Friday, September 12, 2014

response to ivcf derecognization

Recently, InterVarsity Christian fellowship (IVCF) a student led, inter-denominational Christian ministry have been derecognized by 23 California state university schools. IVCF has been been derecognized due to the fact that they require their leaders to have Christian beliefs. Just to be clear this does not only apply to Christian groups but also to other groups that require their leaders to follow their beliefs. Therefore this is not a sole attack on Christianity but for pretty much any much organized religion that requires its followers to follow a certain set of rules or commandments. We as Christians are called to spread God's truth by witnessing to others, with this information known there are two different cases that would get IVCF "derecognized". The first case is that the members of IVCF were doing such a good job of spreading God's word that certain people couldn't stand to here the sins that they were living in. The second case is what I fear may have happened, that instead of trying to reel people to God like we're supposed to ("And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19) the members of IVCF came out guns a blazing and not only drove people away from God, but created opposition in the process. As I have stated before in my previous blog, I do not believe it is our right to judge other people I believe that is God's job, because in reality, all people are fallen, how much better are we than them? To justify my last statement we as Christians are called to help people identify their sins and help them work through them. But even when you witness the right way and are deemed a bigot for "judging" someone, that really just shows that the people know they are sinning and that they don't want any help with their struggles with sin. There is also another issue with this "derecognization" of these organizations, this "derecognization" has been going on for a number of years it is not a new thing. Another thing is that there isn't a signed document stating that these colleges have to allow groups like IVCF onto their campus so it is only a privilege that groups like IVCF are allowed on the campus. Even though it seems that Christians have been dealt a heavy blow, we have to remember that we cannot equate this incident to suffering when there are Christians in countries like Iraq that are on the run just trying to stay alive. But in these times we have to remember on thing, even in the darkest of 
times, God's light shines through.

3 comments:

  1. I don't want to seem rude however it may just be your personality to rant on your blogs

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  2. I like the way you present the two cases, and I do believe your style is to rant just a little bit, but not a problem is it is accompanied by critical thinking along the way and is persuasive and not demeaning. I don't think the real issue is discrimination in leadership of these groups even though they say it is, there is something else going on here, would be interested to see us dig into this.

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  3. I actually like listening to your little rants, especially since I agree with you on most of the subjects, keep ranting haha

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