We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. — 2 Corinthians 5:20
Have you ever thought of yourself as being a high-up very important government official? How would you handle such a position and what would you do? Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth introduces the term and applies it to us. But unlike only one ambassador to every country, he tells us that we are all ambassadors. Ambassadors for Christ. The apostle Paul considered himself Christ’s ambassador.
What is an ambassador? He is an authorized representative of a sovereign state or nation. He speaks not in his own name but on behalf of the ruler whose deputy he is, and his whole duty and responsibility is to interpret that ruler’s mind faithfully to those to whom he is sent. Paul called himself an ambassador because he knew that when he proclaimed the gospel facts and promises and urged sinners to receive the reconciliation effected at Calvary, he was declaring Christ’s message to the world.
The Bible says that we are all ambassadors for Christ. In other words, we are the representatives of the sovereign kingdom of God on the earth, wherever we are. We don’t speak our own words but the words of Him whom we represent. That means in order to be an effective ambassador, we need to know well what our sovereign Lord’s word says. If not, we will not be a true representative, in fact, we could misrepresent the one we serve.
In India there is a Bible Institute run by Dr. Samuel Thomas – a modern day hero of the Christian faith. Each year this Bible Institute has a commencement ceremony where students who have finished their studies are together for one final time before leaving this institute as graduates.
What is so profound is that the climax of this commencement ceremony is the time when the entire graduation class rises and repeats words very similar to these:
“Today, I stand as a dead man. I declare that in Jesus Christ, I am saved by His blood, and thus I am dead to sin, and no longer dead in my sin. Today, I stand and declare that I surrender my will and my life to His will and his life. I shall go where he sends me, without asking questions. I shall go to whomever He sends me, without seeking fame. I shall preach to everyone, even if they hate me. I am an ambassador of the Cross, and must deliver the message.
I shall pour my life out to reach my family, my friends, my neighbors, and my city. I embrace the shame of the Cross, and I fear nothing but God. I welcome suffering, shame, persecution, beatings, imprisonment and death, but I will not be silenced. If I am killed, I pray that my blood should be a harvest for souls. This is my city. I dare not do less.”
Following graduation, each student is given three, and only three items: A new Bible; a new bicycle and a one-way train ticket to their field of service. They have no other plan.*
Now that’s being an ambassador for Christ!
* Guy Glass
