Campus Crusade for Christ name change...

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DMcFadden
secular press reports about it where the Cru people were quoted as defending their efforts on the grounds that the word "Christ" turns off non-Christians.
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Something we read about in the New Testament (and implicitly in the Old).:)
 
Cru enables us to have discussions about Christ with people who might initially be turned off by a more overtly Christian name.
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Being disingenuous goes back a long way. As a baby Christian, I went out with some "Cru" folks. They got doors open by saying they were taking a survey and even made a show with clip board and pen. There was no survey involved -- just an effort to say the 4 spiritual laws in question form. And had anyone come to saving faith, what would have become of them? We were all from out of town at a conference. We were to give them some booklets or something then leave. Jesus does not seek and protect his lambs in this way.
 
Being disingenuous goes back a long way. As a baby Christian, I went out with some "Cru" folks. They got doors open by saying they were taking a survey and even made a show with clip board and pen. There was no survey involved -- just an effort to say the 4 spiritual laws in question form. And had anyone come to saving faith, what would have become of them? We were all from out of town at a conference. We were to give them some booklets or something then leave. Jesus does not seek and protect his lambs in this way
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Yeah, this is not gospel preaching or even witnessing. Bad salesmen use bait-and-switch tactics; we never should. We simply have no need.
 
One other thought,

From the standpoint of practicality, trying to imagine what might have been in the imagination of the consultants who recommended the name change,

If the change is to "Cru," what does that stand for?

Crusade.

So, how does that make anything less offensive to people who are thought to be unresponsive (to their Creator's sovereign power) because of an historical event a thousand years ago?

So, is someone going to not be offended or unreceptive to God's grace (were that even possible) because four letters were taken off crusade, and now it is only abbreviated?

Were this a purely business decision, I would be asking for money back from the consultants, right now.
 
The historical "crusades" are a talking point of every learned atheist on a college campus. I understand why removing the term is appropriate in light of the term becoming recently overtly offensive. Their reasoning for why they left Christ out of the name is well...it is what it is...a man centered theological foundation that lacks a trust in God's sovereign regenerating grace. Do we need gentleness in witnessing? Of course. Must we remove the name of Christ from ministry titles in order to not offend those we are evangelizing? Certainly not. God is on His throne and His Word will not return void.
 
HoldFast
I understand why removing the term is appropriate in light of the term becoming recently overtly offensive.
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When talking about atheists, and acknowledging your overall point, we might say that the name of God, generally has ALWAYS (not merely recently) been offensive to the atheist.:)
 
Grimmson said:
One thing that not being said here is that they been calling themselves widespread in leadership “Cru” for close to ten years now, so this is nothing out of the blue. I know the article said that it started on “local level in the mid-90s,” but before I graduated college in 2002 I observed all of the CCC’s leadership calling formally the organization as “Cru” and some that I meant outside the state of Arizona as well. Also at the same time the Baptist Student Union was going through a name change as well to "Christian Challenge," manifested on their buildings not long after. What is being done in practice with the CCC is just becoming more official in 2012, which I thought it was already formalized based on some conversations I had about eight years ago from CCC staff. By the way for ministerial purposes I would not mind the dropping of the name “Crusade” because it can be a stumbling block to Muslims and some liberals in hearing Christ. And one more point, the proclamation of Christ on these college campuses should not be done (or at least not primarily) by parachurch organizations, but by the Church. I can go into that another time if one wishes.
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I'm thinking that a perception that shortening Crusade to "Cru" will be construed by some as subterfuge and thus perhaps even more offensive.

Like him or not, at least no one is going to mistake what "brother. Jed" is about.
 
As for removing Christ from their name, the Campus Crusade for Christ website states:
“We were not trying to eliminate the word Christ from our name. We were looking for a name that would most effectively serve our mission and help us take the gospel to the world. Our mission has not changed. Cru enables us to have discussions about Christ with people who might initially be turned off by a more overtly Christian name. We believe that our interaction and our communication with the world will be what ultimately honors and glorifies Christ.”
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But see, if this is the case, then I think the discussion is over before it began. Using the line of reasoning of "We don't want to sound so overtly Christian, and that will help us spread the gospel" is simply pathetic.
 
Suppose you want to talk about Christ to your neighbor. Your welcome mat says "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord", your car has a bumper sticker "I love my family, 99.7 Family Life Radio", and yet another "Don't let my car fool you, my treasure's in heaven!" You come over to their house, with your wwjd bracelet on and a t-shirt that says your favorite ministry. When you talk about Jesus you use jargon that only Christians know and non-Christians are completely unfamiliar with, alienating them before they even know what you even mean by the words.

There are reasons not to be "overtly Christian"... because coming out and saying "I'm a CHRISTIAN!!!" doesn't really facilitate dialog.

Failing to put up this caricature and make it your own does not make you less godly, nor does it make your approach less God-centered.
 
Sorry, but this change is not about moving from cultural-Christian themes (the t-shirts, mats, etc.) to more serious ones, it is about (as I think the quote clearly points out) making Christianity more 'palatable' to unbelievers. That's rubbish. The very name of Christ will offend, so where do we smooth things down next so it won't? I am not talking about instead being a Bible-bashing fundy, I am talking about presenting Christ unapologetically, and the attitude behind the change seems to be about keeping people from being offended by the name.

To me, it is not the name change itself that is the issue, it is the attitude behind it.
 
PreservedKillick;


Bringing someone in with a name that has no Christian connotations, for them to find out later that it is a Christian organization, smacks of a bait-and-switch to me. Again, I don't mean to accuse them of deliberate dishonesty, I just feel that this is the logical conclusion.
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When I seen this the other day, and read the article today, I thought the exact same thing, it "appears" they are trying to be deceptive. Not that they are, but it does give that appearance.
 
The tendency of churches and Christian organizations to downplay the name of Christ and other distinctives in their names is further rot from Arminianism. If salvation is all about us being able to bring sinners to a decision, then we will do just about whatever we perceive is conducive to that end.

However, on the pragmatic side of the equation, it is beyond me why anyone would be interested in learning about a Christ whose followers are ashamed to boldly declare Him.
 
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Interesting.

I just received (another) solicitation from Campus Crusade for Christ.... under that name. Prominent on the envelope and inside on the letter as well. No "Cru."
 
Ignoring all theological issues, I hate all these name changes that go from something that actually explains what it is to having the official name being something that means absolutely nothing. I'm foreign, I have no idea what Campus Crusade for Christ is, but I can guess pretty well. But Cru? You're part of Cru? In conversation, you're part of a crew? You hang out with your crew? Eugh it's like the local cinemas which are now called Vue and Reel. "You're going to view? What are you going to view? A body?" "You're going to reel in a fish? :-s" KFC is a big enough, old enough brand that it works. BK still confuses me though. When writing it is clear that one is talking about something, even if you don't know what it is, but in speech it can get confusing. Just because insiders refer to their organisation in a certain way is no reason to make it official. I call my husband many things, but he's not changing his name any time soon :rolleyes:
 
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