Ambassadors

I remember as a teenager, I went through a phase of wearing my jeans with holes in them. It was a thing at the time, and I was just doing what others were doing. Well, my Daddy didn’t take too kindly to it. He called me to the side one day and told me how he felt. He told me, “Son, do you realize how you make us look by dressing like that?” I didn’t think anything about how I made my family look by the way that I dressed. Whether I knew it or not though, I was representing them. And people would judge them based on my actions.

With that I’d like to take a look at ambassadors. An ambassador is a ranking government representative. There are many different ambassador positions and ranks. Some of their duties and responsibilities may overlap, but some do not. Although this can be interesting to delve into and study, I would like to look more at something else that is required of ambassadors.

Ambassadors have to live by a certain etiquette. This etiquette involves some of the following formal rules and customs. Being respectful, being aware of nonverbal communication including body language. Maintain a good appearance. They must be punctual, reliable, and discreet. They must be attentive to how close people stand, how loudly they speak, and how much eye contact they maintain. They must be observant and ask questions. Overall ambassadors are expected to present a positive image through their behavior, attitude, speech, dress, and personal hygiene, including grooming, and avoiding body odor. After all, they are representing their country.

Did you know that as Christians, we are ambassadors? Now then we are ambassadors for Christ…(2 Corinthians 5:20 KJV). Yep, we are ambassadors representing Christ. We should be mindful of how our actions reflect Jesus and other Christians. Yes, our actions reflect how people see Jesus and other Christians. We should gain some knowledge from how the world expects their ambassadors to be. We should present a positive image through our behavior, attitude, speech, dress, and personal hygiene, including grooming and avoiding body odor. Yes, these things do matter. It would be beneficial to read through the expectations of an ambassador and compare our lives to this. After all, we are representing a better country, that is, a heavenly one (Hebrews 11:16 ISV).

Colossians 4:5-6 NET 5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer everyone.