Will all aspects of disability be erased in heaven? Sandra Peoples looks at applicable biblical passages and shares her thoughts in this episode of Key Ministry the Podcast.
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Hi friends, I’m Sandra Peoples, and this is episode 103 of Key Ministry: Podcast. I hope your summer has gotten off to a good start! In the last couple of weeks I’ve celebrated my older son graduating from high school, my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, and turning in the manuscript for my book that will release from Crossway publishers next year.
The book is on disability ministry, with a focus on full-family inclusion for every size church. I’m mentioning it because this episode is actually about a section I cut from the book. The first chapter is on a theology of disability, and the end of the chapter was on disability in heaven. I’ve been thinking about the topic a lot over the last couple of years, and done some reading and research. But I decided it didn’t really fit in the chapter. It felt distracting from the overall content. I do think it’s worth talking about with you today though.
Let’s start with a few disclaimers before we jump in. Especially if you and I don’t know each other yet, let me share my background. First, my sister who had Down syndrome passed away almost two years ago. So these ideas about disability in heaven are influenced by my grief. I imagine her in heaven, and there are characteristics I hold on to when I picture her there. Second, I have a son with level 3 autism who is functionally nonverbal and has 5 other diagnoses like anxiety and intellectual disability. I also picture him in heaven someday, and have hopes for his healing.
Third disclaimer: I reserve the right to change my mind. If you had asked me 5 years ago about disabilities in heaven, my answer would be different than now. So 5 years from now, it may be different again. That’s one of the reasons I thought sharing this in a podcast would be better than putting it in a book. And fourth, I’m open to discussion and other considerations! I would be excited to hear and read other people’s thoughts and learn from them.
Ok, with all those disclaimers, are you ready to jump in? Let’s go …
I think if you ask most people about disabilities in heaven, their quick answer is that disabilities will be healed and no longer exist. That’s an easy go-to and may be correct. I read the transcript of a podcast with John Piper on the topic, and his answer was pretty direct: He was asked will individuals in heaven still have their disabilities? He said no. His answer is based on two ideas: first, that Jesus showed us what heaven would be like, and he healed disabilities. Second, Revelation 21:4 says, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Therefore, nothing that brings us sadness will exist, and disabilities include sadness and pain.
I don’t disagree with his conclusions from these verses, but I think he may take it too far. The promise that there is an end to the suffering we experience here on earth—both the functional and social aspects of disability will pass away. For me, no more grinding my teeth in stress and then suffering from headaches, no more limping when my hip hurts, no more dyslexia or social anxiety. Those things that hurt my body and hold back my mind will be no more. But while heaven will be an end to suffering and pain, it may not mean a complete erasure of some of the characteristics of disabilities.
Here’s what I believe about disabilities in heaven: If an aspect of a disability hinders a person's ability to connect with others and worship God for eternity, that aspect of the disability will be overcome or erased. Let me say it again: Heaven is about worshiping God and having fellowship with other believers. Anything that would hold someone back from worship and/or fellowship will be healed or eliminated.
Let’s look at a couple of passages that I think will also help us in this discussion:
In Revelation 7, John writes, "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'"
How could John know they were speaking all languages and also say they cried out together with a loud voice? Could it be that like at Pentecost, the Spirit will help everyone understand the languages that are spoken? Speaking different languages is a barrier to having a connection with others and being able to praise him together. But the Spirit makes a way to overcome that barrier to connection even as people retain the language they speak. I believe the effect on disabilities could be similar.
There are many Deaf people who believe sign language will be one of the languages used to praise God, but that it will not be a barrier to connection or to worship because we will all understand their heart language as we understand the other languages being used.
This passage also mentions people from different tribes and nations. This could speak of the physical characteristics that make us different from each other. Randy Alcorn writes in his book on heaven, "Different heights and weights seem as likely as different skin colors. Racial identities will continue (Revelation 5:9; 7:9), and this involves a genetic carryover from the old body to the new" (Heaven, 397). If I recognize the physical differences that exist now in people of different races because they will retain those traits, could people with disabilities also retain some traits? My sister Syble may still be shorter than I am, and she may also retain the almond shape to her eyes that are a physical marker of her genetic difference.
Let’s look at two more passages: In The Parable of the Great Banquet in Luke 14, Jesus described what heaven would look like and who would be there. He made it clear that people who are "poor and crippled and blind and lame" will respond to his invitation and will sit at the banquet (v. 22). And in the Sermon on the Mount, he teaches "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). The pure in heart could describe those who retain childlikeness even as adults, like people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. (It is in this way we can learn from them and cultivate pure hearts in ourselves.) Will there be ways we recognize people in heaven had a disability when on earth? It seems possible.
To sum all this up, God's promise is to swallow up death and wipe away tears from our faces. Our reproach will be taken away (Isaiah 25:8). Whether this means a complete erasure of every aspect of disability or the end of every physical, cognitive, and social challenge people with disabilities face, what is clear is we will spend eternity without hindrances to our fellowship with each other and worship of God.
Even in the article I quoted by John Piper, he acknowledges the mystery of what is to come when thinking specifically about people with Down syndrome retaining some of their qualities and characteristics:
“Now my answer to this is that God is God. That’s the short answer. God is God. In his infinite capacities of preserving true personhood and making new personhood, he will preserve everything good that he created, and he will remove everything that the fall distorted, and we will know each other with the precious old preserved but radically renewed. Somehow he’ll do it.”
As a grieving sister and a hopeful mom, I long for heaven where I will recognize my sister as we worship together and be able to have a conversation with my son that isn't hindered by all that holds him back now. We will have glorified bodies and minds, unhindered by the effects of the fall.
As interesting as all this is to think about, the truth is we won’t know the answer until we get to heaven. And then we won’t care if we are right or wrong. All that will matter at that point is worship and fellowship.
As, Joni Eareckson Tada writes about this in her book, Pearls of a Great Price:
“When I was first injured, I only viewed heaven as a place where I could get back what I had lost. I would receive hands that worked and feet that walked and even danced. For me, it wasn't 'the Day of Christ,' it would be 'the Day of Joni.' My attitude changed as I studied the Scriptures. I realized that heaven was mainly focused on Jesus, not me ... I also began to understand that every fringe benefit of heaven—whether receiving my new body, a new home, new friends, whatever—really centered around the culmination of Christ's purposes and his kingdom.” (Pearls of a Great Price, April 13).
Thanks for letting me talk through the subject with you today, friends! I hope it was interesting and helpful. If nothing else, thinking about people with disabilities in heaven should motivate our evangelism and our discipleship. Everyone created in the image of God (and that’s everyone he created!) has the ability and potential to have a relationship with him. Let’s be faithful to our calling as parents and ministry leaders to speak the gospel over people with disabilities and pray for the Holy Spirit to work.
If this is your first time listening to Key Ministry the podcast, you can hit subscribe in your app so you don’t miss a future episode. You can also find a transcript with the links mentioned in this episode at keyministry.org/podcast
