One Size Does Not Fit All

I couldn’t sleep last night so I followed my own advice and got up to pray.
Sometimes I like to go downstairs to our living room, but most times I go into our bedroom closet. It’s a walk-in closet, so it’s perfect for seclusion.

Lots of things have been on my heart. I feel like I’m burning bridges with some of my pastoral colleagues. I don’t mean to, but I’ve spent so much time trying to be accepted and understood in the church community of Harrisburg, that I stopped being who I really am.

Part of accepting who I am has meant accepting the role God has given Carol and me. Since I work in the Department of Education, I’ve gained a very important perspective about the role that we play in the church community.

Since I’ve been in this position, I’ve learned that all children are not educated the same way. Some children, because of their mental or physical disabilities, are placed in the Special Education system. Within the Special Education system there is an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that designs an educational plan specifically for that student. Other children, because of behavioral challenges, are placed into the Alternative Education system. Still other children, who do not speak English, are placed into the Limited English Proficiency (LEP) or the English Language Learners (ELL) systems. Parents and students can also opt for Charter schools or Cyber schools for their education.

I guess what I’m getting at is that there is no one size fits all method in education. So, I think I’m struggling with the one size fits all approach to ministering to people that attend church gatherings. In the last couple of years, Carol and I have come to realize that Urban Life is like a Special Education version of the church. Sometimes we’re like the Alternative Education system or the LEP.

Many times we have been asked to bring our church family to attend other events and conferences being hosted for ALL to attend, but they don’t understand. You cannot always bring Special Education students in to the “regular” education system. You cannot readily bring Alternative Education students into the regular classroom. You certainly can’t expect Limited English Proficiency Students to understand what’s going on.

We love the people whom the Lord has led to Urban Life. They are vibrant and excited about being there. We are excited about them being there. Our ministry is completely different. It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before. I can hardly wait, from one week to the next, to see what God is going to do. It’s just hard to explain why it has to be THIS way in the life of this church family. The education diversities came to me in prayer and now I understand a little better why Urban Life is so different.

There is often a stigma placed upon the students who are not part of the “regular” education system. I guess that’s also why we’re so protective of our church family.
The problem is that the same kinds of people are in the “regular” church setting and they are dying there. Their need is not being met, but they don’t want to be identified as a special needs student or an Alternative Education student. But the truth is that they need to be in that kind of setting so they can get healed and delivered.

Lord, help the church leaders to see people where they really are.