ambassadors

“...he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors,
as though God were making his appeal through us.”
2 Cor. 5:19-20 NIV

I can’t help it. I watch people at Kroger’s and Lowe’s and at times it fills me with a curious sadness tinged with despair. So many people pass by looking so ordinary and even their demeanor communicates “ordinariness.” And many are obviously submerged in despair and unhappiness or are burdened down with afflictions of multiple kinds. To travel down past the homeless shelters and missions in town these days brings a definite sadness as I see figures in doorways or sitting on street corners waiting, forever waiting but never seeking. The sadness creeps into my bones until I cannot think about it, and I must simply pass on. My theory is that 95% of us are so terribly ordinary, totally undistinguished in any way, and would probably never qualify as one of “the beautiful people.” Every morning my mirror reinforces this theory with alarming force. Our talents, intelligence, and charm are usually quite ordinary, as well, leading many of us to come to the frightful conclusion in our more daring moments that we, indeed, are quite average. This combination of the commonness of the common man coupled with the overwhelming spiritual lost-ness of so many people in general can be depressing if it were not for the promises of Scripture.

First of all, I must constantly remind myself that we are created in the image of God. It is a concept that will change any life if properly and fully understood. A friend in ministry to inner city children writes, “Ronnie is an example of how God is freeing some of our teens from ( those) labels. He has been bitter towards his dad (and let me say he has reasons) but the bitterness has made him angry at everyone. At camp a counselor spoke into his life, “Your dad gave you his name, but God gave you His image. You don’t have to be like your dad.” Those words set Ronnie free. He’s not angry any longer. His summer has been amazing! He even felt the need to apologize to his dad for the way he felt. That action was a “God” thing—I know many adults who would not do that. Ronnie is allowing God to mold him into His image.” It also changes the way I look at people, even that balding man shuffling his way across Lowe’s in his ugly shorts with the protruding waistline and the aimless look on his unshaven face. There is something God-like there if I will but look closely.

Secondly, there is available to all who would choose to walk in it, a high and holy calling as ambassadors for God and given the ultimate mission of helping reconcile the world unto Himself. Look up any ambassador on-line and you will see a polished person of impeccable credentials who epitomizes the best of the best. They are addressed as “His (or her) Excellency,” “Mr. (or Ms.) Ambassador,” to recognize their position of prestige and power as representatives of a whole nation. It is an exciting job with much honor. So, we too, are called to be ambassadors of Christ to a lost world. There is no more awesome calling or mission in life than this. Christ wants to operate through us as his vessels to accomplish his continuing work on earth. Whether it be from a polished pulpit or through a cup of cold water given in His name, the work of Christ is world changing, and we get to be a part of it!

The good news is that there are no mean or obscure lives. Or at least, need not be. “Average” need not describe our lives nor those of our children. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, all can achieve the rank of ambassadorship fueled with a life mission that will propel us throughout our years with a sense of purpose and excitement. And credentials? We have them in spades. We are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). We are completely new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). We are the children of God, joint-heirs with Christ, whereby we cry, Abba, Father (Rom. 8:15-17). Talk about connections.

There is no reason for anyone to live a common, non-descript, obscure life if they walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. In this sense, there are no average students at River’s Edge nor should you have any in your household. They are all bound for the rank and office of ambassadors for the King. I pray we awake in them this year their destiny in Christ and fire them with a vision for what they can be through Him who strengthens us for all things.

Generation Gap

“And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.” -Luke 1:17

We are now experiencing in our churches what some are calling “worship wars.” It is all about the music. Church growth experts are happily writing prescriptions for reaching generation X, Y, and Z using certain musical formats that involve a particular instrumentation and song genre that appeals to every new and identifiable sub-group that comes along. Some cutting edge churches proudly feature a smorgasbord of services available according to one’s musical tastes which usually falls out along generational lines.

Inter-generational conflict has long been a staple of secular literature and political thought. And I have often felt that the greatest challenge facing any congregation of vibrant believers is to be able to hand down their faith to the next generation. Is the so called “generation gap” a real obstacle to overcome and must the gospel be repackaged every 40 years into “new wineskins” so that the transition be successful?

There is little doubt that nothing ever stays the same. Forms, styles, and cultures all change over time. Yet I refuse to accept the model that each generation must find its own way, that the old cannot speak to the young, nor that the new must first needs destroy the old. The Christmas story gives me great hope in this regard. The first of the angelic visitations came to Zacharias in the temple and announced the coming of John. The clear cut prophecy was that he would go forth in the spirit and power of Elijah as spoken in the last verse of the Old Testament. That spirit would turn the hearts of fathers and children to one another in some powerful and unique way.

I am quite sure I do not fully understand the depth and breadth of that prophecy, but it surely includes a dissolving of any generational conflicts. Evidently that spirit was powerful in Elijah as well as re-energized and emergent in John, the “greatest” of the prophets. In some significant and mighty way, these two giants of Scripture are cross-linked with a ministry that was distinctively marked as one which united rather than divided. Both are fore-runners of the Christ, and each would bear this spirit of reconciliation as one of their distinguishable attributes. It should follow as no surprise that Christ came in the spirit of reconciliation as well. Quite obviously, it is He that would reconcile the world unto Himself by seeking the lost. But I love the foreshadowing of this in His birth.

The Christmas story finds God speaking to both old and young alike, from Zacharias, Simeon, and Anna to the maid, Mary, and her young espoused. No generation is excluded. The story reaches across socio- economic lines and incorporates both rich and poor, educated and uneducated, with the shepherds and the Maji. It reaches out and across racial and cultural lines with Joseph carrying within his bloodline the heritage of foreigners as well as the patriarchs. And who were these foreign kings come to worship?

Yes, we are all met at the manger; both Jew and Gentile, bond and free, male and female, rich and poor, young and old, for we are all one in Him. And soon He would make us all equal at the foot of the cross. I continue to believe He is able to unite us today when we allow His Holy Spirit to hold sway above all our petty differences. He is the ultimate solute that dissolves the walls and kingdoms we erect. When we talk of building unified families, we need go no further than to gather at the manger and enjoy this diverse and odd company bound together by worship that comes of bended knees, not blended or un-blended music.