I am nowhere near a news junkie, as Billy would sometimes call himself. But from time to time, I like to keep up with the news and get informed about what is going on in our world. This week I learned that our president nominated Caroline Kennedy and Michelle Kwan to be U.S. ambassadors to Australia and Belize, respectively. The Kennedy nomination caught my eye because she formerly served as U.S. ambassador from 2013 to 2017 to Japan, a country where I used to live. The Kwan nomination surprised me because I wondered if she was the same Michelle Kwan who won Olympic medals for our country in figure skating. (The answer is yes.) Nevertheless, both nominees must be brilliant, for only those who are brilliant are nominated to the post of ambassador.
I grew up knowing a thing or two about ambassadors, or shall I say, the sons of ambassadors. When I attended an all-boys international school in Tokyo, I was surrounded by sons of U.S. expats and sons of ambassadors. Even though many of my friends were sons of ambassadors, I didn’t know much more about their fathers and what they did other than they were important people from their country.
What is an ambassador? And why is he or she important? An ambassador is a representative of a nation to a foreign land. The role of an ambassador is to reflect the official position of the sovereign body that gave him or her authority. The job of an ambassador is important because it can enrich or dampen international relations on areas of government, such as trade, military involvement, and cultural relationships.
Did you know the word “ambassador” appears in the Bible? In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul writes, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ.” Of all the words he could have used to describe Christ followers, why did he choose this one? Why did he want you and me to think of ourselves as ambassadors for Christ?
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.
All of us fully expected to remain in our sin and to suffer the wages of death for all eternity. No one expected the story to end any differently. But one day many years ago, Christ stepped in between God and us, and he went to the cross in our place. This single act of kindness brought forgiveness for our sin. You and I became “holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation” (Colossians 1:22). The painful separation between sinful man and a holy God came to an end, and we became reconciled to God. And now, Paul says we are Christ’s ambassadors, called to the ministry of reconciliation.
You and I are God’s ambassadors because we represent another kingdom in this world. We reflect the official position of heaven. Our authority came from none other than God himself. We take the message of our King to the “ends of the earth,” imploring men and women of this world to be reconciled to God.
Let me give you a piece of advice: never say we are “church volunteers” in front of Billy. You have been warned. Instead, say we are “ambassadors for Christ”. We are not volunteers in the sense that it is our choice if we want to be the church or not be the church. We are already called. We are all ambassadors. We represent our home in heaven to our world. Our role is to reflect the official position of our sovereign God. Not many of us are brilliant enough to be nominated to be a U.S. ambassador. But each of us is fabulously brilliant in God’s eyes. He says we are already his ambassadors. You are an ambassador. I am an ambassador.
Ephesians 6:18–20 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.