There’s a story, possibly apocryphal, about an American woman whose son was appointed Minister to the Court of Saint James’s, the term for an ambassador to the United Kingdom. At the time, it was considered the most senior and prestigious posting in the diplomatic service, and her friends remarked on how proud she must be. To their surprise, she said, “To think he could have been a minister of the Gospel and an ambassador of the Kingdom of God!”
You and I may not be part of an earthly diplomatic corps, but no matter who we are or where we’re from, if we have Jesus, we are His ambassadors, and He depends on us to show the world what He is like. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you,”1 and the apostle Paul wrote, “We are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.”2 God could appear supernaturally to present the gospel, but He generally chooses to work through us to accomplish that.
An ambassador’s job has two prongs—communication and representation. The early Christians did both. They changed minds by conveying the message of salvation. And they changed hearts by living in ways that showed God’s love for every single person, no matter who or where they were. Today, the world continues to need people to fulfill both roles. That is you and me.