 3, 2009
Posted by Damian in Living Christianity.Tags: dignity, disabled, god's image, imageo dei, imagio dei, imago dei, independence, ministry, restoration, shared life
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Kent Eilers at the Theology Forum has written on Ministry to the Disabled. In my opinion, he forms a good working theology on Ministry to the Disabled. I agree especially on Kent’s thoughts on promoting the worth of God’s image, on the restorative work of ministry in addition to evangelism, on the focus on dignity, and on avoiding the diminishing of the lives of the disabled through simplistic theodicy. I have one issue with what he writes, however, and that is in his first Thesis:
The church’s ministry to the disabled must disavow itself of liberal society’s measure of human worth – autonomy, individualism, reason, rationality, independence and the capacity for self-advocacy.
Now, I’m sure my thinking has been influenced by my experience: I work in Allied Health, and my mother has been severely disabled for the majority of my life. But this thesis, to me, denies the human need for these things that Kent phrases ‘liberal society’s measures of human worth’. That is, there is a human need for a degree of autonomy, individualism (in the sense of feeling an individual), independence and self-advocacy.
Whilst I agree whole-heartedly, that the churches ministry should ‘offer the dignity of shared life’, the importance of community in Ministry to the Disabled should not overshadow the realisation that this ministry should facilitate autonomy, independence, a sense of feeling an individual, and the ability to self-advocate. This is because, as much as a given person with a disability might need help with activities of daily living such as showering, dressing, or food preparation, they gain as much from the facilitation of autonomous activities of daily living (for example through funding home modifications) as they do through ’shared life’. Dignity hinges both on the ability to be respected through the disability, and the ability to stand on one’s own abilities as much as possible.
I suppose, in short: Ministry to the disabled must support the individual as much as the community, must give the individual independence as much as support, must allow them to advocate for themselves as well as advocate for them. Ministry should provide people with disabilities a taste of the power of God that works through them, as well as the love of God that comes through the church.
Damian, thank you for taking interest in my ruminations over at Theology Forum and not only giving them a fair reading but carefully interacting with them as well.
I think you may have misread my intentions with that first thesis. You say that with this thesis I deny “the human need” for those things by which liberal society takes measure of human worth. By arguing that the church must disavow itself of these measures, I am not denying the importance of autonomy, individualism, independence, or self-advocacy; instead I am arguing that our measure of someone’s capacity in any one of these areas should not determine that person’s “worth-fulness”. Value is derived instead according to an individual’s creation in the image of God, as I go on to argue.
So, we are quite on the same page in that we both agree that autonomy and self-advocacy are important for someone’s sense of dignity (at the least). I may dispute that they are as important as many of us in late modern, Western society naturally assume they are, but that is a conversation we can have another day.
Kent,
It’s my pleasure. I’m sorry I misunderstood you. I think I understand your purpose now: That one’s worth is not determined by their autonomy, individualism, independence, or self-advocacy, but by virtue of their being an image of God; you didn’t mean to suggest they were entirely unimportant or even simply secondary considerations when it comes to ministering to the disabled. Am I right?
Perhaps you are right in that their importance might not ideally be as high as they are in western society, and hopefully the church can remedy that, but the isolation of western society puts a high premium on these characteristics; and hence, I feel they are important both to dignity and to the ability to continue.
Thanks for answering me, Kent.