30 Days - an Overview of the Bible in Just Thirty Daysਨਮੂਨਾ

Is Christianity a Crutch?

Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Here, more than fifty-six thousand people were put to death by a totalitarian regime that saw the Christian faith as a threat to its ideology. At Buchenwald, one block of cells was reserved for especially ‘dangerous’ prisoners.

In cell 27 they placed Paul Schneider, a Lutheran pastor, who came to be called ‘the Preacher of Buchenwald’. From the small window in his cell he loudly proclaimed Jesus Christ in defiance of the orders of the Gestapo guards.

In cell 23 they placed Otto Neururer, a Catholic priest, whose work on behalf of the Jews and other so-called undesirables had made him a threat to the Nazi warlords. He too ministered to the prisoners in Jesus’ name.

Together a Catholic and a Protestant separated only by four cells, walked the way of the cross.

Paul Schneider was murdered by lethal injection in the camp but despite Gestapo surveillance, hundreds of people and around two hundred fellow pastors attended Schneider's funeral. One of the pastors preached at the graveside, “May God grant that the witness of your shepherd, our brother, remain with you and continue to impact on future generations and that it remain vital and bear fruit in the entire Christian Church”.

Luke 9:18 - 9:27

Some people say that Christianity is a crutch. A crutch is an artificial support, which is only needed if a part of our body is not functioning correctly. In general, people don’t need crutches and, although they may make life easier in the short term, people using crutches are anxious to get rid of them as soon as possible. Is Christianity like that?

1. Is Christianity an artificial support?

Is it just wishful thinking or is it true? That depends on who Jesus is. Jesus asks Peter two questions:

• He asks: Who do the crowds say I am?

They knew he could not be an ordinary man. When he was just 12, people were ‘amazed at his understanding and his answers’. When they heard his first talk the ‘eyes of everyone… were fastened on him’. They had seen him heal lepers and those who were paralysed. They had heard his teaching. They had even seen him raise someone from the dead, and therefore thought he must be the reincarnation of someone great. People are still speculating today about who Jesus might be. But Jesus asks another question.

• Who do you say I am?

We can’t rely on second-hand opinions. Each one of us must make our own decision based on the available evidence. Peter’s reply is ‘God’s Messiah’. He was absolutely right. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. There is good historical evidence for this in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is good reason to believe. This is not wishful thinking. It is not a crutch. It is not artificial. It is a backbone. This is reality.

2. Is Christianity only for especially weak or needy people?

Jesus said, ‘The Son of Man must suffer.’ The Greek word for ‘must’ means ‘necessary for certain great ends’. Jesus came, died and rose again because he loves you and me. He came ‘for certain great ends’ – to meet universal needs. We have physical needs such as food, water and air. We can only survive about three months without food, three days without water and three minutes without air. Yet are food, water and air ‘crutches’? No, they are universal physical needs.

All human beings, whether they know it or not, have emotional and spiritual needs. We have a need for meaning and purpose, for hope beyond death and for an answer to guilt. The answer to these needs is not a crutch. It is the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

3. Is Christianity something which makes life easier, then?

Is it an escape? Or a quick fix? Jesus’ words make it quite clear that it is not easy to be a Christian, although it is exciting and challenging. It is not easy for three reasons:

• First: No sin

Jesus says that those who follow him must ‘deny themselves’. We need to give up what we know to be wrong. We cannot hang on to sin. That would be the easy way out.

• Second: No self

Jesus says we must take up our cross daily. Anyone who has seen a crucifixion would know that this was no easy option. It means a daily dying to our own selfishness – no longer living for ourselves but to serve the one who died for us and was raised to life.

• And third: No secrecy

Jesus calls us to follow him. He was asking people to declare their faith in him publicly. You cannot be a secret disciple. Jesus wants his followers to stand up and be counted, even when it is difficult to do so. There is no such thing as a private faith.

Christianity is not a crutch. It is a cross. Resolve today to follow Jesus. You will be joining with millions of others like Paul Schneider and Otto Neururer who have taken up their crosses and followed Christ and as a result have made an impact on the society around them.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank you for taking up your cross that I might have a relationship with you. I'm sorry for the wrong things that I have done. I choose today to turn my back on all those things and instead put you first. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I may take up my cross daily and unashamedly follow you.

References

© Nicky Gumbel, 2024

This reading plan is adapted from the book 30 Days by Nicky Gumbel. It is published by Hodder and Stoughton in the UK, and by HarperCollins Christian Publishing in the USA.