Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Felix Culpa

Home
Evangelical
The Crutch of Christianity

The Crutch of Christianity

Last updated on: January 8, 2018 at 1:13 pm by Brenda Renee Coats

The Crutch of Christianity 2018-01-08T13:13:48-07:00 Brenda Renee Coats

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

person-371015_640_opt

Do everything decently and in order. That’s what the Bible admonishes in I Cor. 14:40. Order, it would seem, is a basic human need. Chaos can be fun for a time, as evidenced by the invention of roller coasters. But if an entire life is out of order, it’s human nature to become dispirited or anxious. Maybe a combination of both.

I’ve never understood the comfort or even so-called intelligent thinking behind the Big Bang Theory. First, there was nothing. Then KABOOM! Much matter came together to form a universe. And it happened independently, with no intelligent design or forethought or purpose behind it? Sounds like a wild sci-fi story invented by someone in imagination overdrive. And yet, many who have not wanted to admit the truth of Creation have shaken their defiant heads and said “Yes, Master Find-A-Way-to-Deny-God. We believe.”

It takes faith to believe anything. If you’re an atheist, you believe there’s nothing to believe in, except maybe yourself. You have fallen prey to your own religion, though you balk at other religions. And yet you believe religion is for the weak. For those who crave order and to know they have been put on earth for good reason. For those who need assurance that their life, however insignificant it feels, has meaning. For those who know deep down that their spiritual self, the self they don’t necessarily understand but cannot deny, will live forever though their body is bent on slowly, surely dying.

Religion is for the weak. Christianity, though more of a relationship than a religion, is especially for the weak. What religion besides Christianity requires a crutch? None. All besides Christianity say you either get to Heaven on your own strength, or you don’t get there at all. Christianity says that you either get to Heaven on Christ’s merit, or you don’t get there at all. Eternal life, Christianity says, is strictly a gift, as is faith. Christians are responsible to work out their faith with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12), but works never ever ever earn them eternal life. Works are simply the natural result of genuine faith.

Christianity is lowly. It requires one to admit with their whole heart, in humility, that they are broken, sick, and incapable of helping themselves out of the miry pit of sin. That Jesus did in fact come to earth via a virgin’s womb and made His first public appearance as a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. That He grew to be a carpenter, and later entered into ministry until his unjust crucifixion at approximately age thirty-three, and died in our place. That three days after He was buried, He conquered death and rose again. And that someday, He will come again.

Christians must do away with foolish, false theories and trust what God has said in His Word to be absolute truth. Additionally, they must also be willing to be made fun of, mocked, or perhaps even killed one day for believing Christ is who He claims to be. Christianity may be a “crutch”, if you will, in that it is a life lived in dependence on Another. But the crux of Christianity is that believers must be willing to sacrifice and suffer, just as Christ did, which takes grit, gall, perseverance, and enough faith to stand up when a gunman orders you to, simply because you’re a Christian, and then shoots you in the head.

This is a faithful saying:

For if we died with Him, we also live with Him. If we endure (the KJV says suffer), we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He will also deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. (2 Tim. 11-13)

Apart from Christ, we can do nothing (John 15:5), so even grit, gall, perseverance, and faith are impossible, save for help from our Lord. But the reward is priceless: Life everlasting in His presence. Live everlasting in Heaven, where there will be no more tears, suffering, or death.

What does all this have to do with the Big Bang Theory, or any theory? Well, faith often starts with questions of the mind: Who made us? Who made the dirt we walk on? Who made the heavens and the oceans and the minerals? Who made my complex body? Did it all start with an abstract boom, or with the booming voice of Almighty God?

Genesis 1 has the answers, as does Genesis 2. You can find more about the ongoing allegation that Genesis 1 and 2 contradict each other here. But it is plainly written that God is indeed the Creator of all things:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen. 1:1)

And God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light. (Gen. 1:3)

He also made vegetation, fruit trees, the greater light to rule the day (the sun), and the lesser light to rule the night (the moon) — and the stars. On and on Genesis goes, to explain that it was indeed the booming voice of God that spoke everything into existence.

I’ve picked on The Big Bang theory, but choose any theory other than the theory of Creation, and you have a lie meant to satisfy a heart searching for deeper meaning and belonging, but also a heart in rebellion. I have angered people before for having such confidence and faith in Christ and the Bible’s claims about Creation. I am infantile and stupid, they’ve said. But in a Christian’s mind, being infantile is not a bad thing, because as Jesus said:

Truly I say unto you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. (Matt. 18:3)

I can tell my Grandkids there’s a pink elephant with green polka dots outside in our field, and you know what would happen? Their jaws would gape, their eyes would become twice their normal size, and they’d run to the window to see the circus. What I’m telling them seems strange, but they know and trust me to the degree that they’d automatically think my fictional story was true. Jesus’ point in Matt. 18:3 was not that any of His claims were fictional. His point was that in order to trust and “enter the kingdom”, one must humble themselves as a little child (Matt. 18:4). And when He says we must “turn” and become like children, He means we must repent of our self-sufficient, God-denying thinking — in this case, that we are here by chance.

Big Bang theorists and atheists are not stupid. Nobody is stupid. But everybody is sinful. Psalm 14:1 says The fool says in his heart “There is no God.” But a fool is not someone who doesn’t use their brain, in this context. It is someone who is blinded by their own sin, and can’t see the truth. If that is you, maybe you realize it, maybe you don’t. Either way, what’s the harm in offering up a prayer that asks God to reveal Himself to you, if He in fact exists?

He reveals Himself primarily through His Word and Jesus Christ, but also through creation, through followers of Christ, and through the Holy Spirit. So if you ask, be willing to see Him in creation and through other believers, to hear Him through His Word (the book of John would be a great start), and to be convicted and convinced by His Spirit. In other words, become childlike. Humble yourself. Accept the possibility of needing a “crutch.” Because it’s better to go to Heaven on a crutch than to go to Hell riding on pride and non-existent self-sufficiency.

Previous Post

December 22, 2017

Mary and The Providence of God

Next Post

January 4, 2018 How C.S. Lewis' 'The Great Divorce' Made Me Think

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 May 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Why was Moses placed in a basket in the Nile?

Select your answer to see how you score.

To send him to another land As part of a religious ritual To save him from Pharaoh’s decree To hide him from Egyptian soldiers