Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ. (II Corinthians 5:20 ESV)
Ambassadors
My fourth day of coaching middle school boys’ football did not go well. The weather was hot and sticky. The boys were tired of the skill drills. It was Friday, and the weekend was calling. And by now, the team knew how little I knew about football.
And… the head middle school football coach was absent. I do not recall if he was sick, on a trip, or busy with his real job. But He was not there, and he had left me in charge.
I felt insignificant as the boys ignored my suggestions, pleas, and threats.
But then one of the lads spoke up.
“Guys, “ he said, “Coach Penning is really here on behalf of Coach Dirk.”
It took a few moments to sink in, but gradually their attitudes, and mine, changed.
Coach Dirk was knowledgeable, skilled, experienced, and popular in every way that I was not. But I was his representative. And that did not change who I was, but it changed my place in that community.
Jesus is King… but not physically present.
Jesus is King… but not visible.
Jesus is King… even when often ignored.
And WE are His ambassadors! That does not mean we get to be bossy. It does not mean we get to make demands. It does not mean we suddenly are better than we were before…
It means we are His ambassadors, His representatives, His spokespeople, His visible friends.
And no one else is!
We are peculiar, we are His ambassadors.