God as a crutch.

A friend once told me that they don't like programs like x3 Watch (a program to help guys resist temptations on the internet) because it's a crutch. And, with a crutch, you'll never learn how to be able to handle it yourself.

I think a lot of people feel the same way about bowling. If you always use the bumpers, then you'll never actually learn how to bowl.

But, the point here isn't either of those. It's God.

Many Christians do the exact same thing with God. We treat him as a crutch that we don't want to have to use. The true nature of our hearts is that we want to be independent and self-sufficient, but we realize that there are things in life we can't do on our own, so we grudgingly ask God for help, hoping that one day we won't have to.


I would like to propose a change of mentality. What if, instead of viewing God as a crutch, we saw him as an exoskeleton?

(If you don't know what an exoskeleton is, look here: http://goo.gl/ciKSm)

From what I know, there are two varieties of exoskeletons: those meant to help people in wheelchairs be able to walk, and the military, iron man suit variety. I think both are valid replacements for 'crutch'.

Why? Well, let's take the variety meant to help people walk. Do you think those people with real exoskeletons are going to be embarrased by them? Do you think they'll be wishing all day they could take it off? I don't think so. If I had been in a wheelchair for years and finally had the ability to walk, I'd be ecstatic! I think anyone would be. And isn't that a better representation of how we should view depending on God?

Now, for the military variety, think about this: when someone with such a suit lifts a car (I don't know if that's possible, but let's assume that it is), who are the people watching going to give the credit to? Are they going to say, "Man, that guy is so strong!"? Nope. They're going to know it's the suit. I would stand there amazed at the suit's power.

I think that when Christians depend on God, it does that same thing. It redirects the credit to where it's deserved. It gives us freedom to do things that we wouldn't ever be capable of doing on our own. The best part is that it won't even cost you a couple thousand dollars - it's completely free.

It's not weak to depend on God. It's what we're meant for.