Last updated on December 28, 2021
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God.”
2 Corinthians 5:20 CSB
It felt good to sit for over an hour in the morning, just me, my coffee, the rising sun, and the Scriptures in my ears. It was restful and resetting. Today I listened mostly to 2 Corinthians and the below passage jumped out at me.
We are not giving anyone an occasion for offense, so that the ministry will not be blamed. Instead, as God’s ministers, we commend ourselves in everything: by great endurance, by afflictions, by hardships, by difficulties, by beatings, by imprisonments, by riots, by labors, by sleepless nights, by times of hunger, by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God; through weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, through glory and dishonor, through slander and good report; regarded as deceivers, yet true; as unknown, yet recognized; as dying, yet see – we live; as being disciplined, yet not killed; 10 as grieving, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet enriching many; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
2 Corinthians 6:3-10 CSB
There is such injustice in this passage. It reminds me of the portion of James’s letter in which he talks about considering it joy when we encounter trials of various kinds (James 1) and when he instructs us to live with high integrity and holding an equal view of everyone with whom we come in contact (James 3).
In this 2 Corinthians passage, Paul is telling us, through his own life experience, that enduring injustice and living purely is worth all the many troubles for the sake of causing no disdain to fall on the view of the ministry of Christ in the world.
That’s hard to swallow in this “you can’t keep me down” world in which we live. Equally difficult is understanding the dichotomy of submission while hanging on to our purpose and value.
I’ve lived both sides, thinking I needed to be the one always being thrown under the bus for the sake of others. In that place, I lost my sense of value. I have had, and still have to do, some serious work with the Lord to remember that I have immense value to him, and not just as a soul to be saved from condemnation, but as hand-knit creation loved greater and beyond the size of the ever-expanding universe.
Once we can grasp the truth of that and hang on to it, then we can engage in the full life of an ambassador for Christ, sharing his message and love with the world. The life of a follower of Christ is a roller-coaster of emotion and experience. This passage in Paul’s letter strikes me as an exhortation to “be where we are” while at the same time “going where we’re going”.
Holding Conflicting Truth
This “be where I am” is an idea I’ve been exploring in my own heart and life. It’s the idea of holding two equally true, opposing things in our metaphorical hands at the same time and not needing them to be reconciled.
That is this sin-filled world in which we live. We long for perfection, justice, and so we work toward it and speak in that direction. We will see that one day, at the End of Days when Jesus calls us all home to him. But for now, sin reigns here in this fallen place. Yes, there is God’s goodness here, reconciling souls to Him by the love-blood of Jesus. But it is not alone in its influence over our world.
Paul’s story tells of him holding both what he wants and what is, whether fair or comfortable or not. He does not lose focus and he does not pretend hard things are not there. Neither does he look only to hard things and miss seeing goodness and purpose. It is an expanded view of the world and of life and ministry.
As I work through this same conflict, I am learning that the goal of walking well through life is not to “feel okay.” Rather, it is to feel how we feel, endure what we endure and not lose purpose.
That purpose is being ambassadors for Christ in the world, aromas of his Spirit wafting a repulsion to those who do not wish to come to freedom and a sweet nectar to those whose hearts are looking for the love, reconciliation, and freedom that only Christ provides. In that, our very valuable lives are poured out for others on his behalf. Just as he poured his out for us on our behalf.
When others scent, follow, and take on the aroma of Christ because of what they know and observe of our life and integrity, the trouble we endure is worth all the hardship, all the devastation, all the trials, all the conflicting emotions and difficulty. It is worth giving up possession of our own life, moment by moment, into the hands of the one who gives us his life. It is worth it all.
Jesus knows that too. I will never have to give up as much as Jesus did. I will never have to be abandoned by the Father. Even knowing he was going into that ultimate sorrow, he went. It was worth it, for the hope set before him of the redemption of the souls he loves. Because he knew and he went, I am known and I can go, and I will never have to bear that separation.
It is glorious and humbling.
It draws me to even greater love of my Savior and my Friend.
A Prayer of Intention
Let us wrap up today’s post with a prayerful intention to keep our ministry of the gospel unstained, to take our value and purpose into the world, whatever it throws at us. Let us remember the one who has already gone before and shown us his way.
Father God,
May we see with Jesus’s eyes and love with his heart. May we give with his hands and walk with his feet. May we speak with his mouth and play by his Spirit. May we feed those who are hungry with the surplus given to us. May we encourage those who are hopeless with the hope given to us. May we walk with the sick and the lame and bring them to the Healer. May we remember we are the ambassadors, not the King. We walk in a place of honor and purpose, but we do not rule our own lives, the lives of others, or this age.
May we walk well and bring the fresh air of your Spirit wherever we go.
In the name of the one we represent, Jesus the Christ,
Amen
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