2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV): We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
Do you ever feel like you are in a dead-end job with little important responsibility and ability to impact the world around you? I have information that can cure you of that, but you’ll have to read further down to find out what it is. Queue dramatic background music….
The organization I work for is very involved in the diplomatic community, so at the annual fundraising dinner I attended last week, there were numerous diplomats in the audience. Through the magic of assigned table numbers, I wound up sitting next to an ambassador from the country of Sri Lanka, a small island nation off the southern cost of India. She was a very pleasant lady, and we attempted to engage in some small talk, but a white-bread American like me didn’t have much in common with her.
We did share one characteristic, however. We were both at the dinner as representatives. She was, of course, representing her nation, while I was representing my organization. Anything either one of us said or did had the potential to impact how others felt about those we represented. Since the ambassador was only the second native Sri Lankan I had ever been aware of meeting, if she had wiped her mouth with the tablecloth or told off-color jokes, a portion of my brain would have attributed those characteristics to her entire nation. As it was, we were both pleasantly engaged with one another and probably left there with a good impression of those the other person represented.
This is exactly the point that Paul was making to the Corinthian church.
The cure for insignificance that I mentioned above is the realization that we are representatives of our Lord Jesus Christ! Those of us who live near the Nation’s Capital understand the respect that ambassadors from other nations receive. You’ve probably heard of “diplomatic immunity.” Well, we have that with God, and it’s called salvation. We are immune to the rule of Satan in our lives because we are covered with the blood of Jesus at the cross. The devil can’t touch us, just like our laws cannot touch those representing other nations.
More important than what’s in it for us, though, is the opportunity we have to impact the lives of others. One of the key functions of an ambassador is to influence others on behalf of those he represents. When we are saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, we can share that love and the power with others so they can also be blessed. Sadly, though, Christians often have just the opposite affect and chase people away from wanting a relationship with Jesus. I would have reflected poorly on the organization I represented at our dinner with obnoxious behavior, but even worse, especially if I had shared anything about my faith in the process, my obnoxiousness would have been an embarrassment to my Lord.
I encourage you to remember what I call “the gospel of Spider Man.” In the comics and the movies, he is motivated by the phrase “with great power comes great responsibility.” He didn’t use his power to catch a crook and his beloved uncle was later killed by that same crook. He didn’t use his power responsibly, and others suffered. When we don’t use the power of the Holy Spirit to positively influence others, we are not upholding our responsibility as God’s ambassadors.
When we head to work tomorrow, whether it’s as an executive or as a clerk, we have great power to impact the world around us if we have Christ. I encourage you to use it. Represent!
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