Some of you may have heard that Campus Crusade for Christ has recently changed their name to Cru. If you are anything like me, you are probs thinking something like "that's cool... now aren't there bigger things going on in the world? sex trafficking? poverty? the season finale of the bachlorette?"
And I work for this company.
While you may think that there are better things to spend your time thinking about, there has been some interesting backlash to the removal of the word "Christ" from the name.
If you are interested in reading the press release about the name change here it is.
Most publicly, Glenn Beck mocked the change, calling it "cowardly".
I don't want to argue the point on my blog. I would never work for a Christian organization that I didn't feel was Christ focused and biblically based. However, I realize that a lot of y'all who read my blog know that I am affiliated with Cru (and some of you probably support me), so I wanted to say, just real quick, that
Campus Crusade for Christ has not wavered in their dedication to the gospel, or lost sight of the reason behind the ministry (Jesus Christ).
For further thoughts, you could read Should You Support Campus Crusade Staff Now That the Name Is Changing?
or contact me :)
loveeee y'all.
-little j
In a way, this is part of a huge issue nowadays - the seeker friendly method of evangelism. This method consists of changing elements of the church/organization to become more appealing and less offensive to the unsaved. I'm not saying that CCC or the people in it are not dedicated to the gospel, but I can understand why people are getting upset about it the name change. Although it doesn't seem like a big deal, and it's just a change in the name, I wonder what the true motive was behind the change. In the press release link you posted, Sellers says the objective of the name is to “accomplish a greater level of effectiveness in ministry, and we believe Cru achieves that.” I don't think he is talking about eliminating the limit that the word 'campus' may create (I don't think it takes two years to study that) but an overall 'effectiveness' of drawing nonbelievers in.
ReplyDelete“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day." John 6:44
One can be passionate about reaching people to Christ and still be doing it unbiblically.
Everyone should read The Way of the Master by Ray Comfort. Eye-opening.
The issue wasn't with the word 'Christ' at all...and changing the name wasn't about making it easier for those on staff to do evangelism. It wasn't about those on staff at all. In fact, if you asked most staff, they would have preferred to keep the name 'Campus Crusade for Christ.' Because it's comfortable. Because it's what they've always known. But it wasn't about them, now was it? No. It was about using words to build a bridge or using words to build a wall. And statistically the words 'campus' and 'crusade' built walls. (Research has shown that 20% of people in the US willing to have a conversation about Jesus are less interested when they hear the name “Campus Crusade for Christ.”)
ReplyDeleteAnd what about the Navigators? Or Intervarsity? Is anyone accusing them of 'reaching people for Christ unbiblically' because they don't have Christ in the name of their organization? And what about the church you attend, anonymous? Does it have the word 'Christ' in it? If so, do you question if it's a biblical church?
Guess I'm just a little passionate about this...
I think it's good to be skeptical of an organization that impacts the lives of so many students, but people are really letting themselves get carried away by the name change, instead of focusing on the all the good that has been done by CCC.
ReplyDeleteIt's absurd to me that people are withdrawing their support from staff members who have spend years sending them updates about the students that they have mentored, discipled, and brought to Christ.
I should have put this link in the article; it answers the questions people have a little better.
http://www.ccci.org/about-us/donor-relations/our-new-name/qanda.htm