Biblical Success - What Me? An Ambassador? Who Says?နမူနာ

What does An Ambassador Do?

Scripture

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” -- I Corinthians 3:16 (NKJV)

“But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.” -- I Corinthians 12:18 (NKJV)

“for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” -- Philippians 2:13 (NKJV)

“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began . . .” -- II Timothy 1:8-9 (NKJV)

An ambassador is a representative of the values and culture of the country that sends them. They live temporarily in a foreign country to represent the interests, culture, and values of the sending entity. They obey the laws of the host country but are ultimately subject to the authority and direction of the sending country. Christ-followers are similar in several ways. This world is not our home. We live “in it” but we are not “of it.” (John 17) How does that all work? 

It works like this. In Scripture, we are told that we are children of God living on earth only temporarily until a day when we will finish the race set before us and return to our true home in heaven. French philosopher Tielhard de Chardin said it this way: “We are not physical beings who have occasional spiritual experiences, we are spirit beings who are having a temporary physical experience.” 

There is a season of physical life between our birth into the Kingdom of God and our passing into eternal life in which we are called to do the “good works” that God has prepared and equipped us to do as His personal representatives or “Ambassadors for Christ.” As an earthly ambassador represents the values and culture of the sending country, we are called to represent the values and culture of the Kingdom of God in Christ. 

God has described the culture of the Kingdom in His Son and through His Word. A “mini expression” of the culture of the Kingdom might be seen in The “Sermon on The Mount “in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. Maybe in mini-mini form in Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” 

We express and demonstrate Kingdom culture to the world around us in the context of our unique individual opportunity and in contrast to the ways of this world. Our opportunity is created by the combination of gifts, talents, education, location, vocation, resources, age and stage in life that we are experiencing now and our context moves with as we pass through the seasons of life. I am 82 as I write these words, but I am still an Ambassador for Christ. I still have a context. I’m sheltering at home because of Covid-19. I still have a context. It’s way different but it’s my context. 

What do you think? What’s your context look like, and how are you sharing the Kingdom culture? If the laws changed and it became illegal to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?