As a proposal and a ministry, ChrisCorps begins and ends with Jesus Christ, who He is and what He’s all about.  The identity of this initiative is wholly tied into the identity of Christ Himself.  Accordingly, the following affirmations are core to who He is, who we are and increasing the presence of both. 

Jesus Christ was a real person who really walked the earth back in the first century.  “He was in the world…” (Jn. 1:10) and “…his dwelling was amongst us…” (Jn. 1:14).  His earthly existence was documented by a host of secular classical historians, including the most well-known:  Josephus (Jewish) and Tacitus (Roman).  The historical data is so secure, in fact, that most credible modern historians do not debate or question Christ’s existence.

Jesus Christ was the visible counterpart of the invisible God (Col. 1:15).  He was Almighty God incarnate (in the flesh – Isa. 7:14, Isa. 9:6, Jn. 1:14), the promised Messiah who was prophesied to come thousands of years before it happened, way back in the Old Testament (Isa. 7:14, Micah 5:2, Num. 24:8, Isa. 53:4, Isa. 53:12, Ps. 34:20).  As a man he experienced temptation, as God he never sinned.  As a man he got hungry, as God he took a little boy’s lunch and fed 5,000 people with it.  He was the God-man –- completely God and completely man (Jn. 10:33; Romans 9:5) –- sent to rejoin God and man.

Jesus Christ was born of a virgin woman named Mary.  No physical/sexual union had taken place between Joseph and Mary – the conception was wholly miraculous (conceived by the Holy Spirit).  “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means “God with us” (Matt. 1:23).  To be fully God and fully man, and to rejoin both God and man, he had to have been born this way.

Jesus Christ is the second person of the Triune Godhead (the Trinity), the beloved Son of God and God the Son.  “For in him (Christ) dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9).  Jesus and his Father were one (Jn. 10:30), yet he was subservient and obedient to the will of his Father even unto death, the death of the cross.

Jesus Christ is the Living Word (logos) of God.  He was the active agent in creation (Jn. 1:3) and by him all things are held together (Col. 1:7).  As the Savior of the world, he was sent to communicate with humankind something of God’s provision for our salvation, bearing our sin and judgment so we could be justified (“just as if we never sinned”), becoming the righteousness of God in him (II Cor. 5:21).

Jesus Christ physically died for the sins of mankind through a Roman crucifixion, was buried in a borrowed tomb and three days later literally came back to life.  His death satisfied God’s holy sense of justice (“for the wages of sin is death”) and made a relationship with God possible again.  Christ’s miraculous resurrection not only confirmed his deity, defeating death and hell, it also gave our faith substance and hope in the hereafter.  We believe the historical and legal evidence for Christ’s bodily resurrection, if honestly and objectively investigated, is quite convincing.

He is “the One and Only” and His identity is confirmed through Scripture, creation, tradition, history, His Spirit and His Body.  Moreover, who the person of Christ is should inform who the body of Christ is, which leads to the next page, some basic beliefs about the Body…

Since He is the head and we are the body, our theology of the person of Christ should inform our philosophy of the body of Christ, the foundations of which are highlighted below:

The Body of Christ, local & global … the church as Christ’s physical, visible, tangible presence on earth has both a universal and local expression, the former consisting of all Christians around the world while the latter consists of a visible, self-governed assembly of believers who are called out (ecclesia) and connected by (koinonia) the Spirit of God, under the authority of Christ and His Word, to administer the ordinances of baptism and communion, for the dual purpose of fulfilling the great commission and the great commandment. 

The Body of Christ, light & salt … the redemption of souls and the restoration of society; “being the church” instead of doing church, playing church or merely going to church. As “the light of the world,” the believing community will split the darkness of people’s lives with hope and direction.  As “the salt of the earth,” it will penetrate and preserve every arena of our culture, from business to government to the arts to education.

The Body of Christ, broken & healing … embracing His brokenness as well as our own means no more denial, pretending or performing.  We reject our inherent self-righteous tendencies and resist our need to impress each other with how spiritual we are.  We readily acknowledge our flaws, our faults, and our fallen natures.  We confess our sins and strongholds rather than cover them.  Why?  So that we “… may be healed.”  (James 5:16)

The Body of Christ, diet & climate … regarding diet, God’s Word as the bread of life feeds and energizes His Body; regarding climate, the household of faith should be a “place of grace” – affirming, safe, relational, encouraging, empowering, redemptive and restorative – not cold, detached, oppressive, controlling, inflexible, judgmental, divisive or legalistic.

The Body of Christ, health & growth … the Christian community should be the safest place on earth wherein the lost are reconciled, believers are nurtured, broken hearts are mended and shattered lives restored; moreover, where new believers are added and new fellowships emerge.

The Body of Christ, connected & committed … an organized organism, as connected, systemic and interdependent as the members of the human anatomy are and bound by the covenantal commitment that a Christian community requires.

The Body of Christ, thinking & praying … the Church is both a school of thought and a house of prayer, where people of faith are taught to “think His thoughts after Him” and learn to pray as the Lord prayed.

The Body of Christ, caring & sharing … relating to each other and to unbelievers in such a way as to truly know and be known, reflecting an honest, human and humble faith.  As His physical presence in this world, by fulfilling our God-given mandate to care for the poor and homeless, the fatherless and the widows, the disenfranchised and the disillusioned, we literally care for Him.

Christ and His Body have a distinct identity – so should Christians and Christian ministry.  The one shapes the other, the latter flows out of the former, which is what gives ChrisCorps its roots.