Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God – 2 Corinthians 5:20
Let’s start by looking at the word “ambassador”. An ambassador is a representative, but one who carries authority, usually the authority of a ruler. Daniel (Daniel 2:48, Daniel 6:2) and Joseph (Genesis 41:38-41) were biblical examples of ambassadors. Daniel was an ambassador for King Nebuchadnezzar, and later for King Darius (Daniel 6:1-2); and Joseph was an ambassador for Pharaoh (Genesis 41:39-44).
But in as much as they were ambassadors for these earthly rulers, they were also ambassadors for Yahweh’s kingdom. They represented Him in a way that brought glory to His name through their faith, loyalty and unwillingness to compromise.
In Daniel 2:28, Daniel accredits God when he interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, leading the pagan king to acknowledge God (The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets…” – Daniel 2:47). In Genesis 41:16-39, Joseph acknowledges God throughout his interpretations of Pharaoh’s dreams, leading Pharaoh (a worshiper of idols) to acknowledge God (“Can we find such a man as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” – Genesis 41:38).
Both men also represented God’s kingdom positively and powerfully, not only through their words, but through their actions – Daniel, when he refused to defile himself with the king’s delicacies (Daniel 1:8) and continued to pray knowing the penalty (Daniel 6); and Joseph, when he defied Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39:7-9) and forgave his brothers (Genesis 45:4-15)
Like Daniel, Joseph and Paul, we too represent God’s kingdom and are therefore ambassador’s for Christ. We represent Him in our homes, workplaces, and communities. Like Paul implored the people of the Corinthian church to be reconciled to God, many of us are imploring our unsaved family members and friends to do likewise. We want those we love to have a relationship with Christ.
In our opening statement, we said that an ambassador is a representative, but one who carries authority, usually the authority of a ruler. If we are ambassadors for Christ, we carry His authority. This authority is to be used against the enemy (Luke 10:19) in spiritual warfare to bring our families, friends, colleagues and communities to Christ.
Our verbal testimonies play an important role, but just as crucial are our actions and behaviour in representing Christ. We need to live according to His word and the good testimony that we speak – our actions must match our words. If we are talking about a Jesus that loves and forgives, we need to show love and forgiveness as representatives or ambassadors for Christ. We can not be doing the opposite because actions often speak louder than words.
When we live a contradictory life to the one we “preach”, we can represent Christ in a negative way. We can sometimes discourage others from following Jesus, or even lead young believers astray if they follow in our footsteps. We must bear in mind that we don’t only represent Christ in church on Sundays, but throughout the week. This means that we need to be conscious of what we say and do regardless of where we are and who we are with.
Sure, there are times when we’ll make mistakes, but that is where repentance comes in.
So how are we representing Christ? Here are some questions that we can ask ourselves:
- How do we behave outside of the church environment?
- How do we behave around family members, friends or colleagues that don’t believe in Jesus? Do we change out behaviour to fit in and be accepted?
- What are we posting on social media?
- What is our heart attitude towards those who are poor? (Proverbs 14:31, Proverbs 19:17)
- How do we behave towards those who are weaker than us? (Psalm 82:3-4)
- How do we treat those over whom we have authority – like our children, employees, congregation members or even pets?
- What is our attitude towards those in authority? (Romans 13:1)
- How do we treat the environments – the land, beaches and streams, etc that the Lord has bless us with? Do we pollute or preserve them? (Romans 8:19)