The goal of Cornell's Campus Crusade for Christ is simple; it's worship.
What does that mean? Let's begin with what it is not.
We believe that genuine and true Christianity is not a set of rules. It is not a culture. It is not a clever way to enforce a standard of morality. It is not a quaint medium through which people can socialize and make buddies. Nor is it a spiritual exercise meant to bring psychological, emotional, and/or health benefits.
Rather, at the heart of Christianity is an incredible story woven throughout history and revealed through the Bible. When God first created people, there was a beautiful relationship between man and God. But because of our desire for control and our belief in our own self sufficiency, we rejected God; at the very core of that rebellion was self-worship. And at that moment- known as The Fall- sin, brokenness, depravity, and suffering entered the world. And so you see, something very tragic happened at that moment. When we rejected an infinitely beautiful, glorious and worthy God, we also took on an infinitely terrible punishment, an eternity cut off from God's love in hell.
But then something happened that would change everything. God stepped into history, as the infant child of a teenage virgin mother and born in a dirty manger. His name was Jesus, or Emmanuel, which means "God with us."
As he grew up, people saw him performing miracles, casting out demons, and healing people. He reached out to those who were scorned by the religious establishment; the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the lepers, and the diseased. He surprised many by showing incredible love and care to children and women, both of whom were considered much less important in that society. And he said something during all this that surprised everyone; he claimed he was God. And then he was nailed on the cross, a gruesome and tortuous way of dying. Three day later, his body disappeared and thousands declared that they had seen him risen from the grave. And unlike many religious movements, the followers of Jesus would later die for the sake of this good news, not for the sake of a sword, a territory, or a crown.
Today we believe that man's depravity is very real. Romans 3:10-12 says, "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." We believe that the Bible is correct when it says in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We believe that all people are lost and are captive to sin.
And we believe that the salvation that Jesus offers us through his own death on the cross is very real as well. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
Jesus is the core of the Good News! He saves us from our sin and from ourselves, that we might know joy upon joy, in part now, and in fullness after death. As C.S. Lewis has said, our great problem as humans is that we are too easily satisfied. Knowing Jesus isn't a religious exercise, it is knowing the greatest joy that exists; it is far more satisfying than anything we can imagine.
We believe that when we become followers of Jesus, God gives us His Holy Spirit to empower us to grow in Him, to serve the poor, to fight injustice, and to reach the world with this great news.