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 5:20
A few days ago, Lindsey and I were talking to our son Andrew about prayer. We explained to him, with Matthew 6:5-8 as our guide, that he doesn’t need to learn big, important words to pray. Prayer, we explained, is just talking and listening to God. And we know God wants us to talk to him, Lindsey said, because Jesus tells us God is our daddy in heaven.
Andrew nodded in understanding. “And this,” he said, snuggling up next to me, “is my daddy up close.”
I think that’s a helpful way of describing what Paul is getting at when he describes believers as being “ambassadors for Christ” through whom God makes his “appeal” to the world. While salvation comes from God alone, it is through his children that it is proclaimed to the world. While Jesus is the vine, his disciples are the branches. We are called, in Andrew’s language, to be Jesus “up close” for people.
The Holy Spirit compels and empowers us to do just that, to be Jesus’s hands and feet in this world so that people can experience the love of God in a personal, powerful, and visible way. While people need to hear about the love of the Lord, they also need to see it—and it is the responsibility of believers to give them something to see. So may your life bear witness to the grace of God in Jesus Christ—in you, may people see Jesus up close.
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