“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 NLT
As humans we have the unfortunate gift of breaking things, especially when it comes to relationships. We hold a grudge, drift away or decide to be bored with friendships that are hard or seemingly unfulfilling. The Apostle Paul’s admonition on this topic of relationship, begins with the massive change that Christ has made in a person’s life. ANYONE, everyone, who belongs to Christ, who is in a relationship with Jesus has been made new.
Congratulations, you have a brand new lease on life! The old life is gone. Good riddance. And although this new life is completely a gift from God, reuniting and restoring a right relationship with Him, it is just the beginning of a brand new purpose. It’s kind of a side gig for every believer. Paul tells us that once we’ve been restored, we now have a new job, the responsibility to carry the message of reunion to others. To deliver hope to those who do not know that Christ has forgiven them and wants to restore them as well. This whole idea that Paul calls all who have been restored, to be Christ’s diplomat!
We are spokespersons to the point that we get to herald the message of hope to others – “as though God makes His appeal through us,” Paul writes. What’s our message? What am I supposed to do or say? It’s an odd campaign when you think about it. Paul says, just start telling folks to COME BACK! Come back to God! This is where it gets a little complicated to figure out on our end. It’s a deep, spiritual message reminding us that God has been speaking, shouting, wooing and whispering to every single human – “I Am here, I see you – come home.” Through circumstances and individuals, signs and reminders everywhere. God has planted eternity into every heart and it beckons to them. When we come along, as one of Christ’s ambassadors, we are simply picking up a very long and consistent message that God has been speaking to them since they were born – “come back to God.” People can try to drown out that voice, that message, they can run from it. They can build defensive walls of anger, lust, power, wealth or pain, but God still speaks to their soul, “come back home.”
Where is home? Home is that safe place of recognizing who God is, that place of forgiveness, and that place of rest and peace, wholeness and best of all HOPE. Who knows how people will respond when we just give the message. Some will rant and rage, blame and deny. Some may take it out on us! Just tell them, “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just doing my job.” It’s good to remember Paul’s words, “we speak for Christ when we plead.” Whoa.
No wonder it’s not really that complicated to disciple others. Especially if we can remember that God has done all the work, that God is actively getting their attention – all the time! Our simple restorative message to “come back to God,” makes it a whole lot easier. If you are reading this and feel far from God, then take this message to heart – “come back,” He’s waiting.
Prayer
Dad,
I knew you were there. And when I really understood you were calling me back to you, I got it. Help me to SEE those who are ready to hear these words to come back. Give me the boldness to do my job and be your ambassador of hope.