A friend recently said to me: "You might not be an international spy or President. But wherever God has put you, you are CHRIST'S AMBASSADOR to the world around you." What does it mean to be Christ's Ambassador? I'm just wondering, what does that look like?
It makes me think of the first part of Philippians 1:27, which says, "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ."
If your conduct is worthy of the gospel of Christ, it implies a since that the two should be equal, that is, that your life ministers to people in the same way that the gospel does. Essentially, this is the process of sanctification... in which we become more like Christ and reflect Him more frequently and clearly to others.
Would this also involve adapting yourself to the "target culture" as far as possible, like ambassadors in the real world do?
Like they don't behave like at home but like one behaves in the country they serve in. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do".
It makes me think of 1. Cor 11:14:
Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
I got the thought that Paul might refer hereto the Hellenistic culture, which didn't know long hair for men, while in the middle East and Northern Europe men did have long hair and there is no other rule in the bible I know of that would prohibit to have long hair.
If I am right this could also apply to other passages. So as an ambassador of Christ in the USA I would seek to not provoke people there with my appearance and behaviour. But in Europe I'd have to appear and behave differently to not provoke. So this makes sense at least to me, that one has to adapt as far as possible to the "target culture".
We are not to be as the world, but as Christ. So if the culture wants to run around with pink hair and piercings I will not go along with that culture. We are to be modest in our appearance and our nature.
I have gone witnessing to the skater community dressed the way I normally am, I didn't dress like they do nor did I try to talk like them. If I would have they would have treated me as a fake and not listened to a word I had to say.
Even though they didn't like what I had to say they still treated me with some respect... Well, some of them anyway.
InHisHonor: Very good point! Our conversion must be real. Other people judging God by my actions is really hard to live with but it is so very true. I wish I could remember this more often, especially when I get impatient with the check-out line at a store or following a slow driver. I've heard that there are two teachers in life: the pain of discipline - study, doing what is right, listening to and obeying wise counselors, etc. - or the pain of regret. Unfortunately, seems I am usually enrolled in the latter class. :laugh:
Pixy: WOW! That is a very high standard! We should love God's Beloved as He does. I hadn't thought of being an Ambassador in quiet that way before. That really sinks in for me though. It does seem to be key to representing Him, doesn't it? After all, He is Love! I used to have a pastor who would often times say "May we love the things that He loves so that we will hate the things that He hates."
De Benny: Yes, I believe you are right that being an Ambassador would include adapting or "fitting in" to some degree. I usually try to relate being an Ambassador to the natural aspect of it. The problem is I have never been mentored by or observed a person whose job was a true ambassador. Your comments reminded of the movie, I don't remember the title, about a Puritan man who time traveled into the future to about 2010 or something. :laugh: Boy was he shocked! Everyone who saw him thought he was strange, too. He had a good message to deliver, that the people were getting too far away from the simple, important things in life...God and family. Not many people could "get it" though because they saw him as too different.
Seems that God has caused all these comments to flow together in a way. What I got from it was, we must first be truly changed from death to life ourselves and then love people where they are in a way they can understand.
Just a little reaction to InHisHonor, to make my point more clear:
You are right about the skaters. Of course they would see you as fake if you were one, because wearing their clothes and speaking their language is only on the surface, to being an ambassador you have to do more. You have to actually live in the target culture. If you are a skater yourself, they won't see you as a fake.
Same about the piercings and pink hair. Of course this seems odd to us, being from a certain cultural background ourselves, and in our background this is considered not modest in appearance. But many of the ways we dress up would also be considered not modest in other parts of the world. For the skaters you mentioned it coul have been offending to wear shirt and tie, fo it could come across as if one wanted to say: Look, I wear shirt and tie, I am BETTER than you, though this wasn't intended by that person...
What is modest and not depends very much on the culture we are in. But we can als relax. We are not all to be ambassadors to the skaters. The US doesn't have thousands of ambassadors in Lesotho as well... some have the gift to adapt to those different cultures and subcultures without leaving God behind, and those be God's ambassadors.
Great post and responses. :applause: And as stated, God has chosen us (all believers) to be ambassadors for Christ, as Paul affirms his postion in 2 Corinthians chapter5.
We are to represent the kingdom of God in good standing, and invite the lost to salvation with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are to take the gospel, but it is their responsibility to receive it.
Amen Ella! We should invite everyone we know to become a citizen of God's Kingdom. I think I should revised my final summary of comments to include that:
What I got from it was, we must first be truly changed from death to life ourselves and then love people where they are in a way they can understand so that they too will want to become a citizen of God's Kingdom! :applause:
