They'd say it's a myth, a children's story accepted by ignorant people who have received a tradition handed down among generations.
They'd say it's a ploy for Christians to make themselves think they're better than other people.
They'd say it's only another religion, a sedative for people who are afraid to face reality.
I would disagree.
Christianity isn't a crutch; it's more like a heart-transplant. It's the only hope for a dying world, for people who know they have no qualifications that can justify them, and realize that in the face of reality they stand no chance. Maybe our issue isn't even so much our wickedness as it is our weakness. Sure, I love to think that I can do all sorts of things, but really? It can all be stripped away in a matter of moments, completely out of my control. In 1984, George Orwell comments that "to change one's mind... is a confession of weakness." Maybe the opposite also holds true, that to confess weakness is the way to change one's mind, actions, and heart. If I can admit my weakness, that might be my one hope for change and something better.
In the last few months, I have felt so utterly weak more times than I can count. Several times I felt like my body might just give out on me at any moment, like a clock that begins to tick so slowly that you know it will stop at any second. When I wanted to give up, I was held - both physically and through love and prayers - time and time again by my family and some of the sweetest friends I could ask for. After school, I would come home and almost daily listen to a few songs over and over again; one of them was "To the Cross I Cling" by The Village Church. I love this song, and the more I listened to it, the more I began to see its truth, even in the title. This idea of clinging connotes weakness, a desperate need to hold on, and I can't help thinking that this is where we're supposed to be all the time - wholly and desperately dependent on God's strength. No, it's not a crutch; it's infinitely more than that.
"My grace is sufficient for you," Jesus said, "for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV). The only way to unbind myself from weakness is to bind myself with grace. I need strength to get through the day, but I don't have it in myself. Today, and hopefully tomorrow and the rest of this new semester, I have enough physical strength to do more than drag through the day, but I never want to forget Who gives me strength every moment of my life, however strong or weak I feel. His grace is sufficient, abundantly so, and moment by moment that grace can make even the weakest weakness into something beautiful.
I would disagree.
Christianity isn't a crutch; it's more like a heart-transplant. It's the only hope for a dying world, for people who know they have no qualifications that can justify them, and realize that in the face of reality they stand no chance. Maybe our issue isn't even so much our wickedness as it is our weakness. Sure, I love to think that I can do all sorts of things, but really? It can all be stripped away in a matter of moments, completely out of my control. In 1984, George Orwell comments that "to change one's mind... is a confession of weakness." Maybe the opposite also holds true, that to confess weakness is the way to change one's mind, actions, and heart. If I can admit my weakness, that might be my one hope for change and something better.
In the last few months, I have felt so utterly weak more times than I can count. Several times I felt like my body might just give out on me at any moment, like a clock that begins to tick so slowly that you know it will stop at any second. When I wanted to give up, I was held - both physically and through love and prayers - time and time again by my family and some of the sweetest friends I could ask for. After school, I would come home and almost daily listen to a few songs over and over again; one of them was "To the Cross I Cling" by The Village Church. I love this song, and the more I listened to it, the more I began to see its truth, even in the title. This idea of clinging connotes weakness, a desperate need to hold on, and I can't help thinking that this is where we're supposed to be all the time - wholly and desperately dependent on God's strength. No, it's not a crutch; it's infinitely more than that.
"My grace is sufficient for you," Jesus said, "for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV). The only way to unbind myself from weakness is to bind myself with grace. I need strength to get through the day, but I don't have it in myself. Today, and hopefully tomorrow and the rest of this new semester, I have enough physical strength to do more than drag through the day, but I never want to forget Who gives me strength every moment of my life, however strong or weak I feel. His grace is sufficient, abundantly so, and moment by moment that grace can make even the weakest weakness into something beautiful.
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