The young man was fully engaged in worship: hands raised, eyes closed, mouth wide open in song, completely lost in the moment. This man with Down syndrome was entirely free as he worshiped with all his might. In the moment, I wanted to be free like that! But I have since wondered if, because of my assumptions about his intellectual disabilities, I missed what was really happening.
God had called him to war.
No, that is not hyperbole. I see it in Scripture and in the intensity of hatred around the world toward those with intellectual disabilities. God invites us to trust him when he tells us how his strength manifests mightily in so-called “weaker members.” And few are considered weaker and more vulnerable than those with intellectual disabilities.
Christians appreciate, both biblically and practically, that we are finite and incapable of doing all that God can do. From that standpoint, we embrace God as strong and recognize that we need his persistent, daily help. But we also routinely see fellow humans with intellectual disabilities as being entirely “other” — vulnerable and in need of our protection and care. Yes, they have gifts valuable to the church. But we often limit their realm of influence to the simple things we can see.
So, I plead with you, especially if you are in leadership in the church, to consider what is happening beyond what you observe. Your perception of reality may not be reality. God equips these outwardly weaker members to fight for you, and you need a category for that.
Perception Is Not Reality
In 2 Kings 6, the Syrian army surrounds Elisha to capture and kill him. His servant sees their desperate situation and responds in fear: “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” (6:15).
He cannot see reality until God grants him sight. Elisha tells him,
“Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (6:16–17)
We can be confident that when that servant saw God’s army, he was no longer afraid of the Syrian army.
So, when Paul writes about dangerous forces beyond our ability to perceive with our senses, we should heed him:
We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
It also means we should believe God when he talks about his strength in our weakness.
Strong in the Seeming Weak
In 1 Corinthians 1:18–31, Paul hammers home what God thinks of worldly wisdom, making sharp distinctions between the wise of this world and God’s infinite ability to save sinners:
The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” (1 Corinthians 1:18–19)
A few verses later, Paul makes an incredible statement:
God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. (1 Corinthians 1:27)
The “weak in the world” are not mere bystanders or examples for us. They are chosen by God to actively shame and bring down the strong. But Paul doesn’t end there. In 1 Corinthians 12:12–31, as Paul explains how God makes one body out of many different members, he makes a bold declaration about apparently weaker members:
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor. (1 Corinthians 12:21–23)
Indispensable means not able to be dispensed with, absolutely necessary, essential. These members must be part of the body, or the body will not work as designed.
And note Paul’s phrase “seem to be weaker.” He knows we are tempted to neglect the supernatural work of God and believe only what our eyes see. If our eyes see an adult with intellectual disabilities who struggles to communicate, who is entirely vulnerable to abuse and manipulation by evil people, who needs others to assist him and protect his interests, we are inclined to discount him as an agent of God’s power. But we must not rely on what “seems to be.”
God Calls the Weak to War
Psalm 8 begins with some of the most recognized words in the Bible: “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens” (8:1). And then the psalm seems to take a strange turn:
Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. (8:2)
Psalm 8:1 shows God very strong and majestic, clothed in sovereign power, authority, and dignity. And his sovereign power is so strong that he can strengthen the weakest, most vulnerable humans who do not have the ability even to make intelligible sentences. Pastor John helpfully unpacks Psalm 8:2 this way:
The peculiar mark of God’s majesty is not just that he stoops to listen to or take thought of or care for infants, but that he makes them the means of his triumphs. God conquers his foes through the weaknesses of the weak — the speech of babies. When you think of God as a warrior, remember: he wins with weakness.
The psalmist’s reference to babies and infants emphasizes inability more than age, so we can justly include adults with severe intellectual disabilities here. And God equips these “that seem to be weaker” not just to fight but to win!
My mother lived with severe dementia for several years and lost much of her ability to communicate. One day, while I was visiting my parents, her eyes snapped open out of sleep, and she looked me squarely in the eye and said, “I love Jesus. You should love Jesus too!” What a joy to hear that though she had forgotten who I was, God would not let her forget who her Savior is, and she desired that I know that Savior too. “He wins with weakness,” indeed.
Her powerful words were encouraging — and protective. Had my father or I laid down our spiritual defenses out of grief, discouragement, or exhaustion and allowed sin to take root in our souls? Were we entertaining thoughts whispered by our subtle and wicked spiritual enemy? If so, my mother’s simple words had now fixed our thoughts on Jesus! Given how God delights to use weakness, as revealed in Psalm 8:2, perhaps the Holy Spirit roused my mother from her sleep: “To battle, saint! Deliver these words and rescue your husband and son!”
Satan’s Murderous Rage
Satan is on a global campaign to kill those who have intellectual disabilities. More than two-thirds of unborn children identified with Down syndrome in the United States will be aborted. In Denmark, the number soars to 98 percent. New technologies make the womb an increasingly perilous place for a child with any disability, especially an intellectual disability.
On the other end of life, a study of those who wanted to end their lives under “right to die” laws said they did so mainly “because of loss of autonomy (87.4 percent); impaired quality of life (86.1 percent), and loss of dignity (68.6 percent).” In other words, many people are legally killing themselves not because of pain and suffering but because of their fears about the quality of a life with disabilities, especially an intellectual disability.
Given this worldwide campaign to kill, marginalize, and stigmatize those with intellectual disabilities, one has to wonder, Why is Satan so determined to eliminate them? If they are so weak and useless, why not let them live to distract time, energy, and resources away from the things of God?
The reason is not hard to guess. Imagine being the “god of this world,” with the ability to blind minds (2 Corinthians 4:4), and yet defeated — worse, humiliated — by the so-called weak and foolish ones of the world. Of course he wants them dead. An army commander will seek to reduce the fighting ability of his enemy. Satan knows the Bible better than we do and perfectly understands that their weakness magnifies the power of God in ways that spell his doom.
Now, I’m not suggesting my son’s every utterance is Spirit-filled. But I’ve seen an unexpected word or song from his lips penetrate a hard or broken heart with supernatural power in ways that make no rational, observable sense. And I remember Psalm 8:2.
Do not let the father of lies distract you from these truths. Have you unknowingly embraced a secular, utilitarian view of giftedness that is uncomfortable with supernatural power? Has Satan subtly encouraged you to overlook all that God has said in his word about his strength magnified in weakness?
Be Supernatural Christians
Dear reader, and especially pastors, we need to reclaim a biblical, supernatural vision of reality! Adam and Eve, in the perfection of the garden and with unfallen mental and physical capacities, succumbed to the snake’s seductive speech. Their intellectual capacities did not protect them from sin and ruinous error, and neither can ours.
Trust and worship our God — a kind God who equips the weak among us to defeat his foes for his glory and our good. Some of those who live with intellectual disabilities will require what feels like a discouraging amount of your time, energy, and effort. May God give you discerning, spiritual eyes to appreciate that God is equipping your church for war. And may you, with joy, welcome, build up, and deploy these uniquely gifted people in the happy work of making much of Jesus.
