If we rely on God, does that make Him a crutch?

I was listening to a 16 year old talk about Jesus, just before his baptism in front of hundreds of people, both believers and non-believers. He was asked the question: Who is Jesus to you? And he answered: Jesus is my crutch.

I couldn't help but squirm in my seat - why was a young, healthy young man at the beginning of his life with his whole future ahead of him confessing that he needed a crutch? Is Jesus a really a prop to enable weak or broken people to hobble around? Does a young, healthy, strong boy of 16 really need a crutch? What kind of a testimony was that to this independent, individualistic generation?

Later that week I was reading my Bible and God showed me something interesting. In Acts 3 verses 1-10 is a miracle story of healing. Peter and John, on their way to the temple, pray for a lame beggar to be healed. The beggar had asked for help. He expected some food or money to meet his immediate needs but instead was given a gift that would last a lifetime. What was it God gave the man? Did he give him a crutch? Did Peter and John say "I don't have any money but I have this branch of a tree to lean on so you can hobble around."?

No. They actually prayed, in the name of Jesus, for the man to get up and walk. Now see what God did as a response to that prayer: verse 7 says that Peter "took him by his right hand, raised him up and immediately his feet and his ankles were made strong." (ESV, emphasis added.)

God didn't give him a prop - He made him strong. He strengthened the muscles that were weak and restored them to do what they had originally be designed to do. He wasn't given something external to lean on that might break or wear out or get lost but he was given a new strength from within that would never leave him.

I think to call God or Jesus or Christianity a crutch is massively underestimating the work God does in our lives when we call on Him. Yes, our individualistic, independent generation hates to admit that it needs anything, much less a God who's strength would make them look weak in comparison. But when we finally humble ourselves enough to realise this and turn to Him, He doesn't give us a crutch, He gives us His strength.

He is a strong God and He is our strength, our might, our strong tower of refuge in times of trouble, He renews our strength when we are weary, and He never breaks or wears out or gets lost. He promises to never leave us or abandon us.

What do I say if people ask if God is a crutch? I say that on my own I would be weak but because God's Spirit lives in me, I am strong.

God is not my crutch; He is my strength. He makes me strong.

And what would I say to that young man? I would tell him the words of the disciple John who wrote:

"I have written to you, young men,
    Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
    And you have overcome the wicked one."