Is Christianity Just A Crutch?
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins…”
Ephesians 2:1
You may remember when the former Governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura, said, “Organized religion is a scam, a crutch for weak-minded people.” Or when Ted Turner said, “Christianity is a religion for losers.” You probably never read what Robert Pirsig, an American philosopher said, “When one person suffers from a delusion, it’s called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion, it’s called religion.”
These statements are typical of the way unbelievers view our faith.
But these statements point out a fundamental misunderstanding of what Jesus Christ came to do. He did not come to provide a crutch for mentally weak people to help them along in life. The Bible does not portray us as “weak-minded” but as “dead.” Last time I checked, dead people don’t need a crutch, they need a tomb!
According to Ephesians 2:1, we were not gimping along life’s road to our heavenly destination, but we were dead to righteousness, dead in faith, dead to obedience - dead, dead, dead! If through our own feeble efforts we could have made some kind of progress toward the righteousness that God requires, if all we needed was a crutch, would God have sent His Son to be crushed on the cross? A crutch brings support to help someone’s weak condition, but Christ brings salvation to someone’s dead condition by giving new life and a new destiny! I’ll take Christ over a crutch any day!
What do Jesse Ventura, Ted Turner, and Robert Pirsig all have driving their lives and opinions? They are all caught in personal pride, and the Bible says that pride is the foundation of sin from which all other sins grow. They are all basically saying, “Other people need help, but I am strong, I am capable, I am fearless…I can make it on my own.” Ventura was a Navy Seal, a highly trained soldier who was taught to be self-reliant and fearless, capable of surviving any kind of situation, and that’s all great as a soldier. But what will all his pride provide him, and others, when they stand before the judgment of Christ and give an account for their lives. Where will their self-reliance be on that day? Where will their boldness be on that day? Where will their confidence be on that day?
Our salvation, our “religion”, is much more than a crutch for the feeble. It's a spiritual resurrection from the grave of sin, a resurrection accomplished only by the power of God through Jesus Christ. Ventura and others like him don't realize just how messed up we are without Christ…they really understate our case! But until He and others claim Jesus as their resurrection and life, they will remain in serious spiritual danger.
I’ll say it again, I will take Christ over a crutch any day! A crutch is designed to help the broken, but Christ came to heal the broken!
God bless you!
Pastor Dave
Ephesians 2:1
You may remember when the former Governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura, said, “Organized religion is a scam, a crutch for weak-minded people.” Or when Ted Turner said, “Christianity is a religion for losers.” You probably never read what Robert Pirsig, an American philosopher said, “When one person suffers from a delusion, it’s called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion, it’s called religion.”
These statements are typical of the way unbelievers view our faith.
But these statements point out a fundamental misunderstanding of what Jesus Christ came to do. He did not come to provide a crutch for mentally weak people to help them along in life. The Bible does not portray us as “weak-minded” but as “dead.” Last time I checked, dead people don’t need a crutch, they need a tomb!
According to Ephesians 2:1, we were not gimping along life’s road to our heavenly destination, but we were dead to righteousness, dead in faith, dead to obedience - dead, dead, dead! If through our own feeble efforts we could have made some kind of progress toward the righteousness that God requires, if all we needed was a crutch, would God have sent His Son to be crushed on the cross? A crutch brings support to help someone’s weak condition, but Christ brings salvation to someone’s dead condition by giving new life and a new destiny! I’ll take Christ over a crutch any day!
What do Jesse Ventura, Ted Turner, and Robert Pirsig all have driving their lives and opinions? They are all caught in personal pride, and the Bible says that pride is the foundation of sin from which all other sins grow. They are all basically saying, “Other people need help, but I am strong, I am capable, I am fearless…I can make it on my own.” Ventura was a Navy Seal, a highly trained soldier who was taught to be self-reliant and fearless, capable of surviving any kind of situation, and that’s all great as a soldier. But what will all his pride provide him, and others, when they stand before the judgment of Christ and give an account for their lives. Where will their self-reliance be on that day? Where will their boldness be on that day? Where will their confidence be on that day?
Our salvation, our “religion”, is much more than a crutch for the feeble. It's a spiritual resurrection from the grave of sin, a resurrection accomplished only by the power of God through Jesus Christ. Ventura and others like him don't realize just how messed up we are without Christ…they really understate our case! But until He and others claim Jesus as their resurrection and life, they will remain in serious spiritual danger.
I’ll say it again, I will take Christ over a crutch any day! A crutch is designed to help the broken, but Christ came to heal the broken!
God bless you!
Pastor Dave
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