Ambassadors of Christ - June 3

Read 2 Corinthians 5:20

Therefore, we are ambassadors of Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Reflect

When you think of someone who is an ambassador, what do you think of? What is their role and responsibilities?

According to Merriam-Webster, an ambassador is “an official envoy or representative of a government or sovereign, especially in a foreign country.” 

The primary role of an ambassador or a diplomat is to conduct diplomacy. The National Museum of American Diplomacy defines diplomacy as: “the art and practice of building and maintaining relationships and conducting negotiations with people using tact and mutual respect.” Ambassadors don’t speak on their own behalf or seek their own interests. They speak on behalf of their government’s leadership and advocate for the interests of their home country.

In today’s verse, the apostle Paul used the language “we are ambassadors of Christ”. That means that we are His representatives in a foreign land. We are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20) but we are living here on earth. And while we are here, it is our job to represent Christ. We are supposed to be building and maintaining relationships with the locals (nonbelievers) using tact and mutual respect.

We aren’t speaking for ourselves or seeking our own interests, rather Paul wrote that God is appealing to others through us. The message that we are supposed to communicate is “be reconciled to God.”

As ambassadors of Christ, we are supposed to be urging people to fix their broken relationship with the Lord. Sin has separated them from our Holy God but that relationship can be restored through Jesus Christ. So, we share the Gospel with them and implore them to put their trust in Christ for the salvation of their souls.

But how we communicate that message matters. I usually don’t listen to people that I don’t trust and I’m rarely convinced to change my mind when people are rude or belligerent. I doubt I’m alone in that. That is why building relationships, using tact, and treating others with mutual respect is so important.

In the first chapter of his book, Tactics, Christian apologist Greg Koukl acknowledged that even though real spiritual warfare is going on all around us, the way that we engage with nonbelievers should look less like D-day and more like diplomacy.

In order to be effective ambassadors of Christ, Koukl listed three skills that Christians need to develop: knowledge, wisdom, and character. He wrote: “They must know the central message of God’s kingdom and something about how to respond to the obstacles they’ll encounter on their mission…Our knowledge must be tempered with the wisdom that makes the message clear and persuasive. This requires the tools of a diplomat, not the weapons of a warrior, tactical skill, rather than brute force. Finally, our character can make or break our mission. Knowledge and wisdom are packaged in a person. If that person does not embody the virtues of the Sovereign she serves, she will undermine her message and handicap her efforts.”

In Colossians 4:5-6, the apostle Paul also advocated for using knowledge, wisdom, and good character in our interactions with nonbelievers. He wrote: “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

When we share our faith with others, we have to remember that we aren’t trying to just win arguments—we are trying to point people to the truth—Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). That’s why we should do the work of ambassadors and seek to build and maintain meaningful relationships with nonbelievers using tact and mutual respect. We won’t master all of these diplomatic skills overnight but by staying in the Word, through prayer, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can learn to be effective ambassadors of Christ.

Respond

Lord, thank You for the immense privilege of representing You to those around me. I want to be an effective ambassador, pointing others to You and Your truth. Help me to build relationships with those who don’t know You and train me to know what to say when I stumble for words. Amen.

Reveal

As you go about your day, think about how you represent Christ in your everyday actions and everyday conversations. Do your words and actions reflect the virtues of the Sovereign? Focus on being an effective ambassador for Christ through your words and your deeds today.