Jesus Is A Crutch

By M McCoubrey

I've heard for years from atheists: Jesus is just a crutch that Christians use to make ourselves feel better. When things are going wrong or bad things happen, Jesus is just a way of making ourselves feel better by saying that it's part of His good plan. When things are going well, it's a purposeful gift to us rather than just luck or happenstance. When things don't make sense, we console ourselves that God has a plan we just can't see. And when we ponder the meaning of it all, of course we want to hear that it was for a wonderful purpose that we are at the center of rather than just randomness. In fact, in my days before getting to know Christ, I said these same things. I bought into the 'religion is for the weak' mentality and fell on my science background as proof that we are alone in the universe and that we must take care of ourselves. Jesus is just a crutch to feel less lost and hopeless.

But here's the catch that I figured out so many years too late: crutches aren't an inherently bad thing. Crutches are used by the weak and the broken. No one blames the man with the broken leg for using them or the paraplegic for using a wheelchair. My mistake wasn't in how I viewed Jesus, it was how I viewed myself. I thought of myself as independent and able, but I am broken. I cannot stand on my own and no matter what I do, nothing can change that. I need a crutch. And so do you. Deep down, we all know that we are unable to do this on our own. And yet because of expectations we feel, we are still racked with guilt and shame when we fail. But really, does anyone blame the paraplegic for not standing?

So when we look at this correctly, the question is not 'Am I using a crutch?' but 'How good is the crutch I am using?' We choose, all of us choose, to use any number of things to look more upright than we are. Some of us use money and position. Some use a fancy car or a nice home. Most of us use a relative ‘goodness’ scale comparing ourselves to the worst of society to justify that we are really not so bad. Others rely on friendships or family or accolades to convince themselves that they aren't completely crippled. But in the end, these are all crutches made of paper. They hold no intrinsic strength, no assurance, and can fail us at any time.

But the crutch I use now, the one who came to give strength to the weak, He is power. He is strength and He is life. Jesus does not command us to walk on our own but says 'I know you can't do this, let me do this for you'. Without requirement, payment, or guilt, Jesus acts as my crutch every day that I let Him and He holds me higher than I could ever be on my own. I stand not in my strength but in His.

Praise be to God - Jesus is my crutch.

Campus Viewpoint: Listening to God - Pride

By A Schwarz 
So often, I find myself longing to hear God speak to me; to hear His guidance of where I should go, how I can better serve Him, or areas in my life I need to work on. I want to grow closer to Him, but often during these times of longing, I tend to expect my own answers rather than what He is truly saying. I come into prayer with preconceived ideas and expectations of what I need to be doing, almost seeking His approval or conformation that I am on the right track. So when we feel like we aren’t hearing God, like He is remaining silent, I think a lot of it is that while He is indeed speaking, we are refusing to listen because it isn’t what we were wanting or expecting to hear.

We think we understand God and how He works and moves, but He is infinite and beyond all understanding. We want to hear Him speak to us how we think He should, rather than be still and listen for His voice. In 1 Kings 19:11-12, Elijah goes out to seek God’s presence. While he stood on the mountain, “a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” God was not in either the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but He was in the gentle whisper that spoke to Elijah. I think most people would have been so overwhelmed by the first three events, thinking God must be in one of them due to their majesty and power, and therefore wouldn’t have even heard the quiet whisper.

About a week ago, God put on my heart the word pride followed by a parable in Luke 18 of the rich ruler. In this passage, a young ruler came up to Jesus asking him what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. He goes to tell Jesus that he has kept the commandments and basically lived a good and respectable life up to this point. Jesus’ reply came as a shock to the man as he told him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” The man was saddened by this because it was not the answer he had been looking for, and he was not willing to follow Jesus’ instructions.

The disciples overheard the conversation and were shocked, asking Jesus who possibly could be saved then? Here, this man had power, and wealth, and had lived a life in accordance with the commandments, yet he was still not worthy.

I was reading this and asking how it could apply to my life, why God was speaking to me in this way. While I don’t have great wealth or power, the issue with the young ruler is that he suffered from pride, pride in his possessions and accomplishments so much so that he was not willing to sacrifice them in order to follow Jesus.

When I think of pride, I usually think of arrogance or an amplified opinion of one’s self and accomplishments. But really, it is more due to our own failure to realize our need for complete dependence on God.

With this, I find that I am consumed within my own pride, that, like the young ruler, I too have been refusing to submit myself wholeheartedly  to God. This does not have to be specifically wealth or power, but worry, anxiety, and control are all things that we often hold onto with pride as well. Basically, anything that is separating you from God, from submitting wholeheartedly to His will, is rooted in our pride.

Pride blocks our hearts from fully embracing God’s love because it is a consuming thought; “In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.” Psalm 10:4. Through our own power, we are nothing and can do nothing, but Jesus promises that “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” Luke 18:27. Unlike the young ruler, we need to set down our pride and pick up our crosses to follow Jesus.

This enters into our prayer as well. Our pride deafens us; in order to clearly hear His voice, we first need to lay everything down at the feet of Jesus.  We must surrender our pride and “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.” Romans 12:1. This does not mean to present only a part of ourselves, or that which we find acceptable; God is calling us to sacrifice our entire being in order to experience His true presence.

What Is Worship?

By C Sampson

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about worship. What is it? What does it look like? What isn’t it?... As I look around at churches, and the Christian community as a whole, I think that we may not grasp the depth and intensity of true worship. If I were to ask you “what is worship”, I would likely hear responses such as “singing songs, praying, or my favorite, that part of Sunday service after announcements and before sermon.” Though all these are true (maybe), they don’t get to the core of the issue, they are simply modes or methods of worship. 

Worship is a tricky thing to define. Throughout the Bible we see instances where people were called to worship God, but there only a few verses that say what it should look like. Why is that? I believe the reason for this is that my worship may look totally different than yours. If we were to read that worship looks like a, b, c, d, then we might become legalistic about it; simply doing the steps without knowing why or even caring. How much passion does it take to follow an instruction manual? Instead, we are shown times when God’s people were compelled to worship. We see the overwhelming presence and power of God leaving people with no choice but to give Him glory. And, I think this leads to the best definition of worship, “acknowledge who God is and acknowledge who we are, then act accordingly.” We are His creation, His adopted children, our greatest act of worship is to accept this and give our lives to Him. In Romans 12, Paul writes “therefore, I urge you brothers, by the mercies of God present your bodies as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God for this is your spiritual service of worship.” This is it, the key to all worship is to continually be offering yourself to God. 

This means that worship is not compartmentalized. It is not simply singing a song, offering a prayer, or participating in a Sunday service. We may be worshipping when doing any of these, but it’s all about our hearts. Are we surrendering to God in these times? If so, then it is worship, if not....then…? This truth can also expand our definition of worship. If we are daily living in the presence of God, then helping a friend could be worship, parenting your children could be worship, studying your Bible could be worship, maybe even cooking dinner could be worship! The point is, worship is not a task, it is a lifestyle, a state of being. It is a thread that should run through every part of our lives, not simply be a part of our life. 

This is often easier said than done for me, but I love the challenge. Over time, I am learning to let God move through me and offer myself to Him. It is amazing to feel His presence when I am truly worshipping and humbling to feel the awkwardness when I’m going through the motions. Take time this week to talk to God about your worship. Ask Him to fill it and make it real, true worship. Read through Paul’s words and consider if everything your doing is your spiritual service of worship. Don’t let it be a cold, rote task, instead let it be passionate action that you take because you know who God is and that He deserves your praise.

By C Sampson

Doubts

Do you ever have doubts about God, about spiritual things, or about His will for your life?  

I just happened to be reading through Luke 1, and something jumped out at me.  Zacharias was a well respected priest, a man who God specifically labeled as righteous, and the passage tells us that God listened to his prayers.  Today, we would probably call him “really spiritual,” in a good way.

One day, Zacharias was in the Temple, doing his thing, when an angel showed up and told him that the Lord had heard his prayers, and that he and his wife would have a son.  The angel also told him that his son would be a truly great man, preparing the way for the Son of God.  Wow.

Now, as much as it freaked him out to have an angel showing up and talking to him, he couldn’t bring himself to believe that God was really going to give him a son, because he and his wife were pretty old. 

A mildly careful reading of the passage shows real humanness in Zacharias.  First, he had been praying for this very thing.  Yeah, they were old, but they still were asking God to do this.  Second, the presence of this angel scared him enough that he clearly knew that was no ordinary guy.  But still, he could not believe.  “How will I know this for certain?  For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”

This was a step backwards in trusting the Lord, and it made his life harder for a while.  However, God used this to strengthen him down the road.

It is easy to see this as a moment of weakness for Zacharias, and it is.  We see that even very strong Believers sometimes wrestle with God’s truth and His promises.  It is the same moment of weakness that most of us who follow Jesus have from time to time. 

“Lord, will You really be guiding me when I make these tough decisions that are in front of me?”  “Are You really hearing me when I pray?”  “Do You really understand what I’m going through?”  “Are You really everything the Bible says You are?”  “Are You really there?”

Faith and trust often mean relying on what we’ve read in Scripture, and might have even experienced in the past, but it looks unlikely or impossible now.  Other times, it means stepping out in action, when you are not sure, or even think the opposite might be true.  Most Believers will wrestle at times (maybe all will).  In those times that we choose NOT to walk in faith, or do what we should there is grace and forgiveness.  However, this usually means that, for a time, you will be moving further away from where you were created to be.

Campus Viewpoint: Suffering as Christians in a Secular World

By A  Schwarz

As Christians, I think we often get caught up in this illusion that life is going to be so much easier for us now that we are part of the body of Christ; that somehow we will be exempt from the sufferings of this world, but we still experience loss, heartache, fears, pain, and sorrow all the same. When things come up, I know I can find myself asking questions like, “maybe my faith isn’t where it should be at; maybe I’m doing something wrong.” We ask these questions with the understanding that, “God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28. So what is “good” exactly?

I think from society, we have adopted this idea that what is “good” is something of immediate self gratification; something that meets our own expectations and requirements. But our ideas of what we think we want can be radically different from the plans God has for us. As Christians, we believe in the truth that what is ultimately good is that which is of God, but all too often, we don’t want to accept it or give up our own desires in order to experience it. God states that He will burn away our impurities like a metalsmith does to gold and silver, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver” Malachi 3:3. Though the process leads to our purification through Him, it can be painful as well. But if He were not to do so, we would remain that  same piece of unusable metal riddled with imperfections. So with this, can I make the assumption that, if we are actively living and walking in the Holy Spirit, every trial we face can be considered as good, as a burning away of imperfections to create in us something pure and holy and pleasing to God? Maybe not according to our own definitions, but in following God’s perfect plan for us.

I know for me, my immediate response to any painful situation is to put up a wall to keep myself safe from my emotions. I don’t want to feel grief, so in a way I try to protect myself from it by closing myself off; I lock my emotions away and try to cover them up with a smile. The world teaches us to harden our hearts in order to keep us safe from pain, but God promises to “give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” Ezekiel 36:26. We are not called to live a life of fear or isolation, but rather of joy in God, but that does not mean that we are free from suffering.

God calls us in 2 Thessalonians 2:16-18 to “be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” So how are we to be joyful and praise God in all circumstances? Again, we so often are searching for joy in only the obvious places, the places where everything is going right; everyone is healthy, happy, loved, financially secure, and so forth; the places WE see as good. But our true joy is through the Holy Spirit which transcends every circumstance. Even during hard times, we can be assured that God has a perfect plan that we can’t even imagine.

This past Spring, there have been many trials God has helped me through that I otherwise would have drowned in. During this time, I found comfort in some of the Psalms where David pours his heart out to God in both his times of celebration and despair. It is his cries to God in those harder situations that seem to reflect how I can often feel. Overwhelmed and lost, I have to remember to continue seeking and praising God. “My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” ... Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” Psalm 42:3, 5-6a. It is in these times that He says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” 2 Corinthians 12:9a.

No matter how impossible it may seem at the time to find meaning in suffering, He has a perfect plan; “”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” Jeremiah 29:11. All we have to do is surrender ourselves to Him, believing that He will keep His perfect promises.

When I was in middle school, my grandmother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. After a few months of treatments, it had only worsened, and the chemo had deteriorated her immune system to the point where she could only undergo one more treatment. At this point, she told us that she wanted God to work through her in order to reach out to those around her, even if it meant her loss to cancer. (She ended up going into remission shortly thereafter for another five years) Still, I can’t even grasp that kind of submission, but that is exactly what God calls us to do in all circumstances, ESPECIALLY the difficult ones. We need to submit wholeheartedly to Him, and that means giving over that fear of suffering, and instead, submersing ourselves in God’s unending joy. If we choose to open up to Him, He will work in amazing ways in our lives for the good of us and those around us.

Through our pain, God is our ultimate comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”

It is a comfort to know that God, above all we may think, understands every trial we go through. He knows what it is to be man, He created us, and He walked and lived here on this Earth as a man. He knows pain, loss, temptation, betrayal... He is not a distant God, one who sits on a throne peering down once in a while, separate from creation. Instead, He loved us so much that He chose to endure the same sufferings along with greater pain to save us. This does not mean that our trials will be any less, but it does assure us that, through Christ, we can find comfort and joy in knowing that He is still in control and the anchor of our souls.

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:19-20. 
By A Schwarz