Faith Focus (Week 4)
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Born Into Dysfunction
Dysfunction: abnormality or impairment in the function of a specified bodily organ or system
Abnormality refers to something that deviates from the usual or expected standards, often seen as unusual or irregular.
In a medical sense, it means a feature or characteristic that is outside the norm for human health or function, like an unusual growth or irregular heartbeat.
Impairment, on the other hand, indicates a reduction in function or capacity. It describes a loss or limitation of physical, mental, or sensory ability, such as impaired vision or cognitive impairment.
Abnormality: deviation from the norm.
Impairment: a reduction in ability or function.
In any context, both terms imply something is functioning in a way that isn’t optimal, natural, or intended.
This is why we get the the term dysfunctional situations?
The term dysfunctional originates from combining “dys-” (meaning "bad" or "abnormal") with “function,” giving it the meaning of abnormal or impaired function. While it originally applied to physical and biological systems, the concept expanded to describe social systems, relationships, or families.
In this context, a dysfunctional situation or family means the system (such as a family unit) is not functioning in a healthy, supportive, or effective way. Just as an impaired organ struggles to fulfill its role in the body, a dysfunctional relationship or family structure has impairments that prevent it from providing a nurturing, stable environment.
In a medical sense, being "born into dysfunction" means that a person is born with or into a situation where bodily systems, organs, or biological processes do not function normally.
Being "born into dysfunction" in a social sense means growing up in an environment where the relationships, behaviors, or social structures around a child are unhealthy, unstable, or impaired.
I Got Questions!
Why was I born into this dysfunction?
Medically:
Why was I born with this condition?
Is there something my parents could have done to prevent this?
How will this condition affect my future?
Why do I have to manage or treat this my whole life?
How can I lead a fulfilling life despite my condition?
Why did this happen to me and not others?
Socially:
Why was I born into a family like this?
What did I do to deserve these circumstances?
Why did nobody step in to help me?
Can I heal from the effects of my past?
Can I still lead a fulfilling and happy life despite my start?
How do I find peace with something I didn’t choose?
Faith Focus…
How can I see God through my dysfunction?
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
The disciples question was reflecting a common belief in their culture that physical ailments or disabilities were a result of personal sin or the sins of one’s parents.
The disciples' question aligns with a theology rooted in the idea of retributive justice, where suffering is seen as punishment for sin
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
Jesus’ response is crucial because He shifts their perspective…
Faith Focus is about shifting our perspective.
Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
“It was not that this man sinned, or his parents.”
Jesus rejects the cause-and-effect thinking that ties suffering to specific sins.
I need you to shift your perspective on your dysfunction that you were born in.
It wasn’t that God hated you…
It wasn’t that God wasn’t there…
It wasn’t that God didn’t see you…
It wasn’t that God was trying to punish you…
I want us to see God through the dysfunction!
“But”
No matter what you may have thought or people were assuming…
Jesus wants to set the record straight…
“That the works of God might be displayed in Him.”
Works: act (deed) n. — something that people do or cause to happen.
God: Our Father Yahweh
Displayed: to be manifest v. — to be or become clearly revealed to the mind, the senses, or judgment.
“In Him”
God wanted to do a work within the man first…
He wanted to reveal himself to him clearly
To his mind, his senses, and to his perspective.
Jesus heals this man that was born blind…
The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”
The Pharisees had a major problem with this young man being healed…
They questioned him.
They did not believe him.
They cast him out!
Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”
“Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him”
He was physically healed but He was spiritually blind…
Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
Jesus never said “that the works of God might be displayed to them”
He said “that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
His dysfunction he was born in was God’s plan for this moment. A moment of spiritual awakening.
Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
This moment was bigger than a physical healing!
It was about a spiritual awakening…
It is about seeing God through a new lens concerning my dysfunction.
God’s purpose and glory can emerge even through suffering and brokenness.
