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A Very interesting artcle by Bob Seay
Did the apostle Peter have ADD?
by Bob Seay c1996
I have always felt a strong kinship with the apostle Peter. I just never knew why. All I knew was that I could understand
acting without thinking. I could understand why he felt things so intensely. Of all the apostles, Peter seemed to me to be
the most "normal".
Perhaps that's because Peter is most like me. I have Attention Deficit Disorder.
We don't know that Peter had Attention Deficit Disorder, but we do know that he certainly showed clear indications of
what life can be like for an ADDer. For that matter, we don't know that Shakespeare, Mozart or Galileo had ADD either, but
a strong case could be made that each of these men would have qualified for the diagnosis. The fact is that ADDers tend to
be bright, creative, intuitive people. They also tend to be impatient, impulsive and insecure. Which makes us a lot like Peter.
During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on
the lake, they were terrified. 'It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them:
"Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to
you on the water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward
Jesus.
-Matthew 14: 25-29
People with ADD are Impulsive.
Peter walks on water. Peter cuts off a soldier's ear on the night of Jesus' betrayal. Peter suggests building three altars.
When we think of the apostle Peter, we usually think of impulsivity. Each story has to do with acting before thinking.
I believe that each story has to do with a pattern of ADD.
Matthew's account of Peter's walk on the water raises some interesting questions. We can really only speculate why Peter
left the boat in the first place. Was it because he loved Jesus? Did he want to prove that love to Jesus? What made him change
his mind?
Peter had seen the power of Jesus enough times to know that he should expect the unexpected. He knew that unusual things
happened when Jesus was around. Peter probably wasn't that surprised to see Jesus on the water, once he realized who it was.
The faith that drew Peter out of the boat was based on the miracles he had seen Jesus perform.
When Peter stepped out of the boat, he was making a decision based on what he had experienced. He was walking as much
on faith as he was on water. The water is in the story only for dramatic effect. Jesus could have just as easily walked to
the boat through the air. Peter probably would have reacted the same way. Luckily for Peter, one does not sink in water as
quickly as one falls through air.
Individuals with Attention Deficit Disorder perceive patterns and make decisions about what to expect at an incredibly
high rate of speed. Because our minds are usually three steps ahead of the situation, we travel right past other pertinent
information which we may need to make a fully informed decision, not so much ignoring the sensory input (such as the size
of the waves and the strength of the wind) as never receiving it at all. In spiritual terms, we "take a step of faith".
In less spiritual language, we "go with our gut".
ADDers do this all the time, and can become quite good at it. When we are successful, we are called "intuitive"
and "visionary". When we fail, we are called "stupid". We are the improvisers and the extemporaneous.
We are also the unprepared and the inconsistent.
It's safe to assume that Peter was not thinking of drowning when he left the boat. Our perception of Peter would be much
different if the story ended here in verse 29. Peter would have been a hero. Verse 31 would read "Well done, thy good
and faithful servant.", instead of the more familiar and mournful "Oh, ye of little faith.".
There are still more things to learn from Peter's short walk on the water.
Verses 30-31 of chapter 14 read "When he (Peter) saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord,
save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why
did you doubt?" Jesus' question was obviously rhetorical, intended for the benefit of Peter. Jesus knew exactly why Peter
had doubted.
For years, Sunday School teachers have used this passage as one of the great examples of a lack of faith. But Peter had
faith. He had faith enough to take the first step, which had to require more faith than the second. If faith is built on experience,
then by the fourth or fifth step Peter should have been running to Jesus.
Maybe Peter lost faith because he lost focus.
Focus, or the lack of it, is the hallmark of ADD. We don't want to drift away in the middle of a conversation any more
than Peter wanted to sink into the sea. The importance of focus seems to be one of the more difficult "problems"
for a non-ADDer to understand. For them, focus is a given. It is taken for granted. But to the ADDer, focus is a precious
commodity, almost a sacred time; something which is difficult to achieve and more difficult to maintain. Often, as with Peter,
when we lose focus, we lose faith. And we begin to sink.
Lets fast forward to another segment in the life of Peter, beginning in John 21:15.
"When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?'
'Yes, Lord,' he said, 'you know that I love you.' Jesus said 'Feed my lambs.'"
I quoted only part of this passage because it is so familiar to those who know the gospel. The reinstatment of Peter is
one of those bittersweet stories that so well reflect what it is like to have ADD. We smile because Jesus is showing that
he still loves Peter. We cry, as Peter did, because we can relate to Peter's denial.
ADDers can even understand what its like to be asked the same question three times!
The point is that Jesus still wants to use Peter even after he has slipped.
Jesus still wants to use you as well.
Another interesting part of this story is that even after all that Peter has been through, he still acts like an ADDer.
Look at verse 20-21:
"Peter turned and saw that the apostle whom Jesus loved was following them... When Peter saw him, he asked 'Lord,
what about him?'"
Two steps forward, one step back. Peter sinks again.
Dr. Charles Ryrie picks up on this in his footnotes for Ryrie's Study Bible, although I doubt that he was thinking about
ADD when he wrote it. The footnote for verse 21 reads:" The Lord rebuked Peter for being distracted over John's future."
(emphasis mine)
We have ADD. We are different. We think differently, feel differently and respond differently than those around us. We
did not ask to be this way, nor would we have chosen to live with the stigma of our disorder.
Our lives have been different, but our faith is the same. We want to serve the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul
and with all our mind. We just need some understanding from those around us as we try to do just that. We just need some understanding
of ourselves.
We want to be recognized not only for our disability, but for our abilities as well. We have much to offer in service
for our Lord. We want to be allowed to present our offerings.
I am convinced that God made some of us with ADD for a purpose. The same impulsivity that caused Peter to leave the boat
also caused him to leave all he had and follow Jesus. The off the cuff speaking that caused Peter to say to Jesus "Not
so, Lord" was later used by the Holy Spirit to preach the sermon on the day of Pentecost without any notes or preparation.
Like Peter, we sometimes lack focus because of our ADD. Also like Peter, we can be used of God, ADD and all.
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