GLEANINGS FROM THE SCRIPTURESIs Christianity Just a Crutch For the Weak?By Keith L. EstesMany people today accept a number of myths about Christianity, with the result that they never respond to Jesus as He really is. The believers at Corinth tended to think more highly of themselves than they ought to have. The result was conflict and division in the church. So Paul pointed out that most of them had little of which to boast. On the whole they were weak, sinful people saved only by the grace of God. Today the grace of God still reaches out to the weak, the downcast, the broken, and the oppressed. Perhaps for that reason, people who pride themselves on their strength and self-sufficiency have little use for the gospel. Indeed, some despise a faith that resists the proud but promises hope to the humble. Is Christianity just another crutch for people who can't make it on their own? In one sense, yes, "Those who are well have no need of a physician," Jesus said, "but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance". Jesus bypasses those who pretend to be invincible, those who think they have it all together. Instead He reaches out to those who know that something is wrong, that their lives are "sick" with "illnesses" such as greed, lust, cruelty, and selfishness. Jesus knows that no one is spiritually healthy. No one is righteous enough to stand before a holy God. That's why He came into this world to restore people to God. The good news is that Christ gives us the power to overcome sin and the ways it pulls us down time after time. What happens to the "weak" who avail themselves of this "crutch"? Consider Mother Teresa, who emerged from an insignificant nunnery to love the helpless and homeless of Calcutta and became a worldwide symbol of compassion. Or consider Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a forgotten political prisoner rotting away in the gulag system of Stalinist Russia. Surrendering himself to Jesus, he gained renewed strength to challenge a totalitarian regime on behalf of human dignity and freedom. These are but two examples from the millions who have thrown away the self-styled crutches on which they used to limp along the road of life, opting instead for the seasoned wood of the cross of Christ which has transformed their weakness into strength. In one sense, Christianity is a crutch for the weak, But those who dismiss it for that reason usually do so to deny their own inadequacies. They use that excuse as a way to evade the claims God has on their lives. They cannot accept that He takes wounded, fractured people and makes them whole. References: 1 Tim. 1:3-4, 26, 6:9-11, Luke 5:31-32, Ten Myths About Christianity by Michael Green and Gordon Carkner, Lion Publishers, Batavia Ill. 60510. |