Following Jesus is not a crutch. It's more like a Weight Vest(a vest with weight on them used for strength training by athletes, etc)Only Real men and women can follow Jesus. We're choosing to be humiliated and leave ourselves vulnerable and choose to not focus on the comforts of life which is the easy way or the crutch. Life would be soo much easier if I didn't have to speak about Jesus or if I spent more time making money. No cowards allowed. The cabbie was talking about the fake christianity that is preached in lukewarm churches of how God is only lovey dovey and where you see pictures of Jesus petting lambs.
Tozer said that FAITH is DEPENDENCE. More than a crutch. Life Support.
_________________Ron Halverson
About the cabbie being "poor, blind, and naked."Christ's comments about being poor, blind, and naked were directed to a congregation, not an unbeliever.Similarly, Christ's comment about the blind leading the blind referred to religious people leading their religious followers into a ditch.Working out our own salvation with fear and trembling always requires us to examine ourselves both as individuals and as congregations, to see if we are sliding into negative spiritual poverty, spiritual blindness, and spiritual nakedness.
"The cabbie was talking about the fake christianity that is preached in lukewarm churches of how God is only lovey dovey and where you see pictures of Jesus petting lambs."So the best way to reply to the cabbie might be to say something like, "I agree. Many people DO use Jesus as a crutch. Personally, I try not to use religion as a crutch. Jesus is more than fire insurance. Jesus is my example of great courage to stand on the side of the oppressed and against injustice."Or something similar.To ma, the fact that the cabbie discerns the weakness of certain forms of Christianity is evidence that he is created in God's image, and has the capacity to discern between something a fake and the genuine article.