a taste of the banquet: disability and the gospel (guest post by mitch bankes).

Mitch/Dad and his wife, Deb/Mom, who pastors the
disability ministry alongside of him.

I'm so excited to announce my first guest writer on this blog, the one and only Mitch Bankes!

Mitch has served as the pastor of Disability Ministry at New Hope Church for three years now. Mitch did not have any experience in disability ministry before accepting the position at New Hope, and it's been exciting watching him grow and learn throughout the process.

He just so happens to also be my dad (read my Father's Day post here).

I am inspired by the way he sees people as full and rich image bearers of Christ, and the humility with which he interacts with them. The post he wrote down below was actually taken from one of his sermons entitled, "A Taste of the Banquet." Give it a read! And I'd highly recommend watching the full length Youtube video beforehand.

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My wife, Deb, and I had the privilege of seeing Krista Horning live when she gave this testimony (watch video before going any further) last November at a Desiring God conference called: ‘God’s Good Design In Disability.’ When she was done sharing her heart, I remember thinking to myself: This is 1 Corinthians 12 in action, where God has arranged all the parts of the body just as he wants them to be. The parts of the body that seem weaker are indispensable, the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. And I thought, where else could Krista go to find purpose and meaning in her life? Where else could she go to find hope and grace? Where else could she go to find love and belonging than in the body of Christ?

It was a beautiful and moving image of the church that I had created in my Pollyanna mind, but the truth is, if you step inside most churches today you’ll notice that men and women who live with a disability have indeed found somewhere else to go. Scratch just beneath the surface and you’ll discover that the disability community is mostly absent from the body of Christ. Think about the weightiness of that statement for a moment. Let it really sink into your heart and mind. The people that Jesus very often spent time with—those impacted by a disability of some sort—are mostly absent from the body of Christ today.

In his challenging book, ‘Disability & The Gospel,’ Michael Beates writes: 

The problem is that Christian people generally have an inadequate understanding of God’s role in disabilities. This lack of understanding leads to closed doors for people with disabilities even after the handicapped spaces are painted in the parking lot, dipped curbs are cut, and ramps are built to the front entrance of the church. But the more vital problem is that the Christian community generally tends to keep people with disabilities marginalized in the church (19).

And I have to be honest…that was my story before God called me into disability ministry almost four years ago. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t against people who live with a disability, I just didn’t think that much about them. For the most part, the disability community was invisible to me because they didn't look like the people I hung around with, they didn’t act like the people I hung around with, they didn’t talk like the people I hung around with. So my response was to look past them, walk by them, ignore them, feel sorry for them, or pity them. The truth is, I was pushing them to the margins of society and even more so to the margins of the church.

But then again, with over 650 million people living with a disability throughout the world and yet very few of them ever going to a church, maybe I’m not the only one who's ever done that. Maybe we all have a little bit more to learn about the parts of the body that seem weaker to us and yet God says are indispensable.

Because the truth is, if we continue turning our backs and washing our hands of reaching, serving, loving and including the disability community in the body of Christ, we leave them in the hands of the world. A world that often discriminates, exploits, abuses and aborts them. A world that sees them as nothing but a mistake or problem that needs to be eliminated.

Jesus tells a story in Luke 14:16-24 that should help to form our thoughts on disability. 

A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, "Come, for everything is now ready." But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, "I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me." Another said, "I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me." Still another said, "I just got married, so I can’t come." The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, "Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame." "Sir," the servant said, "what you ordered has been done, but there is still room." Then the master told his servant, "Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet."

You may not know it, but this parable in Luke 14 is one that the Christian disability community has really gravitated to and taken a hold of. Because when they read it or listen to it they can't help but feel the deep compassion that Christ has for them and they know that Jesus is someone who's willing to stand up and fight for them. And for a group of people who have to fight for just about everything in their lives, these words must feel like a soothing balm to help heal the years of hurt, pain and loneliness. Imagine what it must feel like for the blind, the lame, or the crippled to hear Jesus say those beautiful words: there's room at the table for you...come in so that my house will be full!

And so Jesus tells his church to GO. Go out to the roads, the country lanes, the highways and byways, the cities and towns—look in every house, every room and on every floor and compel the disability community to come in and find life in Jesus Christ. Compel them. Urge them. Don't take no for an answer. Be firm in your resolve. Do whatever it takes to have them seated at your table so they can have a taste of the banquet just like you do.

Friends, the church must begin to do whatever it can to let the disability community know that there is plenty of room for them in the body of Christ. Not out of pity. Not out of guilt. Not out of shame. Not out of sympathy. But simply because the church is stronger and more like Christ when the disability community is part of the body.

I know it’s not easy. Rarely is it popular. And often it can get a little messy. But Jesus says to his followers: Compel them to come in. Compel them with the Gospel. Compel them with your smile. Compel them with your love. Compel them with belonging. Compel them with your warmth. Compel them with your friendship. Compel them to come in so my house will be full and His Church will be more complete!

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Along with pastoring the Disability Ministry, Mitch works as full time tech support for Volunteers of America. In years past, Mitch has served as the senior pastor of Venture Christian Church and the youth pastor of New Brighton Christian Church.