More than a friendly diplomat …

“HELP WANTED” are welcome words in today’s economy. It’s also one that fits well regarding the mission of the church, and there is a job opening Jesus is recruiting you for.

The job I’m talking about is being an Ambassador for Christ, a position probably best spotlighted by this writing from the Apostle Paul:

“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 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 5:18-20.

When we think of the work of an ambassador, we tend to make the cultural mistake of seeing it only like the work of a modern-day ambassador representing one country to others. There certainly are similarities. As an Ambassador for Christ, we do represent the King and His kingdom to the world. But there’s a little deeper meaning when we consider in context the work of an ambassador.

The context in this situation would be what serving as an ambassador would be like during Paul’s day. When the apostle penned the word “ambassador,” he knew his readers would immediately know exactly what he meant.

At the time Paul wrote this passage of scripture, there was a primary responsibility that fell to the ambassador. As countries waged war, it was the job of the ambassador of the victor nation to go to the defeated nation and, as a personal representative of the king, declare what the terms and conditions for peace were as established by the victorious king.

Romans 5:10 tells us we were enemies of God when we lived in sin. But Jesus Christ defeated sin and death and is the vanquishing King! Now, He enlists us as His ambassadors to declare to those who are still enemies what His terms and conditions are for peace with God.

” … And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him …”

” … God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’”

The position of ambassador Jesus has delegated to His followers is more than a quiet, boring assignment at some remote outpost. It’s to present to the world good news that peace is offered by the King on terms so gracious it would be foolish to rebuff them.

That is the primary task of an ambassador. Jesus has appointed you as His ambassador. Are you proclaiming the terms for peace on behalf of your King?

Scotty