“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.”
Um, whose gospel??
Names are important. Kentucky Fried Chicken is now only marketed as “KFC” because they felt that more health-conscious people would be turned off by the word “fried”.
I heard a while back about an interesting* hybrid called “Chrislam“. It’s exactly what it sounds like – a hybrid of Christianity and Islam. Per Wikipedia:
“One religious movement is called Ifeoluwa and was founded by a man named Tela Tella in the 1980s. Tela Tella claims that an angel of God came to him and told him that he gave him the mission and the name Ifeoluwa: The Will of God Mission. The other religious movement of Chrislam was founded by Samson Saka in 1999. After making a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saka claims that he was inspired by God, to make peace between Christians and Muslims.”
I wonder if an ape named Shift was involved:
“Tash is only another name for Aslan. All that old idea of us being right and the Calormenes wrong is silly. We know better now. The Calormenes use different words but we all mean the same thing. Tash and Aslan are only two different names for you know Who. That’s why there can never be any quarrel between them. Get that into your heads, you stupid brutes. Tash is Aslan: Aslan is Tash.”
–C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle
*”interesting” as in “horrifying”
Praying With My Feet 
oh, love the quote from the Last Battle! Last time we read that one (just last year) I kept thinking, wow, how very descriptive of our times! Sorry to see CC for Christ is abandoning Christ, knowing how many wonderful Orthodox men came out of that group just 30 years ago!
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That was the first thing my boys said when they heard about “Christlam” — “It's Tashlan”… Woudln't C.S. Lewis be horrified… I was very disturbed by the names of people who are backing “Christlam” too… These are people that others have “looked up to” – they're considered leaders for many people who have called themselves Christians… It's very sad.
I'm shocked that Campus Crusade for Christ has taken such a drastic move. I fail to see how a name like “Cru” enables anyone to do anything… it has no meaning whatsoever… Is it possible that they do not understand the power of a name? Your interaction and communication with the world cannot honor or glorify Christ if you aren't willing to be known by His Name!
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Oops sorry for the misspelling – it's Chrislam… not Christlam – my fingers got ahead of me… 🙂
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Now I want to read “The last battle”. In Belgium we have many youth groups that were originally catholic that are now 'dropping the C' because they want to be more inclusive “but we keep true to our Christian values” they add, “it is just that we do not want to exclude other belief systems, especially since it is all just about being a good person anyway, right?”
How these things annoy me!
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The CC for Christ name change seems to be following the same trend as some churches around here. In my area you can attend The Gathering, The Orchard, North Star, The River, The Sanctuary, etc. I guess the idea is that people are scared away from a church that comes right out and labels itself as part of a particular denomination – whether Southern Baptist, United Methodist or whatever.
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This name change is one of the silliest things I've heard recently. I wonder if it's “Crusade” they really want rid of, with its vaguely anti-islam connotation.
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