God’s Diplomats

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20

Ambassadors – Are you an ambassador for Yeshua HaMashiach?  Paul says that he is.  Furthermore, he claims that everyone who is a new creation in Christ is an ambassador for Christ.  We can add this function to the list of God’s assignments.  We are royal priests, part of a holy nation and now, ambassadors.  OK, so what does that mean?

Paul uses the Greek word presbeuomen.  You might recognize the connection to presbuteros, a word that is the basis of Presbyterian.  It means to be aged, elderly, and also an ambassador.  In spite of our contemporary need for “relevance,” it is unlikely that the elders of Paul’s day were young men.  Experience in the ways of God takes time – sometimes a lot of it.  Nevertheless, while we might not all be aged or elders, we are all ambassadors.  We are all engaged in advancing the interests and agenda of the moral government of God.  At least that’s supposed to be our role.

Paul’s declaration raises an important question.  Quite often this verse is used as a proof-text for evangelism.  We read it as if it says, “We are recruiters for Christ.”  That makes us think that the sole purpose of being a presbeuo is to “save souls.”  We act as though our function as ambassadors is limited to declaring the need to be saved.  But is this what Paul says?  Put yourself in the audience that heard his letter.  You are in Corinth, a very pagan city, but you are standing in the synagoge, having converted from your pagan background.  You have become a part of the Messianic Jewish way of life.  Everything about your prior worldview has changed.  You have adopted Torah as the guide for life.  Now Paul says that you have another role to play.  Like any ambassador, your role is to advance the interests of the government you serve.  What is that government?  It is the government constituted by the reign and rule of God, explained to Moses at Sinai.  Of course, part of that role will be begging others to see that life under God is the Way.  But an ambassador who only presents potential citizenship isn’t doing his job.  He doesn’t work for immigration.  He works for the head of the State.  His job is to proclaim, promote, persuade and pursue what advances the State.  An ambassador is the symbolic local representation of God’s government in foreign territory.

We are ambassadors of Yeshua HaMashiach.  That means we follow His agenda. We represent Him in alien country.  How do we do that?  By living according to His standards.  By acting as He would act.  By welcoming, exhorting, engaging, demanding, teaching and walking as the current symbolic representation of the moral government of God where we are right now.  This is not immigration work.  This is being who He is at the check-out counter, on the road, in the meeting, on the shop floor, at the dry cleaners.  No ambassador can represent his government if he takes on the agenda of the land where he is serving.  There must be a difference.  You cannot serve two masters, can you?

Topical Index: presbeuo, ambassador, 2 Corinthians 5:20