The voice behind the song “Never Enough” is performed by Loren Allred in The Greatest Showman. The part in the movie is played by Rebecca Ferguson. Her role in the film is that of Jenny Lind, the Swedish Songbird, the famous opera singer.
In the song “Never Enough” Jenny Lind declares her love for P.T. Barnum stating that all the riches of the world and the stars in the sky would never be enough without his love.
I’m trying to hold my breath
Let it stay this way
Can’t let this moment end
You set off a dream with me
Getting louder now
Can you hear it echoing?
Take my hand
Will you share this with me?
‘Cause darling without youAll the shine of a thousand spotlights
All the stars we steal from the night sky
Will never be enough
Never be enough
Towers of gold are still too little
These hands could hold the world but it’ll
Never be enough
Never be enoughFor me
Never, never
Never, never
Never, for me
For me
Never enough
Never enough
Never enough
For me
For me
For me
For Jenny Lind life was incomplete without the love of P.T. Barnum. She ended up cancelling the U.S. Tour that P.T. Barnum had taken her on after kissing him unexpectedly on stage.
For P.T. Barnum he too was incomplete. There was seemingly never enough success to satisfy him. He always wanted more. His dreams were never complete despite having a family that loved him, a circus crew that adored him for empowering them, and booming entertainment industry at his fingertips. It wasn’t until everything fell apart for P.T. Barnum that he realized that everything he needed was right there in front of him. His family and their love were all he needed.
As I pondered this idea of being incomplete and never having enough I cannot stop thinking about Jesus and the state of the Church.
Yes, all of us will struggle through life as we aimlessly spin our wheels until we realize that only Jesus will be enough to fill that empty whole that exists within each of us. This seems to be the obvious takeaway from the Christian point of view.
I want to dig a little deeper today. I want to consider the Church looking at both the local church and the big “C” Church.
The local church is the church down the road. The local church is your church. The local church comes in many different shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors.
The big “C” Church is a beautiful tapestry of the many colorful expressions of the body of Christ. The big “C” Church is universal, and it includes all the local churches, across all history, time, and space. It also includes people that are not welcomed by the local church, the little “c” church. The big “C” Church is all about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not bound to a physical building, a gathering of people, or specific time in history for that matter. The Kingdom of God is a current and a future reality. The Kingdom of God is all about a collection of believers, people.
There is much that separates the two, but only one thing that I want to focus on here. It is…
Diversity.
The conversation of diversity includes many things. The one thing that often gets left out of the conversation on diversity is disability. What if the local church embraced the idea of diversity, including disability? What if the local church said it is “never enough” until we look more like big “C” Church.
I believe that God has a heart for diversity. I believe that Jesus himself desires the local church to look more like the big “C” Church. I believe that Jesus looks at the sometimes-stale expressions of the local church in their lack of diversity and says…
For me
Never, never
Never, never
Never, for me
For me
Never enough
Never enough
Never enough
For me
I believe he says this because of the great sacrifice he made for all. There is no way that Jesus wanted to see division amongst the body of believers. No way he wanted to see people separated from each other. I refuse to believe this. The reason I believe so strongly about this is because of what Jesus prayed for in one of his final prayers.
In Jesus’ prayer for all believers, he says, “I have given them the glory you gave me. I did this so they would be one, just as we are one. I will be in them, just as you are in me. This is so that they may be brought together perfectly as one. Then the world will know that you sent me. It will also show the world that you have loved those you gave me, just as you have loved me.” (John 17:22-23 NIRV)
Jesus prays this just before going to the cross to die. This is a prayer for unity. This is a prayer for all believers to come together. This is a prayer for oneness in diversity. If the local church, the little “c” church, were able to do this Jesus says the whole world would take notice. Wow!
90% of churches have no intentional outreach to their disability community. As a result, people affected by disability do not attend church even though they desire to at the same rates as neurotypical people. 90% of churches are not answering Jesus’ prayer for diversity and oneness.
For us at Ability Ministry will proudly say it is “never enough” until churches embrace the idea of diversity, including disability. We stand with Jesus and his prayer for all believers to be one despite our many differences. We stand with Jesus saying that we too pray for a day when the world will take notice because we have embraced ALL people, including those affected by disability.
