Is Christianity a Crutch?

Some people claim that Christianity is a crutch. In one sense, they’re right. Today, R.C. Sproul explains that it would be foolish for sinful people like us not to lean on Christ and live in complete reliance upon His mercy.

And oftentimes I hear, “Well, Christianity’s a crutch.” And there’s a certain sense in which that’s right because we’re crippled people. There’s nothing more foolish than to use a crutch when you don’t need a crutch. That’s foolishness. And a person who’s walking around with crutches who can walk perfectly well on his own needs to have the crutches kicked out from under him. But if you’re a cripple and you try to walk without a crutch, that’s even more devastating. That’s even more foolish. And there’s a very real sense, a profound sense, an ultimate sense in which all of us are indeed crippled.

Now the issue is not, “Is Christ the crutch?” but “Is Christ true?” If He is the Son of God and He has come down to meet my needs, then it’d be utterly foolish for me to try to live without that crutch. If He’s a fantasy, if He’s an unreality, if He’s a phony, then His crutch is useless in the final analysis. But we can’t settle the issue of the truthfulness of Christianity on the basis of whether or not it meets people’s needs, for heaven’s sake. It’s supposed to meet people’s needs.