Belonging > Inclusion
“The confidence that God is mindful of the individual is of tremendous value in dealing with the disease of fear, for it gives us a sense of worth, of belonging, and of at homeness in the universe.”
We belong to Christ. We belong to each other. We are one body in Christ. We are to bear one another’s burdens. (Galatians 6:2) The church community is a place to belong, not to be included. Belonging is greater than inclusion. I believe the inclusion movement had good intentions but is a worldly movement adopted by the church. When I think of inclusion, I think of middle school recess and picking dodgeball teams. There are the outcast kids that are picked last just to have extra players on the court. They don’t belong to the team but were included. They don’t celebrate victory or agonize in defeat with the team.
By definition, inclusion is “the act of allowing many different types of people to do something and treating them fairly and equally: (Cambridge Dictionary), in contrast with the definition of belonging from the same source: “a feeling of being happy or comfortable as part of a particular group and having a good relationship with the other members of the group because they welcome you and accept you:” The key words there are “allowing,” which is inclusion vs. “welcome” and “accept,” which is belonging.
The inclusion movement in the church has separated those who are disabled from the community. Access ministries serve families and adults with specialized support, respite, encouragement, education, and small community. I believe access ministry is very important, but many churches seem to hide their disabled. All should be welcomed for worship, fellowship and serving. When people with disabilities are unseen, it seems the community is avoiding and tolerating instead of serving and loving. All in the community should be engaged, encouraged to serve throughout the community. We are all made wonderfully in His image. Like the blind man in John 9:1-3, disabilities are to glorify God. The disabled should be visible in worship teams, welcome teams, youth ministry, and more.
The church should rethink their physical space to a place for all to belong. This doesn’t mean a complete renovation of the church, but thinking about accessibility, colors, acoustics, signage. Accessibility is still a problem in America, even after the ADA. Recently, I was in a building that was renovated by a church for a school. The three-story building had no elevator. The handicap spaces were on up a grade and 50 feet from the entrance. This is not welcoming or creating a community for all to belong. Accessibility is important to the disabled, but it serves the community at large, for instance moms with strollers, the elderly, and people recovering from surgery or an injury. As members of one body, we need to be more mindful of how our church is welcoming to all. We belong to Christ and belong to each other, despite our differences. (Mark 9:41; 10:14, Romans 1:6; 7:4, 1 Corinthians 15:23, Galatians 5:24, Ephesians 4:4)
Belonging is greater than inclusion. We belong to Christ. We belong to each other. (The Church is not man made and we get to decide who to include. It is God’s possession and He has determined who belongs here.) Inclusion is a worldly movement adopted by the church. The church is to be supernatural, otherworldly, of God, not of this world. We should be careful adopting worldly movements or ideas. We should be known for our love of Christ, unity in Christ, supernatural love, uncommon joy, and giving sacrificially. These traits create a community of belonging, not inclusion.
“Every Christian community must realize that not only do the weak need the strong, but also that the strong cannot exist without the weak. The elimination of the weak is the death of fellowship.”