I spent most of high school trying to define who I was. At various times I tried to fit in with the sports, popular, nerd, geek, stoner, and music crowds, constantly jumping from one thing to the next to “find myself.” To one degree or another, I think that’s pretty common in high school. But, I also think a lot of us adults spend a fair share of time trying to figure out who we are. I also think a lot of us try to live through our kids. When I was a youth pastor one of the number one types of counseling I did was helping students convince their parents they should stop playing a sport. In THREE different cases, medical doctors told the student they needed to stop playing or risk permanent injuries, yet their parents wouldn’t let them. That may seem extreme, but if I saw it three times in five years in a town of 650 I’m guessing it happens relatively frequently. On another front, I’m currently working with a lot of very depressed people, mainly men, who have lost their jobs due to the economic crisis in Nicaragua. Like many men, they take a lot of their identity from their job, and now that they are unemployed they are totally lost. Not only is it causing them pain, but also their families, as they are often stressed out, angry, and frustrated with life and God.
Instead of spending life trying to figure out who we are, trying to convince people that we are something, or having the world tell us who we are, we need to be who God made us to be. Over the next four weeks I want to look at four different things God has called us all to be. Here’s the first one: we are called to be ambassadors of Christ.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20
The reasons countries started having ambassadors was that in the days before all today’s communicatory methods about the only way for a leader to discuss anything with another leader was in person. Obviously, the leader couldn’t be everywhere they needed to be at once, so they appointed an ambassador that would speak for them. In most cases this person carried an authority similar to the leader themselves, speaking and negotiating on their behalf as if the leader themselves were in the room. That is the kind of responsibility and authority God has given to us. He calls us to be his ambassadors in this world, sharing the good news of Christ Jesus to everyone we can. This is in no way to say that we have the power to save people, for that is God’s alone. But it is to say that God has called us to be His tool for sharing the good news of eternal life with those around us. Is an ambassador of Christ one of the identities that you have? If not, I would challenge you to prayerfully consider taking on the mantle of ambassadorship God is offering you, and see how God can work through you.
