For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)
What if I told you God didn’t just save you from something, He saved you to something?
You see, God’s purpose for sending Christ to die for you goes much deeper than merely saving you from death. His plan has always been to recruit this new version of you as a fully-alive, redeemed, hope-filled messenger of reconciliation to those who remain lost.
In other words, God has called you to be His ambassador.
According to dictionary.com, an ambassador is “a diplomatic official of the highest rank, sent by one sovereign or state to another as its resident representative.” In plain english: an ambassador is a messenger sent from one Kingdom to another. And not just any messenger, but one who has been trusted by the highest ranks with the most important and sensitive information. If you’re negotiating on behalf of the President with a foreign dignitary, you probably aren’t going to do it through email. You would send an ambassador to talk with him or her face-to-face.
Furthermore, you would want to make sure the person you sent as your ambassador understood the local customs, spoke the language, and ideally had an established relationship with whomever you were sending them to communicate with. This is why official US Ambassadors typically live within the country they’ve been assigned to. They are not citizens of that country, but they’ve chosen to live their lives there in order to develop relationships and become more effective in their communication.
So, what does this lesson in foreign relations have to do with you and me?
God’s plan is to recruit you (as well as all believers) to represent Him and share the news of His Kingdom with those who remain separated from Him. That’s why He doesn’t just zap us into Heaven the moment we believe, and why it’s probably not the best idea to hide yourself in an underground bunker lest you be tempted by negative influences.
You’re called to enter into the world of those around you (as much as you can without grieving the Holy Spirit), develop friendships with them, and share the love of Christ abundantly. Ideally, through these relationships, opportunities for deeper discussion will arise naturally, allowing you to share the story of how God has reconciled you back to Himself—an offer that is available to all.
Even if you’re only at the beginning of your journey to freedom, you can still tell others of the ways Jesus has already changed your life. Please don’t buy the lie that you need to “arrive” at some point of perfection before your story is worthy of being told. The only thing required of you to be an ambassador of Christ is to simply be in Christ.
