Is
Christianity a Crutch?
By Don Campbell
Frank Sinatra once said that he was for anything that helped you get through the night, whether it was prayer, a prostitute, or a bottle of booze. Prayer didn’t travel in very good company in Mr. Sinatra’s mind. Karl Marx had a similar view of religion, calling it "the opiate of the masses." So, while some turn to alcohol, drugs, or sexual promiscuity to dull the pain of their existence, others turn to religion—and often with less passion than the person turning to drugs, alcohol, or sex. All of these become crutches, designed to help life’s travelers, but end up becoming an addiction that enslaves.
A crutch is a support, and I freely admit that I need support. Deep down inside, I believe that we all feel the same need. The question then is whether or not Christianity is a support that enslaves us and then fails us or whether it is a foundational support on which we can build out lives.
Marx may have been reporting simply what he observed. In his day in Russia, religion had become the handmaiden of the state, cooperating with it to keep citizens enslaved. The role he observed religion playing was to distract the people from their misery and dull their senses to their pain.
The apostle John describes a great harlot called Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the earth (Rev 17:5). Many commentators see this great harlot as apostate religion. When one reads the entire 17th and 18th chapters of Revelation, one can see that this woman is the evil opposite of the pure Bride of Christ in chapter 19:1-10. Apostate religion may be a crutch—a broken crutch at that. A personal relationship with Christ provides support for the disciple in his or her struggles in life, but the support is Christ himself. He says, "Lean on me when you’re not strong." One doesn’t limp along on a broken crutch. As the Good Shepherd, Jesus, even carries the lame on his shoulder when they cannot follow by their own strength. As with Paul, Christ’s grace is always sufficient for our every need.
True Christianity makes on alive, vibrant, and confident. If our religion gives us a temporary high, followed by the depths of despair and depression—or just dull dreariness, then in all probability our religion is either faulty or our faith is faulty.
Don’t hobble through life on a broken crutch.