Ambassadors for Christ

At our last creative outreach, we were thinking about how God has commissioned and anointed us to be ambassadors for Jesus.

In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul says:

‘We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.’

So what exactly is an ambassador, and how does this affect how we should live our Christian lives?

An ambassador represents someone else and carries their message and values. They are serving the interests of another person or group rather than promoting themselves.

As ambassadors of Christ, our mission is not our own, but we have been commissioned by God to serve His greater purpose. We are not there to draw people to ourselves, but to be signposts that point towards Jesus.

An ambassador has to live their whole life in a way that is in alignment with who they are representing. They can’t speak the message of an organisation but then live in a way that is opposed to that. Everything they do has to be in line with the values of who they are representing.

This needs to be true of us as followers of Jesus. We can’t simply teach the message of the gospel, but we must live it as well.

An ambassador is also given authority to act on behalf of the one they are representing.

Jesus says:

‘I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy.’ (Luke 10:19)

As Christ’s ambassadors, we need to have a revelation of the authority that God has given us in order to be active and effective ambassadors.

I suppose one difference to worldly ambassadors, is that while they represent someone else when that person is not there, we represent God while He is with us and working through us! We don’t work alone, but we are empowered by the Holy Spirit!