May 6, 2016 (Friday)
On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 American hostages. The students set their hostages free on January 21, 1981, 444 days after the crisis began.
We Christians have something in common with those who were taken hostage; we too are ambassadors. We are “ambassadors for Christ.” Here are the verses which tell us so: “We are .. Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20 NIV).
For 444 days our ambassadors were held hostage, unable to to the work for which they were trained and to which they were normally devoted.
What about us? We, too, are ambassadors. As Paul reminded us, God is making his appeal through us to implore people on Christ’s behalf to be reconciled to God. If we are not doing our jobs, appealing to people to be reconciled to God through Christ, what is our excuse? Are we hostages?
We can become hostages to our own self-interests, to our pride, to our selfishness, to our sin, to .. well, you name it. What is it that stands in the way of your being an ambassador for Christ? What in this world has taken you hostage?
The hostages of 1979-1981 in Iran had no choice but to wait for freedom to resume their work. We have a choice. We can break out of our imprisonment, refuse to be hostages any longer, and go out into this world as representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ, telling others about God’s love. We can tell them that salvation is possible in Christ. We can tell them about Heaven and Hell, about the Cross and the Empty tomb, about the miracle of being born again.
We are ambassadors for Christ.