Ambassadors For Christ

In my first post on ambassadors, I shared with you the verse from 2 Corinthians 5:20. Here it is again for reference:

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”
2 Corinthians 5:20

After sharing this verse, we went on to look at the ways in which the responsibilities of a political ambassador parallels the responsibilities we have today as ambassadors for Christ. In my next post, I shared what I believe are the most critical points in understanding our jobs as ambassadors for Christ.

I won’t go back into the details from those posts now, but I will encourage you to read them before moving on. It will help you understand the context for this post. For today, I want to look specifically at the workplace location for political ambassadors and illustrate how it relates to our roles today.

Ambassadors’ Workplace?

I understand that most of have not studied the job of political ambassadors. That’s fine. You don’t need to know the intricate details of how they work and exactly what they do to understand their overall role and how it impacts us.

Since we have covered the major functions of the ambassador role in my previous two posts, let’s now turn and look at the workplace of the ambassador. If you had to guess, based only on the knowledge you currently have about an ambassador, where would you think they perform most of their work duties?

If you were to guess that an ambassador’s work takes place at the embassy, you would be wrong. Sure, that is where their office is located. In fact, their staff is located there as well. But the majority of their work – building relationships with the native people and representing the desires of his king – is done outside of the embassy.

Active And Intentional

See, the ambassador serves in an active and intentional role. He is not assigned to a certain foreign land and asked to sit idly and wait until he is called upon when needed. He is actively seeking to build relationships outside of the embassy.

He is likely meeting in government offices throughout the foreign land. He is probably eating many meals with various representatives in that land. There are probably many impromptu conversations between the ambassador and people of influence in that land. He is also likely attending many functions of various sizes for all sorts of organizations.

Role Of Embassy?

The entire time he is doing all of this, his focused purpose is to represent his “king” and influence the people he meets in the direction of his “king”. At no point does the ambassador have the luxury of waiting for someone to call on him.

Regarding the embassy, there are certainly times that he performs work there. He is probably communicating with his king when he is there. He is planning strategy for influencing the people of the foreign land when he is at the embassy. And of course, there are times he invites to the embassy some of the people he is attempting to influence.

Church = Embassy?

Now, let’s take the same set of lenses and focus them on our roles as ambassadors for Christ. For the sake of this discussion, let’s substitute the church building in the place of the embassy. While it is not a perfect analogy, I think there are enough parallels for you to see the point.

First, as ambassadors for Christ, we are to be active and intentional. We are not called to sit and wait until someone comes to us and asks us about our King Jesus. We are instead to be actively seeking to build relationships with the lost that are OUTSIDE of the church (embassy).

Wherever We Go!

Just like the political ambassadors, we are to be meeting people wherever our lives take us – workplace, community, home – and influencing them toward the desires of our King. We can do this in our office or out in the field. We can do this at the soccer field or at the theater. This can and should be happening in our homes.

The key is that wherever we go and whatever we are doing, our focused purpose is to represent Jesus and point others toward Him. We cannot ever allow ourselves to relax and simply wait for others to come to us and ask. That is not the job of an ambassador.

Church Building Has A Role

As for the church building, it plays a role as well. We should go there to communicate with our King in the faith community. We should go there to learn about our King so we can better represent Him and His desires as we leave to go out into the community. We will also learn and develop our strategies there.

We are even going to make the effort to invite people we meet to come and visit our church. I do not want to minimize this part at all, but I DO want to emphasize that this is not our end goal. Nor should it be part of our strategy to just invite them and hope they catch what we have.

Go Make Disciples!

Our job is much more involved than that. Our job is to make disciples, not just to add to the church membership. This requires our full attention AS we go about our lives in this foreign land. It is our purpose for being in this foreign land. It cannot be overstated.

Do you do most of your work at the “embassy” or in the field?

What part of the ambassador’s work do you struggle with?

What action do you need to take?

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Christian Ministry Opportunities

As Christian business leaders, we should always be on the lookout for opportunities to share the hope we have. For me, one of these opportunities is our company Christmas party, As I have described before, I do not want to force my beliefs on anyone in our company. At the same time, I do want to make sure I do not miss an opportunity to share the faith I have. My hope is that they see my heart and know I am not preaching at them, but only humbly sharing something I believe will change them forever!

New Approach To The Company Christmas Party

In light of that, I think the company Christmas party is a perfect opportunity to do this very thing. I have not always felt this way. In fact, it was not until 13 Christmases ago that I began approaching our company party in this way. It was the same year I described in a separate post about painting the windows and I had just recently turned the business over to God.

As Christmas approached that year, I began to think about how to step out in faith and share my faith with the employees. To this point, I had been a silent witness. That year, I was determined to change that.

As we began to lay out the “agenda” for the party, I simply asked for 20 minutes at the end of the party for my remarks. This request did not raise any eyebrows. I also asked for video equipment to be available because I wanted to show a video. Again, no one questioned me.

I Was Nervous!

As the company Christmas party drew closer, I began to get anxious. I questioned whether I really needed to move forward with my plans or not. When the night of the party came, I was as nervous as I believe I have ever been. I was, quite frankly, scared to death! I was sweating and my legs felt like jell-o. I thought several times about just backing out of the whole thing!

As the night drew to a close, I knew I could not back out. So I did what I had committed to do. I stood up and went to the microphone and addressed the 100+ people there (employees, spouses, significant others). I began by describing the background to the video I was planning to show. [CLICK HERE for the text of that background]

Rick & Dick Hoyt Video

Next, I moved on to the video itself. Very few videos have moved me the way this one has. I had first seen it at the Promise Keepers conference that summer and knew then that I had to share it.

It was a five minute summary of the story of Dick and Rick Hoyt, father and son, and their experiences competing in triathlons together (see Team Hoyt). The catch is that Rick, the son, was 37 yrs old at the time and had suffered from cerebral palsy his entire life. Dick, the father, was 59 yrs old and carried (or pushed) his son the entire time!

After the video, there was not a dry eye in the house. The silence was deafening. I felt God fill me with strength and I stood there in front of them, full of emotion, but also full of strength!

The Message Of Christ

I immediately went into the reasons I had shown the video. I drew parallels between the love of father for son in the video and the love God has for us. I talked about how Dick Hoyt would do anything for his son to feel “free” from his handicaps just like God would do anything for us to feel “free” as well.

Then I told how God sent his only Son to die for that very purpose – that we would be free! I described the Gospel story in simple terms and explained that I wanted everyone there to experience it for themselves.

I encouraged them to give thanks if they had already experienced it. I encouraged them to think about it if they had not. I told them I was available at any point if they needed someone with whom they could talk. I then closed with prayer.

The Results

I cannot tell you all of the comments I received in appreciation for sharing. I cannot measure the impact that 20 minutes had because I am only aware of some of it. I can tell you that even today, as I type this, God fills my heart as I think back on that time. I would not trade it for anything.

I grew that night. I grew because I pressed through my fears and anxiety about sharing my faith. I grew because I saw the impact it could have on those around me in strengthening their faith. I grew because God used me despite my total physical breakdown!

Additionally, I started a pattern of focusing on Christ during our company Christmas party that I have continued each year since. While none have been as powerful (to me) since that first one, I know it is because it was a breakthrough for me. God is still using them!

What About You?

I want to encourage you to take a look at your own Christmas party. If you have never been intentional about putting Christ at the center of your party, I urge you to change that this year. I am giving you plenty of time to make sure it can happen. It is up to you to take the lead and make sure! I can’t wait to hear about your results!

Is Christ a part of your company Christmas party?

If not, is there something you can do to start this year?

If so, tell me about what you do and any results you have seen.

Photo by shironosov/iStock

Christian Or Disciple?

When the early church was forming, people that associated with it (and therefore Jesus’ teachings) were called Christians. Looking back to that time, terms like “Christian” and “disciple of Christ” were interchangeable. If you were one, you were also thought of as the other.

Today, I do not believe that is the case. At least, I think the term “Christian” has lost some of its original meaning. If you consider that roughly 80% of Americans associate themselves with the Christian faith (2012 Gallup poll), you could assume (based on the original meaning of the term) that there are that many disciples of Jesus Christ.

There Is A Difference!

If we define “disciple of Jesus Christ” as someone actively trying to learn and apply the teachings of Jesus, do you really think 80% of the population of the U.S. qualifies? This point is not about judging those who do or do not fit this definition.

The point is that associating ourselves with the Christian faith is not at all the same as being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Too many people are willing to stop at the association with Christianity and are not willing to go the distance to actually be a disciple of Christ.

I Am A Republican

Consider the following analogy. I am a Republican when it comes to U.S. politics. I associate myself with that political party. If someone polled me on the telephone or on a street corner, that is the answer I would give them.

When it comes to actual elections, I most often vote for the Republican candidate. I agree with most of the platform for the Republican party and would probably argue the Republican position in most political discussions.

I Am Not A Die-Hard

However, I am not a die-hard Republican. I do not attend rallies or events sponsored by the party. I do not study the party platform. I do not donate money to the party or any of its candidates. Being associated with the Republican party does not impact my life in any significant way.

As before, my point is not political at all. I am simply stating that many of us often treat our faith the way I treat politics. Too often, we are fine with associating ourselves with the Christian faith, but do not allow it to significantly impact our lives or our businesses.

Disciple = Die-Hard

A disciple of Christ, on the other hand, is a die-hard. A disciple only wants to please God and is only pleased by Him. A true disciple of Christ spends time studying the teachings of Jesus for the purpose of applying them to his life. A true disciple of Jesus will not stop at association with Jesus, but actually submits his life to Him in full!

If you stop and look at your life today, what do you see? Do you see evidence of association or discipleship? Does the way you run your business or perform your job reveal your full commitment to your faith or does it suggest you are only associating yourself with Jesus?

Not A One-Time Look!

I will tell you that this does not need to be a one-time look in the mirror. I could have answered these questions much differently several years ago. While I can certainly point to some evidence of full commitment, there are too many areas that come to mind because they only reflect an association with Jesus.

I wish I could tell you that once you have figured this out it is fixed for good, but I cannot. It is a daily choice and it requires consistent accountability. You could have a great run as a disciple for several years and then slip into association mode before you realize it. It is easy to do.

I encourage you to pray about this issue of association versus discipleship. Ask God to reveal to you the areas where you have not yet completely surrendered to Him. Ask Him to prick your heart in a way that exposes any blind spots you might have. I promise He is faithful to do so.

Where do you think you stand right now?

Have you been more of a disciple in the past?

What do you need to do to get back to being a disciple?

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Too Much Hypocrisy!

One of the worst complaints you will usually get from a non-believer is about the hypocrisy of Christians. The truth is that they are right! When you consider facts like the divorce rate being similar for Christians and non-Christians alike, it is no wonder we have a hard time convincing them we are different.

The divorce rate is only one example. There are many others. I do not need to go into this because you already know what I am talking about. The point is that as Christian business leaders, we simply must start living as godly examples, distinctly disciples of Jesus. Our walk must match our talk.

Godly Example

As we continue this series about being teachers and accepting the command given us in the Great Commission, we are now going to turn to what it means to be a godly example. Why is this important and what does it have to do with teaching?

Let’s look at how Paul instructs Timothy about this:

Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver bowls, but also those of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace,along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they breed quarrels.
2 Timothy 2:20-23

Set Apart?

These verses follow our verse from my last post where Paul told Timothy that he is to be a skilled worker when it comes to correctly handling the Word of truth. Now, Paul is telling Timothy that he is to set himself apart in order to be useful to God. Not only is he to correctly teach the Word, he is also to purify himself from anything dishonorable.

This is exactly what most Christians have NOT been doing. Instead of setting ourselves apart and getting rid of the dishonorable, too often we are right there in the middle of the mess. We are hand-in-hand and arm-in-arm with those non-believers. We act and behave differently on Sundays, but you can’t pick us out of a crowd of people the rest of the week.

We Must Change!

This is wrong and must change!

First, it must change because it destroys our intimate relationship with God. We cannot expect clear and consistent communication with Him while at the same time we are ignoring His guidelines for us.

But this kind of behavior also eliminates any credibility we have for teaching others about His Word. No one is going to listen to us teach about patience when we blow up at the slightest mistake from an employee or coworker.

We will not be able to instruct others to love mercy when we fail to forgive those who have crossed us. Our teaching effectiveness will be next to zero when it is clear to others that we do not practice our own material!

Student’s Perspective

Think about it from the student’s perspective. How convincing is a teacher that obviously does not follow his own instruction. I still remember being told (in fun) as a kid, “Do as I say, not as I do.” While I still obeyed, I knew there was just something wrong with that logic!

Paul is wisely telling Timothy (and us at the same time) that in order for a teacher to be effective, he or she must also live by example. We all must heed this instruction if we truly desire to live out the Great Commission.

Just one thing: live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Philippians 1:27

Have you had a teacher that ignored this instruction?

What was your response to their poor example?

Where do you need to improve your living by example?

Photo by sculpies/Shutterstock

Hard Work

A number of years ago, with our children entering middle school, she went back to school to get her Master’s degree in education. She had not studied education as a undergraduate, so she had to take extra courses in order to earn her teaching certificate along with the Master’s degree. This was incredibly hard work and she met the challenge head on (with excellent grades, I might add)!

Immediately after graduation, she started as a 2nd grade teacher at a local elementary school. She was not sure (at the time!) if 2nd grade would be the best age for her, but she was excited to get to work and teach! I knew she would be good at it, but I truly had no idea exactly how good.

An Incredible Teacher!

I honestly wish I could I could describe the pride in my heart and the emotion in my throat as I think about exactly HOW great she is at being a teacher. It is not possible for me to communicate the depth of her commitment to these kids and to their education. It is truly an emotional experience for me to watch.

I know I am biased, but there is simply no way I am overstating the impact she is having as a teacher. I promise that her students will look back as adults in a couple of decades and credit her for whatever changed in them while they were in her class. I am confident of this!

What Is The Application?

Now, you are probably asking what this could possibly have to do with business and Christian faith. That is a good question! Let me explain.

There is no doubt that my wife is gifted by God to be a teacher. It comes naturally to her. She LOVES what she does and cannot imagine doing anything else. The work she puts in after hours and on weekends does not seem like work to her.

Not A Teacher?

Many Christian business leaders might look at someone like my wife and point to her gifting. Doing so, they might claim that they have no such gifting. For them, being a teacher is not exciting. Depending on their perception of the job requirements or the size of the crowd, it may even scare them!

Some may not fear teaching, but simply think they do not have the time. Others may feel they are not enough of an expert to be a teacher. There are many excuses we come up with to explain why we don’t play the part of a teacher.

Commanded To Teach!

Because of these thought processes, many Christians ignore the fact that we are in fact commanded by Jesus himself to be teachers! Instead of accepting this command, we may tend to rely on others to be the teachers. We claim all sorts of other activities to show that we are making a difference. We think this earns us a bye when it comes to teaching.

The bottom line is that we are all to be teachers.

Gifting Not Required

Now, some of you will argue with me about this. You may say that Paul says not all of us are given the gift of teaching. In this case, we are on the same page. I agree that not all are given the gift of teaching. Yet, I think we are all commanded to do it anyway.

Stick with me and let me explain my position before you close out this post and move on. If you finish this series and still feel the same way, then we will simply agree to disagree. No harm, no foul!

Commanded?

Most likely we are all familiar with the Great Commission. Jesus was speaking to the disciples (and, I believe, to all of us as believers) when he said the following (emphasis added by me):

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and TEACHING them to obey all I have commanded you.
Matthew 28:19-20

If you believe the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God and that this verse is directed to all believers, then you accept that you are to be a teacher. I do not see any way around this. It is right there in black and white.

Perception Of Being A Teacher

Now, the problem most people have is with their perception of the word teacher. When I say all of us are to be teachers, many assume that means they are to be in a typical classroom (at school, church, etc.) and are to teach a room full of students (youth, adults, etc.).

This is not so. When I sit down with a salesperson and give them advice on how they can improve their performance, I am a teacher. When I spend ten minutes giving a simple devotion to a small group of employees at work, I am a teacher. The size of the audience and the setting are both irrelevant. There are endless combinations of situations where I can show I am a teacher.

More To It!

Of course, to fulfill the Great Commission, there is more to it than the above examples. Hopefully, you are interested in digging further into this idea. If so, you will be glad to know that I will spend the next several posts doing just that.

My hope is that you are excited to see your role as a teacher once we have completed this series. If nothing else, I pray you have begun to seek God about this, asking Him to reveal to you how He wants you to be a teacher.

Stay tuned!

Gifted or not, do you see yourself as a teacher?

Who do you see as your student(s)?

Who has been a teacher to you?

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Basic Missionary Plan

If you remember, I gave you the basic outline of the missionary plan my friends have for taking the gospel to Peru. While it looks very simple, I promise it is a powerful and effective plan.

Now, in an effort to show you how you and I can execute this same plan exactly where we are, let’s go through each step of their missionary plan and apply it to our situation as Christian business owners and leaders. This plan will also work when applied outside of the workplace, but for the purpose of this blog we will stick to the workplace as the setting.

1. Establish a life among the people.

I am personally in the car business. I am not sure what your job happens to be, but most likely it includes interaction of some sort with other people. Regardless of the job or occupation, most all of us have people all around us where we work.

As a result, we are already established among those people. We work alongside them and have conversations with them. The easy part for us is that in most cases, we speak the same language and already understand their culture. For a foreign missionary, this is usually a fairly large hurdle. Not so for us!

2. Build relationships with them.

What you may not have – even for those you have worked with for years – is a relationship with them. Sure, you may say “Hey” at the coffee maker or as you pass each other in the hall. But you may not have conversations that go any deeper than that.

You need to become intentional about building a relationship with them. While you don’t need to start out with a really deep question, you do need to begin to make an effort to go a little deeper. You need to start seeing these other people as eternal souls that need what you have. While you currently have not earned the right to share with them, building a relationship over time will solve this problem.

For a larger company, it will be impossible to do this with every employee or co-worker. Don’t even try. Do with a handful what you wish you could do with all of them. Don’t let the overall numbers stop you from engaging the handful.

3. Do life with them.

This is obviously related to the first two points, but it goes an extra step. My missionary friends in Peru came up with a weekend retreat and an Olympics-style competition for the medical students they are getting to know. There was nothing overtly spiritual about the weekend – just spending more focused time together and relaxing away from the pressures of work and school.

We can do the same thing. Start planning opportunities to do life with these people. Plan lunches or other activities in which you can interact with them at work as well as in the community. Engage them when you see them in the grocery store or at the soccer fields. Show them that your interest is genuine (it needs to be!) and that you are not angling for anything other than relationship.

4. Sprinkle conversation with the gospel.

As you are doing life with them, allow the Holy Spirit to spill over into your conversations. If you are filling your mind and heart with God’s Word, it will start to appear in your interaction with them. Don’t go overboard – just relax and let God work through you on this.

Don’t forget, this does not only apply to your conversations. This idea applies to your actions as well. As you are doing life with these people, your everyday business decisions and actions should also reflect your beliefs. As I posted earlier, the conflict between your beliefs and your actions should be shrinking as you get closer to God. If not, this post may not apply to you.

5. Be prepared to share the gospel.

Over time, life happens. The people you are building relationship with will face tragedy or crises. So will you. When this happens, it is likely that you will have the opportunity to answer some questions about your faith. This will happen naturally if you are walking the walk.

When asked about your faith, it is not your responsibility to launch into a theological discussion and overwhelm them with your superior Bible knowledge. Neither is it acceptable to be caught unprepared to respond in a genuine and personal way. For that reason, you need to have a ready response for the hope you have. It should not be robotic, but should instead flow from your heart!

6. Disciple them to do the same.

For those that make decisions to surrender their lives to Jesus (and for those that already have!), you need to begin to disciple them. Obviously, encourage them to join a church and join up with a small group of some sort. But do not let that be the extent of your discipling program!

You may not have the time to meet with everyone of them on a regular basis, but you can still influence them in some way. As you do, show them this same pattern and encourage them to follow it as you have. If you do enough of this, you will have missionary work going on all around you!

7. Go somewhere and repeat the process!

When I say we need to go somewhere, I do not mean we now need to move somewhere else. Instead, we just need to continuously be on the lookout for others we can take through this process.

As you see those you have discipled go on to be mature disciple-makers themselves, you just begin looking for one more to replace them and start back at the beginning of the process. The key is that you have the mindset of a missionary. You keep your eyes and heart open to anyone that God is calling you to reach with His love.

Have you ever considered yourself as a missionary?

photo by Alex Dunne

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