Ambassador {Representing the Character of the King}

This is something to chew on for the weekend...

Redeemed, blood bought.  Now, we represent the One who paid the price and rescued us from the dark pit of slavery.  Do we represent the King well?

I heard two different highly intelligent Christian men both use the word "Ambassador" in the span of a few days.  One was Chuck Missler (you can find him on You Tube and I highly recommend him) and the other is Dr. Darrell Bock.  Both said that if we are going to take the name of the King, then we better be prepared to represent Him as an ambassador.

Ambassador:  an accredited diplomat sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country.  We are aliens/foreigners/pilgrims in this land.  We belong to a different Kingdom.  We represent a King.  We have the title of emissary and representative as we walk this sin filled land.  Do we represent the character of the King well? Do we blend in?  Do people even know we are part of a different Kingdom? We care not about our own opinions; we are here to promote the opinions and truth of the King and His country. 

"Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us:  we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God."  2 Corinthians 5:20. 

Bock says we are on a rescue mission. Do we offer life and healing to those who belong to the Kingdom of darkness?  "A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a faithful ambassador brings health."  Proverbs 13:17

There is so much behind a name.  I am convinced there is so much depth behind the names of God and Christ that we probably skip right over.  When God tells us one of His names, it is a definition of His character, a revealed manifestation of who He is.  Missler says "to take His name in vain" goes far beyond swearing.  It implies that we (as ambassadors) don't represent Him accurately or fully. "Vain" implies hollowness and emptiness.  If we take His name in vain, we aren't fully or accurately representing Yahweh.  Piper says we aren't to empty his name...don't rob God of his weight and glory. {Ouch and ouch.}

Our mission as ambassadors is reconciliation between a lost world and a Father head over heels in love with that world.  Christ achieved this possibility of reconciliation on the cross.  We only have to spread that good news, practicing grace along the way.