A friend on staff with Cru shared with me recently the frustration they are experiencing over people dropping support of the ministry as a result of the name change. (you can read my thoughts and public repentance of baditude regarding the name change by clicking here)
A handful of people have dropped off of their team since the announcement (and subsequent melodramatization by the media) of the new name.
They can’t say it publicly, for fear of losing more support, but I want to publicly state the truth of the matter: it is shortsighted and immature to drop support of an individual as a knee-jerk response to a corporate rebranding.
The holier-than-thou smugness of saying things like “they dropped the name of Christ from their mission” (when you have no idea the reasons behind the rebranding) or “it’s a cowering to liberal agenda” at this point is roughly analogous to selling a car because Honda announced a new name for their engines. You just come off looking foolish. If you liked the car before the new name, it’s still the same car.
The critics might be right. This could be the moment that Campus Crusade for Christ started down a road toward evangelical marginalization and impotence. But to make that declaration now like some sort of soothsayer is silly. Campus Crusade (now Cru) could be on the verge of the most fruitful season in their history, as they trust God to move not only on the campus, but all over the country. I’d say the odds are about as good for either outcome. Your call there, Nostradamus.
If you were supporting that missionary because of the name on their business card and not because of their mission and vision, you are justified to stop giving to them. But most likely you started giving because you believed that God had called them to a specific mission to reach people with the gospel. And that has not changed in the least. In fact, they might even be better at reaching that target audience now.
Before you drop off of someone’s team, realize two important things:
1. They are the same person with the same calling from God that they were three months ago. And unless they are one of the 30 people nationwide who were on the panel sorting through options and praying and choosing the new name over the course of 2 years, the most say they had in the process was a survey.
2. Your support of their ministry is absolutely crucial for them being effective at that calling. It took 100 calls to 10 contacts to get three appointments to get one person like you to come on their team at $50 per month. And there are dozens of people just like you supporting them. So your decision to stop supporting them will cost them all of that time, all over again.
Choose wisely.