This is the final post of my " Top 5 Things I Learned in Cru " series. Thanks for reading and I pray it was a blessing for you and everyone in Cru. FYI, posts 1 , 2 , 3 , & 4 can be found here.
To close up my series, I wanted to finish with one that's not controversial at all (wink wink). I wanted to share about how Cru taught me the value of women in leadership.
Cru technically has no stance on the theological debate on the roles of men & women (well, Family Life has one on the roles in marriage , but Cru doesn't take one on leadership). Cru officially says that it values men and women both leading and using their gifts to the fullest.
I will say that I've seen some incredibly gifted women in my time on staff. Honestly, some of the best leaders I know have been women on staff with Cru. And I am talking about positions of traditional leadership and authority (like a Campus/Regional Director), and leadership roles as a mother (seriously, the hardest form of discipleship/evangelism has to be that of being a parent/mother).
There are some circles of Christianity today in America where only the role of mother is valued as a women's contribution to the Kingdom (though, in some ways I think this can often be a caricature). But Cru has shown me and taught me that Jesus has gifted women just like he has gifted men, and it's a beautiful thing when both genders live out that giftedness.
This does not mean I don't believe God has given men and women different roles in SOME contexts. I believe Scripture makes this difference clear in marriage , and in leadership too . But as far as I can tell there is only one role that is prohibited for both genders in Scripture, and this prohibition is not based on giftedness or calling, but on how God designed us to function best. That one role is pastor/elder (and many would argue roles outside the church that function in the same way).
Sadly, in the theological debate over what Scritpure says, the negative (that one prohibited role) gets idolized and focused on instead of the myriad of things men AND women should be leading in the Kingdom.
Cru has taught me to raise up men AND women leaders, and that the Kingdom will reflect his glory and His image far more when this happens.
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