Faithful Ambassadors
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2 Corinthians 5:17-21
17. Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. 18. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19. that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Beginning at verse 11 of Chapter 5, the section heading in my bible is
The Ministry of Reconciliation. The “dictionary definitions” of reconcile are as follows: “To reestablish a close relationship between. To settle or resolve. To bring (oneself) to accept. To make compatible or consistent.” The first definition is pretty much how we view the purpose of the life of Christ. He certainly did come to reestablish the bond between a loving God and his precious, though wayward, children. Additionally, the crucifixion resolved or settled our long-standing state of sin.
The challenge for us -- or at least for me -- is to be compatible or consistent with Christ’s teachings and live a life worthy the sacrifice he made for me. More than that, I say that I accept the gift, and often I put it on display for the world to see. Yet I find I continually put it away, back in the beautifully wrapped package in which it came. I don’t want it on display when it’s too difficult to be truly worthy of it. I want to be reconciled on my own terms, in my own way. The cross is too heavy to bear sometimes -- more often than not, I sadly admit.
You see, when we accept the gift of Jesus Christ, we do become his ambassadors. There is a saying, “I might be only Christ someone sees.” And that is true in a very real and literal way. If I say I am saved, I had better be sure I demonstrate to the world what that means. If I am Christ’s ambassador, just as in the UN, I may truly be the “face” of Christ and the only “face” the world sees. So do I judge another by how they speak, or how they dress? Do I pass judgment on someone because they have broken the law? Do I determine the worth of a life based on what they possess?
More than that, do I automatically assign guilt/sin to convicted criminals? As a Christian, as Christ’s ambassadors, as those reconciled to Christ, we are held to a higher standard. We are to love and minister to each and every person we meet. We are to admit that we are sinners, broken and imperfect, yet saved through God’s grace. And we are not place sin of a scale of 1 - 10! Cheating on your taxes isn’t a “lesser” sin than murder! But we’ll have that discussion another time!
My prayer today is that you will be a faithful ambassador for Christ. And that you make your life consistent with the message of the Cross.
Mary
