Scripture
20So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21
Observation
The message of Good Friday and Easter Sunday was never meant to be limited to one weekend a year. This is literally the one message our lives should be preaching every day to every person every where we go- Come Back To God! We don’t get to choose the message. The King decides the message His ambassadors will bring. We don’t soften it by calling sin something else. We don’t water it down by pointing to three points instead of The Cross. We don’t focus everyone on our personality but on the person of Christ who is “reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them.” An ambassador is called to live in another country, a land not his own, to call people back home. This is not a position of comfort and is quite a heavy responsibility. My words and actions are a representation of the reputation of the King and His Kingdom.
Application
So, is the message getting through to those around me? If Jesus was to call me home today and I found myself standing before the throne of grace would I be bringing people back with me? When we reviewed my use of the time I’d been given in the foreign country of earth would I be able to point to a life fully surrendered to His message? The message of reconciliation has never needed to be more clear and yet has never been confused and clouded according to a recent survey. In 2013 the last time this large survey of U.S. Adults took place 72% of Americans reported that religion was the most important or one among many important things in their life. 10 years later only 53% of Americans say religion is the most important or one among many important things in their lives in 2023. In fact, this PRRI survey shows that religiously unaffiliated Americans are the only group that has seen steady growth over the past decade — from 21% of all Americans in 2013 to 26% in 2023. “These unaffiliated Americans — many of whom abandoned their childhood faith — are not looking for a spiritual home. Only 9% of people in this group said they were “looking for a religion that’s right for me.” Most may be unaffiliated for life. Only 3% of Americans who grew up without a religious identity said they joined a religion.” This just drives home the point of how Christ’s ambassadors need to make sure our one message doesn’t get co-opted by religious tradition, politics, self-preference or self-promotion. We are here with one message: Come Back to God! Barna research would remind us that even though there is a move away from church there is a fresh hunger for spiritual conversation. Among U.S. adults Barna recently studied…
77% say “I believe in God or a higher power”
74% say “I would like to grow spiritually”
44% say “I am more open to God today than I was before the pandemic”
Prayer
My assignment here isn’t to call people back to church, but back to God. Salvation doesn’t come through The Church it comes through Christ. Jesus, you’ve chosen to use Your church as your ambassadors but I pray that You would forgive me for conflating the Kingdom of God with The Church. Help me to stay focused on the one message that You’ve given me to preach. Let me represent Your reconciliation resurrection reality to everyone I meet.
