美國小丹尼爾．鮑曼（Daniel Bowman Jr.）教授在他的一篇文章中，談到了有關自閉症和服事的問題。作為一名自閉症患者，他在決定如何服事教會時常常遇到困難。他解釋道﹕「自閉症患者每次要決定如何服事時，都必須考慮到自身的精神、情緒和體力……獨處/充電的時間，來自外界的感官刺激和自己能接受的程度……服事的時間。我們的才幹是否受到重視，特殊需要是否被考慮在內，而不是被認為有缺陷而遭人排斥等等。」鮑曼也說：「對許多人來說，要考慮這些因素，需要重新分配他們的時間和精力，這也許不是難事，但卻可能會把我擊垮。」

鮑曼認為在哥林多前書12章，保羅所提到信徒互為肢體的比喻，可能是一個解決方法。在第4-6節，保羅描述上帝讓祂的每一個兒女都有獨特的恩賜，是為了「叫人得益處」（7節）。每個人都是基督身體中「不可少的」一員（22節）。當教會瞭解每個人都擁有獨特的、上帝所賜的天賦和恩賜，就不會要求每個人以同樣的方式服事，而是支持會眾以適合自己恩賜的方式服事。

這樣，每個人的生命都能得到豐盛和完全，並確信自己在基督的身體中重要的地位（26節）。

In his essay “Service and the Spectrum,” Professor Daniel Bowman Jr. writes of the difficulty of navigating decisions about how to serve his church as an autistic person. He explains, “Autistic people have to forge a new path forward every single time, a unique path that takes into account . . . mental, emotional, and physical energy . . . alone/recharging time; sensory inputs and comfort level . . . time of day; whether or not we’re being valued for our strengths and accommodated for our needs rather than excluded for perceived deficits; and much more.” For many people, Bowman writes, such decisions, “while reorienting people’s time and energy, likely will not undo them. Those same decisions might well undo me.”

Bowman believes that the vision of mutuality Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 12 could be a healing solution. There, in verses 4-6, Paul describes God uniquely gifting each of His people for “the common good” (v. 7). Each is an “indispensable” member of Christ’s body (v. 22). When churches come to understand each person’s unique, God-given wiring and gifting, instead of pressuring everyone to help in the same way, they can support their members to serve in ways that fit their giftings.

In this way, each person can find flourishing and wholeness and be secure in their valued place in Christ’s body (v. 26).