By Jeff Brink, January 23, 2024

As my good friend and brother in Christ, Dr John Posey, constantly reminds us in his video blog series that if you are in Christ, you are an ambassador of God and His kingdom. I highly recommend listening to John’s weekly blog posts on the topic of being a marketplace ambassador if you haven’t already ambassador archive. Having a kingdom ambassador mindset is fundamentally important to godly networking. Today, I want to expand on what it means to be a kingdom ambassador in our networking activities and interactions with others.

So, what exactly is an ambassador, and what does it mean to be a kingdom ambassador?  Merriam-Webster defines an ambassador as 1) a person sent as the chief representative of his or her own government in another country. 2) an official representative or messenger.

Visualize important diplomats of yore traveling in a far-away land representing their king or government in all they say and do. A good ambassador image for me is an 18th-century diplomat like Thomas Jefferson, who was sent to France on an important mission, representing his president and country in every word and action. How an ambassador was perceived was vitally important. They chose their words carefully, exhibited exemplary conduct, and wore the finest attire available – formal jackets with tails, trimmed in gold, sashes, medals, swords, and perhaps even a Napoleonic hat with feathered trim to help convey their king’s (and Country’s) significance to the receiving party.

As Christians, we are all citizens of Heaven first and foremost, currently residing in the world – in the world, but not of the world – rather of God’s kingdom. God then calls us to be His kingdom ambassadors during our time here on earth. Paul reminds us of this in 2 Corinthians 5:20: “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Fellow kingdom ambassadors, God’s mission for us while networking and interacting with others is so much more important than what Thomas Jefferson and other worldly ambassadors have been assigned. God has placed you specifically in each relational situation as His personal representative and messenger. Your words and conduct matter and are vitally important as a representative of King Jesus Himself. We are to exemplify Christ and share His love, truth, mercy, grace, and the Gospel’s good news. Constantly remind yourself, at work and while meeting with others, of your heavenly citizenship and who you represent.

There is no need for 18th-century diplomatic attire on your next mission/meeting. God has already clothed us perfectly  “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:10 ESV). And for difficult and dark situations, we are given the full armor of God – the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the Gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, as described in Ephesians 6: 10-17. When networking and interacting with others, visualize yourself as an ambassador on an important mission. God has specifically sent you from His Kingdom as His representative and messenger into each relational situation. Be sure to put on the proper attire and represent him well!

#faithandwork