How To Be a Happy Ambassador
How To Be a Happy Ambassador
I went to college in Los Angeles, and just down the street from my apartment in Westwood was a little place called Diddy Reese Cookies. You could get three home-baked cookies plus milk for a dollar. These were big 6-inch cookies, fresh-baked all day every day. I think I ate about two dozen cookies a week.
That’s still my favorite place in the whole world. You can still get 3 huge cookies for a dollar. And so whenever anyone’s flying to L.A., I always tell them, “You gotta go to Diddy Reese Cookies! Even if you just have a 2-hour layover in LAX, you gotta jump in a taxi, go to Westwood, and eat some of those cookies!” I think I’ve sent hundreds of people to them over the years.
They’ve never paid me a nickel for the marketing work I do for them. I’m thrilled to do it, because I want other people to have the same incredible experience I had. I’m an ambassador for Diddy Reese cookies.
And that’s the kind of ambassador we become for Christ when we’ve had a radical experience of God’s grace. If we’ve been transformed by the gospel, we just can’t help ourselves from telling others about it. That’s how Paul felt:
The love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. … skip to verse … All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 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 5:14-20)
Evangelism isn’t a duty to Paul. He doesn’t share his faith out of some kind of grudging obligation. He’s a happy ambassador for Christ. There are a few things Paul mentions that can help us become the same kind of happy ambassadors:
Happy ambassadors are compelled.
Paul says, “The love of Christ controls us.” It compels us. He’s so blown away by the love of Christ that he just can’t think of doing anything else but to share it. He’s compelled to share the gospel out of generosity and love, not guilt.
If Jesus isn’t good news for us, then we’ll never believe he’s good news for others. But when we are blown away by the love of Christ toward us, evangelism isn’t something we have to do, it’s something we can’t stop ourselves from doing. Just like I tell everyone I know about Diddy Reese Cookies.
Happy ambassadors are confident.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Jesus loves me and accepts me, so I don’t need to worry about what other people think.[/perfectpullquote] Paul says, “Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” I’m reconciled. I have a relationship with God, and I want to invite others into the same relationship. I know that Jesus loves me and accepts me, so I don’t need to worry about what other people think. I don’t need to be worried about people ridiculing me or hurting me. I already have the favor and acceptance of God!
Happy ambassadors are hopeful.
Paul says, “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” So I have the ministry of reconciliation, but it’s not really me who reconciles anybody. God reconciles the world to himself.
That gives me so much hope, because I’m tempted to be doubtful about who can be saved. I meet people and say to myself, “There’s no hope for this guy.” But if it’s God who reconciles, then there’s always hope!
Happy ambassadors are relational.
Paul says, “We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” If you’re the U.S. ambassador to Russia, you don’t just sit in Washington DC and send emails to Vladimir Putin. You go. You live there. You spend time with Russians. You plan meetings, and parties, and face-to-face conversations.
Tim Chester and Steve Timmis wrote in Total Church, “People want a form of evangelism they can stick in their schedule, switch off, and leave behind when they go home. Jesus calls us to a lifestyle of love.” But it can’t stop there. It should naturally lead to conversations and an opportunity to proclaim the gospel. So they say, “Apologetics is answering the questions raised by our lives.” Which means…
Happy ambassadors are vocal.
Paul says, “We have a message of reconciliation. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” There’s a message that needs to be proclaimed! Lots of Christians love to quote St. Francis of Assissi — “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary use words.” But trying to preach the gospel without words is like trying to give someone your phone number without digits. It’s like trying to invite people to a party, only using hand motions. You have to send them a text, or an e-vite, or an actual card in the mail. You have to use words.
And inviting people into fellowship with God works the same. There’s a message that needs to be proclaimed: “Be reconciled to God through Christ!” If we’ve been transformed by the gospel, we can’t wait to proclaim it.