The Ambassador Is … You!

After much careful thought and consideration, God has appointed His ambassador. Congratulations! So what should you do now?

The position of ambassador is a very serious one. Few people are so influential in shaping relations between two countries. In some cases, ambassadors are able to stop wars. However, there is a flip side to that coin. An ambassador can also destroy international relations and help play a role in starting wars.

Ambassadors may not be the most well-known figures in the government, but they are influential.

We, God’s people, have been called to be examples and represent God and His Kingdom (Matthew 5:14-16), kind of like an ambassador. We don’t help determine foreign policy or become decisive factors in a war, but we do have a vital role to play. One of the most important jobs of an ambassador is to represent his or her nation. We have been called to represent God’s nation—something that He takes very seriously. God carefully selects and works with those who He believes will be good ambassadors (John 6:44).

Our job

We are ambassadors for a different nation—the Kingdom of God (Hebrews 11:13-16). We live in the world (John 17:11), but we are not a part of the world. To the world, we are strangers who live a strange way of life (Matthew 5:43-44; 22:37-39) and keep strange days (Leviticus 23:2) instead of the popular holidays.

The people in the world who see us don’t realize it, but we are representing the way that they will live in the future when God’s Kingdom does come to this earth (Zechariah 8:20-23).

Are we a good representation? Do we properly display the Kingdom of God? If we do not, then we are failing in our role as ambassadors. We must strive every day to be a good—a great—ambassador for God.

God’s people are ambassadors 25 hours a day, eight days a week. That math may not add up, but the exaggeration just emphasizes the fact that we are to go above and beyond (Matthew 5:41-48) in serving our fellow man.

Our example matters

You may not have the most important or the most exciting job in the world today. It may not seem that your job makes much difference or that your example really matters. But God took all of that into account when He appointed you His ambassador. God intentionally called those who weren’t superstars or famous heads of state (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).

It is because of our seeming insignificance that we make such good ambassadors for God! We can’t take credit for God’s work in our lives—the only One that credit can go to is God.

Actually, we probably have a greater impact than we think. We can have an impact on people by something as small as a smile and a kind word. We can also have an impact with something as small as a curse word and a frown or a rude unwillingness to help. The choice and the power of our impact belongs to us—the ambassador.

A sign that I saw once explains the power we have pretty well: “All people bring joy to this office—some when they come in; others when they go out.”

On dangerous ground

There is a downside to being an ambassador: It’s a dangerous job. People don’t always like ambassadors or the nations that they represent. Christ warned us that our job won’t always be easy (John 15:20). Some of God’s ambassadors have been killed in the past (Acts 7:54-60). They even killed Christ when He was an Ambassador (John 8:12; Acts 2:36).

Right now, most of God’s ambassadors are not persecuted to the death. The times are changing, however; and God reveals that they will continue to change for the worse (Matthew 24:21-22).

We will not always be ambassadors. As important a role as it is, that is not where God plans for us to spend the rest of eternity. God promises us the roles of kings and priests in His eternal Kingdom (Revelation 5:10). We will no longer just represent the Kingdom of God—we will help rule in the Kingdom of God.

Our lives as ambassadors today might be difficult and, at times, dangerous. However, we must remember that this isn’t the end. We may be ambassadors today, but we will be kings and priests tomorrow.

For more about living the Christian life, see the “Christian Conversion” section on the Life, Hope & Truth website. For more about the government we represent and look forward to, see the section on the “Kingdom of God.”

Joshua Travers is a college freshman at Ohio University and attends the Athens, Ohio, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, with his family.