Cru's Statement on Recent Events

Cru recognizes that a measure of responsibility for the division, strife, and injustice in our land rests with us as followers of Jesus. For too long, we have allowed ourselves to be defined by the spiritual, political, cultural, and racial issues that divide us rather than consistently defining our actions by the love and compassion of Jesus.

• We confess that we have too often looked to protect our own rights instead of considering others as more important than ourselves.
• We confess that we have too often stood in judgment instead of showing grace and mercy to those who are marginalized or powerless.
• We confess that we have too often sought safety and protection instead of loving our neighbor as ourselves.
• We confess that we have too often criticized or remained silent instead of giving compassion and care to those in need.

Cru is committed to pursuing community and unity. The challenge for us is to consider, with fresh eyes, what it means to act in a manner consistent with what Jesus taught and modeled.

In the aftermath of recent national tragedies in Baton Rouge, Minneapolis, and Dallas, as well as numerous events previously, we seek to move from intellectual engagement and defensiveness to emotional engagement and openness. We seek to listen to the experiences of people from various ethnic backgrounds and connect to the realities of their pain.

Our prayer is that judgment and condemnation will be replaced by understanding, empathy and compassion. We ask for hearts able to mourn with those who mourn and weep with those who weep no matter who they are.

Cru is committed to valuing the dignity and worth of every human life. We remain committed to biblical responses to injustice including any historical realities and patterns in our society that are in themselves unjust. Our efforts to do justice must address both individual and societal injustice.

The enemies of faith and righteousness will always be fear and passivity. Fear of differences can lead us away from “doing unto others as we would have them do unto us” and result in unequal treatment toward various people groups. Passivity can cause those with privilege and power to remain silent to the changes required for justice.

We in Cru are on our own journey to grow deeper in our understanding of the various issues that affect us. As Cru, we are seeking to grow based on the teaching and narratives of the Scripture that can transform people at the most profound depths of their beings.

We are ministers of the gospel that offers salvation to all in the person of Jesus. We are also ministers of the gospel that is lived out with unconditional love, grace, and mercy toward every person.

As followers of Jesus, may we be part of the answer. May we live out what He prayed in John 17 that we would be one as He and the Father are one.

Specifically, as followers of Jesus we are committing to

• Pray:
  • Humble ourselves and ask God to examine our hearts and actions.
  • Pray for those affected by the tragedies.
  • Join in local and national prayer vigils with other churches or organizations.
• Listen: Seek to understand and to view life through the lenses of others’ experiences.
• Initiate:
  • Fight against the fear of doing or saying something wrong.
  • Move toward those with different experience and perspective.
  • Righteously stand against oppression.
• Act: Engage in ways that build harmony, understanding, and community.