A week and a half has passed since Campus Crusade for Christ announced it is changing its name to Cru. There has been a lot of support expressed for the change, for which we in Campus Crusade/Cru are grateful.
The criticisms seem to be of four general kinds:
- That Christ is dishonored by our removing his name from the name of our ministry.
- That the name doesn’t mean anything.
- That this may be the start of a slide into liberalism or away from true Christianity.
- That it will hinder our witness among non-Christians.
I want to respond to all of those briefly. I do not want to create yet another forum for debate or disagreement among the body of Christ, so comments will be closed.
1. The last thing we want to do is to dishonor our Lord and Savior! Our commitment is to bring him glory through means that are profoundly biblical and personal: following him as individuals and as groups within the ministry, obeying and trusting his word, and taking every opportunity to proclaim his truth in ways that believers and especially non-believers will hear that truth, understand it, and have the opportunity to find life in Christ. We hope and expect that this change can help us strategically (see #4) to help introduce many, many more people to a living, trusting, eternal relationship with him; and we believe this will honor him far above having his name attached to an organization.
2. The name Cru admittedly does not mean anything. There was a time when Starbuck was a mate on the Pequod in Melville’s Moby Dick, and that name meant nothing else. We have prayed and talked at length about this: that it is up to us to put meaning into the name, just as one Northwestern company poured coffee and conversation into the meaning of “Starbucks.” If we succeed, then Cru will mean something very positive about people united in relationship with Christ and one another, reaching out to many others to bring them into like relationship. If we fail, then we fail. We know it is our responsibility under God.
3. To slide away from true Christianity is possible for any human institution. Some denominations have suffered that slide even with “Christ” in their names. Mission movements have fallen away, as I have already written. We are on guard against it by all biblical means including much prayer, and close accountability with others in the body of Christ. If that is a concern of yours, please join us in praying that God would never allow that to happen!
4. The fourth concern, considered separately from the above, is really a matter of strategy, which is my own field of focus in ministry. Actually it’s all of Campus Crusade/Cru’s focus. Our name change is not about us, it’s about what will hlep us achieve our mission. We are a movement devoted to finding the most effective ways to express the biblical truth of Christ to as many people as possible.
Some people have said that practically speaking, we’re limiting our opportunities to share Christ by not mentioning his name right up front, but our experience tells us otherwise. Now if you find that answer inadequate, would you please do us the favor of praying with us that we would be effective in helping bring new people into Christ’s kingdom, no matter what our name is? For that is our deepest desire.
Strategy is always like forming and testing an hypothesis anyway, whether in football, chess, business, politics, or ministry. Here’s what I mean by that. It is a thinking process that boils down to, If I do x, I expect the result will be y. No one but God really knows that for sure, and yet he calls us to make decisions today in view of what we hope or plan for tomorrow (while humbly recognizing that tomorrow is not in our hands but his). So the final proof of strategic decisions is in their outcome. We believe we have enough experience in evangelistic strategy to make a reasonably educated judgment that this will help reach many for Christ. Time will tell if we are right or wrong.
I’ve said it several times already: we really desire your prayers. We need your prayers. We want to walk in unity with the whole body of Christ, and we ask that you work with us to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Thank you.
