Crutch Factories

 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise andwalk.” Acts 3:6....."We (the church) shouldn't spend our time building a crutch factory, but look for the healing ministry of the church." Juan Carlos Ortiz

There are a lot of thoughts that come to mind when I dwell on the Scripture from Acts 3, and then the words of Ortiz. For a quick backstory on the Scripture, Peter and John, after the resurrection of Christ, were in the Temple to worship and they passed a crippled man who'd been in that condition all his life. He was begging and asked them for money. The apostles had no money to give, but they did have the Holy Spirit power of God to offer, and that power raised the man up to walk again. As I look at that Scripture, I have no problem believing it to be true. Most of us in the church believe it to be true as well. Our problem is that we don't believe such a miracle could take place today, and most especially, not through us or the church we're a part of. Why do we think that? Why do we believe that God only moved in that way in the distant past, or that He won't move in such a way until the time of His return? Why do we have so little trust and faith in the God the "now," the God of today?

As I contemplate these things, I have to grapple with what Ortiz is saying of the church. Have we settled for offering the crippled, especially those crippled emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, "crutches" that help them cope with a problem rather than seeing them lay hold of His resurrection power and overcome it? Do we offer people ways to "live with" their crippledness, instead of leading them into the wholeness that is offered in Christ?

Jesus Christ didn't come to give us "tools" to help us cope with all the aspects of a fallen world. He came "that we might have life, and have it abundantly." He came that we might be "more than conquerors" in the midst of this fallen world. The crippled man at the entrance to the Temple was looking for a "crutch," money that would get him through another day. Peter and John had no crutch to give him, but they did have miraculous life to offer. So do we who are His. There is nothing wrong with the church offering support, counsel, and so on to the wounded and broken, but what we are to offer above all is His life. His wholeness. His victory. Overwhelming victory. We're to leave no cripples at the door of the church. We're to move and minister in the power of His life, bringing that life and power to a broken and crippled world. Chains are to be broken. Prison doors of every sort are to swing open. His Word says He sets the captives free. Too many of His people continue to sit in His church who are still captive to something or someone. They come in each week with their crutches, and they leave with them as well. Jesus said that "He who is free in Me is free indeed." Isn't time, past time, that this is the ministry we offer to a captive world?

You've likely heard the much used conversation between two modern church leaders concerning the Scripture from Acts. Commenting on it, the one leader remarked, "Well, the church can no longer say it has no silver and gold," to which the other replied, "No, and neither can we any longer say 'rise and walk.' " May we, His church, close the doors of our crutch factories, and once more say to a crippled world, "Rise and walk." Could it be that the first ones who need to hear these words are we ourselves, the church?

Blessings,

Pastor O