rev walter richardson_webjpg.jpgI recently read that the huge, popular international organization Campus Crusade for Christ is dropping "Christ" from its name, partly due to the fact that the use of "Christ" offends many. The new name, effective 2012, will be Cru.

Critics are accusing the 60-year-old ministry of giving in to political correctness in a ploy to attract more supporters and donors but the people behind the name-change say that politics had nothing to do with the decision.

 As far as the removal of the word "Christ" is concerned, the ministry's website said, "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."

Well, in our current culture, we cannot publicly pray in the name of Jesus, we cannot sing hymns which reference to Christ and now organizations with the expressed aim of winning others to Christ drop the word “Christ” from their name. So now it becomes a matter of being sensitive and inclusive in public prayers, rather than being obedient to Jesus. He actually asked His followers to pray in His name.

It is implied in the Christian Scriptures, John 14, that only when we pray in His name do we receive help from Him. When we pray in His name, He honors us and actually declares we will be able to do greater work than those which He did.  What He means is that they will be greater in quantity, but not in quality.

When Jesus was here, He was limited to one geographical locality. However, after ascending back to Heaven and sending the Holy Spirit to indwell His people, He has the ability to be in many places working at the same time.

While Jesus was on the earth, many of His miracles were physical in nature. Now, He uses His children to bring the Word of salvation to lost men. That is a tremendous miracle. For that which is spiritual is always greater than that which is physical.

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He then promises to hear us. We are given the blessed assurance that when we call upon the name of the Lord, He will hear us and will move in the time of our need. It makes serving Jesus much easier to know that we do not serve alone but that we have His presence and His attention to our prayers.

According to Jeremiah 33:3, we serve a prayer hearing and prayer answering God.  He promises not only to honor us and hear us but He promises to help us. Jesus promises to move in such a way as to bring about an answer. He hears us and He helps us. We are not left, as Jesus’ followers, to make it the best way we can. No! We serve a Lord who is able to help us by giving us that which we need day by day (Ill. Matt. 7:7-8).

So, with this power in His name, will we ever see Christmas trees in government centers again? Will we hear Christian carols and related music at Christmas time? Will we see Christian publications in office spaces and continue to have Christian programming on television? Could it be that, in the future, churches will be asked to take down their crosses or Bible bookstores not sell Bibles?

Should the followers of Jesus Christ be sensitive to their brothers and sisters who have different faiths and pray only generic prayers publicly? What do you think?

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