What constitutes an unreached people group? Generally, it applies to a group, usually related to a geographical area, in which less than 2% of the population identify as Christian. Furthermore, it is where there is no local culture evangelizing to the rest of the culture. Being deaf is not geographically contained, but it is its own unique culture, and within that culture only 2% identify as Christian. If the church is supposed to spread the gospel throughout all the earth, why has this particular group been so seldom reached? The question proved to have some interesting, but heartbreaking, answers. These answers, however, are not without hope.
I was fortunate enough to be able to ask a friend of mine, Bree K. Jones, a Deaf Culture Merger (DCM) who is deeply involved in Deaf culture, some questions. As a DCM, she seeks to “merge the Deaf culture and Deaf way of life with hearing culture.” The goal of this merging is that “Deaf culture would have equal opportunities and access to communication and information as their hearing counterparts.” As someone who is relatively ignorant, Bree had to educate me quite a bit on the frequent obstacles Deaf culture faces specifically in regards to their encounter (or lack thereof) with the gospel. There are certainly no lack of obstacles, practical or theological. To get a sense of landscape, I’ll lay out first the current state of missions in regards to Deaf culture, followed by some practical, theological and hermeneutical barriers. Bree’s advice will be given throughout the post contained in quotes, detailing ways in which we can begin to address how the church interacts with Deaf culture. (For the rest of the article, “Deaf” will primarily refer to a social identity, whereas “deaf” will primarily refer to a physiological identity.)
We see the passion of the Apostle Paul to “preach where Christ has not been named” (Romans 15:20), and immediately take this to mean that the people we need to preach to couldn’t possibly be nearby. No, they’re far off in the lands of endless selfies with foreign children, waiting to be rescued by the outside world. While there certainly is need to proclaim the gospel around the world, there is a misplaced desire with wanting to be “radical” in all the wrong ways. The more out of the way you go, the more dangerous the position you’re in, the more exotic and remote the destination, the holier the pursuit. All the while I can encounter people at the mall who barely know who Jesus is outside of something you say when you stub your toe. Even more remote than the toe-stubbing deist, the Deaf community. When is the last time you heard of a missions group going to the Deaf people in society?
Ironically we associate spreading the gospel with going to other far off countries, traveling thousands of miles when Paul only went throughout the Roman empire (which spans just a couple U.S. states in comparison). The irony being that the people who have not heard are all around us, and we simply ignore them in pursuit of a more “meaningful” mission. What a message that must send! So how do we begin to fix this message and start valuing this community?
The first barrier that emerges is what Sunday morning is structured around: the sermon. I occasionally have difficult times understanding what the pastor is saying, especially when he gets passionate and starts speaking quickly. In fact, I’m the guy that asks for subtitles when watching Netflix. I am also the guy who has grown up assuming that Deaf people can read lips to a somewhat moderate success. Even in the best case scenario, this is not the case.
One factor could include the speaker/pastor having a mustache, if they have an accent, if they talk with their teeth, etc. All of these factors affect the forming of one’s mouth. If the Deaf person does not recognize the form of the mouth, then it’s hard to tell what is being said. According to signlanguageco.com it’s estimated that limp readers can only understand approximately 30 percent of what’s being said (that’s missing about 2 of every 3 words being spoken and with the words that are not understood, the Deaf person is filling in the blanks on what they think is going on).
Shocking, right? Let’s put this into context. Let’s assume the pastor is quoting from Ephesians 2:8.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God…”
The bold can either be the words they caught, or the words they didn’t catch. No matter how one reads one phrase while omitting the other, you’re going to walk away with some problems. This would be like reading the Dead Sea Scrolls to someone in passing and assuming they’ll be able to make sense of it in the 15 seconds it took to hear it. The translators on the ESV committee add “free” every time gift is mentioned for the sake of clarity. If we need clarity, imagine how confusing it would be for someone losing two of every three words! This should highlight the need of an interpreter, someone who knows American Sign Language (ASL) and can quickly translate spoken language into ASL, to be onstage alongside the pastor. Having an interpreter is more than a practical solution – it shows that the church cares and is mindful of its Deaf attendees.
If a Deaf person walked into a church and saw a section in the front of the church that was reserved for them, with an interpreter ready to work, then that in itself would be very meaningful to them. Why? Because they see inclusion. They see an effort being made to accommodate them.
A major barrier to accommodation is the lack of communication. We have trouble communicating with someone who speaks a language that we don’t in the same way that hearing and deaf people have trouble communicating. This leads to both difficulty in immediately understanding what accommodations are needed and the possibility of not knowing how to communicate which results in “[assuming] that we have to treat them as babies, that they have no sense of independence”. While this sort of action may come from a good place, our efforts would be better spent in learning about the lives and culture of Deaf people in order to accurately interact and associate with them, rather than treating them based on our own flawed and misguided presuppositions.
When someone is blind or in a wheelchair, you know how to help them, you know how to accommodate their need. But, if you’re a hearing person who has no knowledge of sign language, you typically tense up and rush off.
It is important to remember: if you do not know sign language, you can still write notes, text, or really anything with written language. It is not impossible to communicate, it’s just different. Going out of our way to try and communicate with someone tells that person they matter, and that they are worth pushing through obstacles.
This leads to another type of barrier: hermeneutical challenges.
Imagery concerning people who are deaf in Scripture can be challenging. I was only beginning to reckon with the implications of Jesus’ teachings about restoring hearing to the deaf. Not to mention all the imagery in Scripture that uses physical ailments to signify spiritual realities e.g. Eli becoming blind in 1 Samuel 3. If these texts aren’t handled carefully they can easily be turned into a sort of negative prosperity gospel supposing that ailments are a sign of God’s dissatisfaction with you (which, as far as John 9 is concerned, is not the case at all).
This of course is not applicable to every Deaf person in the world, but here are a few concerns that some of my fellow Deaf friends have had regarding the gospel. In the bible Matthew 11:15 says “let all those who hear be saved”. Some Deaf people take this literally. They think they don’t meet the requirements to be saved just because they can’t hear. Even if they really really really wanted to be saved, they are ineligible because of their deafness. When Deaf people read this, some become very offended and possibly turned off from the Bible. Being Deaf is a way of life, it’s a sense of identity.
What we see here is a hermeneutical error, but what else should we expect? Interpretation is never done well as a lone ranger, and everyone has interpretive communities (or, in other words, influences). The real issue here is simple: they have nobody to engage with about these questions! No interpretive communities means no checks and balances on interpretations, letting misinterpretations like the one above be taken as actual gospel! Surely as the church this brings up another issue: lack of specific ministries. There are ministries for generally everyone: providing food for the poor, counseling to those with various needs, single parent ministries, singles ministries, interior design of the church (probably), the list goes on.
Having Deaf members at church and having an actual Deaf ministry are two different things. A Deaf ministry is when Deaf participants are actively involved in their church. There’s events at church that center them (such as Deaf bible study, have a Deaf associate pastor, having meet ups at the church for prayer, etc). I understand we can’t always completely alter everything, but we at least need to make an attempt to meet people half way.
Just like some multi-ethnic churches have services and ministries aimed at particular languages, Deaf ministries are equally important (why not make a ministry of people who specialize in something nobody else does?). If we are to value Deaf people, and we want them to feel cherished by us, then it is important some effort be made to accommodate them and make them feel valued as part of the community. Just as others need to be involved in ministries with people who can better empathize with and understand them, so do Deaf people. We must be careful not to use these differences as reasons to treat Deaf people poorly:
Be intentional about treating the Deaf the same way you would treat your fellow hearing person. No need to walk on eggshells for them. It’s actually quite insulting and patronizing. Remember that they too are a person, just like you.
So how should we treat our Deaf brothers and sisters? Like we would a hearing person – including them in decision-making, getting their input, dialoguing with them and being genuinely interested in them and their lives. Treat them with dignity, respect, and honor. “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor” (Rom. 12:10). We need an attitude that does not elevate ourselves above Deaf people. When we do not seek out their input or views on things, we implicitly communicate that their input is not worth the hassle of attaining it. If we’re willing to read books, blogs, studies, watch T.V., sermons, etc., to get information, but not willing to try and have a conversation with a Deaf person, we essentially tell them that we would rather get our information anywhere else but them.
It’s hard for most of us to make community when we’re new to an environment. We experience all of this being hearing. Now imagine what that’s like being Deaf. Being in an environment where people don’t take out the time to speak to you because you can’t hear. Being treated like you’re not even there. Being treated like you’re not valuable to decision-making. The list goes on and on.
Hearing people, by and large, have difficulty interacting with Deaf people. This is due to lack of experience with Deaf culture. Just like we might not know the customs of a more evidently foreign culture, such as traveling to another country, we should not pretend to know the culture of our Deaf brothers and sisters. We must acknowledge our own cultural ignorance regarding the Deaf community if we are going to show them adequate dignity and respect. But this is not necessarily a bad thing! This is an opportunity to take interest in someone, to learn what makes them who they are. When you don’t assume things, you have to ask more questions. Questions lead to conversation, which leads to fellowship and being known. If approached correctly, with genuine interest, getting to know your Deaf brothers and sisters will be a delight for everyone involved. But what sort of things should you avoid assuming, or saying?
Telling someone, especially a non-Christian, what they ought to want (e.g. to be hearing), and that what they are is wrong (they are, by virtue of being deaf, wrong) necessarily conveys two messages: there is something physiologically wrong with you, and that the physiological reality has an even deeper effect in making their very existence, and everything contingent on it, wrong. While everyone may agree with the first assertion (in that being deaf is a physiological deviant from the norm), you’re also implicitly telling them that their culture is wrong by association and subsequently a major part of their identity. Whatever facts it may convey, it does it in a manner utterly contrary to the gospel of Christ. “Certainly you made my mind and heart; you wove me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). It is important that they know that they are divinely created, without mistake. God creates intentionally, and the Deaf are not outside his care, his watch, or his heart. If they are not outside any of those, they should not be outside of his Church, either.
If you’re curious and want to learn more about Deaf culture, check out Bree’s Web Series “I Hear You” on YouTube, where she’ll be creating a show that explores what it’s like for the hearing world to collide with the Deaf world and how those relationships grow and navigate their way through offending and forgiving one another.
Change in the community can’t be made without understanding the differences in the culture.
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