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The Crutch

"...some worshiped the mathematics because it provided a refuge from thought and from feeling." (John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath)

It seems a well-worn saying that Christianity is a "crutch" for the weak, a way for people to find security by believing that there is an omnipotent God in control. While I disagree with the intent of the charge (to dismiss the faith for their own lives, believing it is only a convenience for the weak), I do agree in part with the conclusion. Let me explain. Those who make the charge imply that the weak adopt Christianity as a salve for their fearful minds. This is true for some. Some people do adopt the faith, and hold to it, because they need to lean on God for comfort in an insecure world.

In fact, those who accept God's comfort, who seek it and live in it, find great security, even while hell is breaking loose around them. Look at the support from Scripture:

"For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock." (Psalm 27:5)

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart....A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you." (Psalm 91:4,7)

Even-- and especially-- death is left helpless against the believer: "Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?" (I Cor. 15:55)

Such thinking about the faith being a crutch, then, is not surprising, because those who need it are receiving God's intended comfort for them. Unfortunately, the "crutch" charge implies that shelter is the only reason people believe in God or Christ. Certainly there were weak believers in the early church, but there were also strong ones. The differences between them, in fact, became salient enough that Paul felt it necessary to write about how they were to treat each another (Romans 14). Just as significant for our day, there are historic and contemporary examples of those who have believed from a place of reason, rather than from that of fear (C.S. Lewis and Alister McGrath are examples).

It seems that animosity toward the idea of this crutch Christianity comes from a cultural emphasis on independence. No Christian should be ashamed, however, that he or she needs God for security. Everyone takes security from something, including those who make the charge that the Christian faith is just a crutch. It's worth remembering, however, that believing must involve the mind, just as it does the heart. We are compelled to follow Paul's example in 2 Corinthians 10:5: "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
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