He shared about feeling the Holy Spirit lead him to sit with a heroin addict, not really talking or preaching, just sitting, silently praying for her. Being present to someone who the world generally pretended was invisible.
He also talked about a conversation he had with the kind of guy he was used to arresting. The guy was surprised to hear what he did, saying, “I didn’t know there were any of you like this.” Through this encounter, they both saw the other not as ‘other’ but as human, as needing the love of God.
Right at the end he
said of his testimony, he told us, “I'm not really a State trooper.
God has disguised me as one, but that’s not who I am. I am an Ambassador
for Christ.”
Then he said to us, “You
are not a teacher, or a student or whatever you do. You are only disguised as
one. You are an Ambassador.”
An ambassador “is sent by one sovereign state to another as its resident representative”. Ambassadors are sent where the state chooses them to go. They are sent where they are needed.
To accomplish their
mission, ambassadors need to take care not to alienate those to whom they have
been sent. That means, learning about the new place, interacting with the
citizens and leaders, finding out what is the most effective way to convey their
message.
Ambassadors are not sent to see the sights, make personal gains, or push their own agenda through. They need to be above reproach, fulfilling their duties with excellence. Failing to do so reflects poorly on their sending country, and can actually jeopardize the mission.
They also do not have
the right to change the mission or the message of the country they
represent. Doing so is a fast way to be recalled.
Ambassadors may grow to love the new place and feel at home there, but to be effective they must never forget their true home.
As follows of Christ,
we are His ambassadors, sent into the world to represent our true King and His
kingdom. As Paul told the Corinthians, it is “as though God were
making His appeal through us” (I Corinthians 5:20). Through His Holy
Spirit, God’s ambassadors bring His appeal to be reconciled to Him in Christ.
Like any ambassador, it
is critical to the success of our mission that we communicate in an effective
way. This means learning how best to share the Good News of Jesus Christ
with those around us. Learning the ‘language’ of those who do not yet
know Him is so important.
Even as we learn the new language, however, we never, ever change the message itself. If our Sovereign is making His appeal through us, we cannot take or leave the parts of that appeal we don’t like. Doing so risks the very mission itself.
I’ve thought about this
idea all week. I am not in training to be an Office Manager.
Instead, God, for His good and perfect purposes, has allowed me to be disguised
as one, in order to share His appeal.
That doesn’t mean shirking my responsibilities in my new job! Instead, to earn the right to speak truth, I must perform my duties with excellence.
I am in disguise. Not to trick or mislead, but to bring light, the True Light, into the darkness. It changes my perspective on my work. When I have a frustrating day, how can I still be an 'appealing' representative of my King? How can I use who I am, where I am, to reflect Him?
If you are a Christian,
you are not an office manager or store clerk or even a parent, either.
You are in disguise. Your King has sent you out to be His
ambassador. Will you allow God to make His appeal through you? What
a responsibility… what a privilege!
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