Is Christianity a crutch?

It seems like every time there is news about religion someone in the comments section talks about how religion is a crutch for people that don't know better.  However, having been on crutches for a while (when I broke my leg) I can tell you that they are useful in healing my leg.  It would not have gotten better if I kept trying to walk on it with out crutches.  However, like anything they can be abused and if I stay on them too long my leg will get weak again.  And no doubt has religion (Christianity included) been used as a crutch, just like anything it can be exploited.  But at its core, I don't think it can be a crutch. 

I am a really good person.  If being a good person was enough, I wouldn't need Christ.  However, I find that frequently being good, isn't enough.  I know that I am not perfect, I get reminded of that every time I drive my car and get cut off, that I am not 'good enough' to not get mad at this person that I don't even know.  I am reminded of that when I get frustrated with my wife for something little and I don't have enough grace to forgive her.  It is by God's grace and Love that I am able to love and forgive her.  If Christ hadn't loved me, I don't think I would have the quality of relationships I have now.  I am not capable of loving perfectly.  It is by God's love that I am able to love, for with out it, we wouldn't know what love is. It is like C.S. Lewis said, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."  Not only that, but I let my friends down, my wife down, and I need them to be able to forgive me, to love me, if someone quit on me every time I let them down, I wouldn't have anyone to talk to. It is by grace that they still talk to me, still care for me in ways I don't deserve.  I need them to support me often (being relational creatures and all), and if there wasn't grace or forgiveness, being a relational creature in this world would suck. 

If I live in darkness, I can't not see anything.  No amount of opening my eyes will be able to make me see.  But when there is light, suddenly I can see.  Is light a crutch for the eye? No, its how it was designed to work.  Is gas a crutch for the car? No, it was designed to run on Gas.  Is Christ a crutch for those who follow him? No He is what we were designed to run on.  

Mother Teresa didn't need Christ to be her crutch.  Many people can give to the poor, can help the poor out, but she was able to do it on a completely different level.  She didn't just serve the poor because it was her job, she served to the fullest of her capacity because she was in love with Christ.  "There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in - that we do it to God, to Christ, and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible. " Mother Teresa.  She didn't just limp along on crutches she was able to fly.  

Isaiah 40:29-31:
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
   and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
   and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
   will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
   they will run and not grow weary,
   they will walk and not be faint.

Here we see that Christ is not a crutch, that God promised not only to get us back to a good condition, but he promises to take us further, he promises to give us wings to fly like an Eagle.  That is something I want.  Maybe the problem people have is that they want people to only use religion as a crutch, and not to go soaring.  After all, it gets kind of dangerous when one starts living a life like Christ (they killed Him).  But even death could not keep him down, he was raised up.  That is the hope we have.  And the hope that we want everyone to have.  That Death is not the end.  Suffering is not the end.  We want to live life to the fullest and that is only possible with Christ's help.  I can't fly on my own and crutches aren't going to help me fly either.