Ambassadors
By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.
01/29/2023
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)
Charlie’s Angels was a hit ABC TV series that ran for five years from 1976-1981. If you have watched any of the reruns on cable, you know the show was not exactly a television masterpiece, but it was popular with audiences (especially teenage boys!). The show starred three female private investigators played originally by Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett, and Kate Jackson. People from my generation may remember that Cheryl Ladd replaced Fawcett after the first season.
The show was unique not only because it starred three women in leading roles, a rarity in the 1970s, but also because of its premise. The three private eyes were hired by a mystery millionaire, Charlie, to represent him on adventurous cases. Charlie referred to his detectives as “angels.”
The women never met Charlie face-to-face. He would only contact them with their new mission using an old Western Electric speakerphone. Charlie’s angels were essentially his ambassadors, sent to accomplish a dangerous assignment on each episode of the series. These three courageous ladies would stop at nothing to complete the task they had been given.
Thinking about that show from my childhood, it occurs to me that “angel” is an appropriate word for an ambassador. The word “angel” in the New Testament is the Greek word angelos, meaning “envoy” or “one who is sent.” Like Charlie’s angels, believers have been given a mission by an invisible leader. We are God’s envoys in this present age.
God communicates with us, not through some outdated technology, but through His revealed Word in the Bible. If invisible Charlie could get three ladies to put their lives at risk for a man they had never seen, how much more should believers, God’s messengers, be willing to serve the One who saved us from the penalty of sin, no matter what the cost?
God has given us a message to proclaim regarding eternal salvation that can only be found through Christ. The Bible calls Christians “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). We are to implore others to be reconciled to God by placing their faith in Jesus Christ. That is our mission… the Great Commission.
The closer we get to the return of Christ, the more dangerous and difficult this mission will become. In just the past two or three years there has been a sharp rise in Christian persecution in America. Our right to assemble freely and proclaim the Word of the Lord has been greatly restricted. Christian conservatives have been cancelled from various social media platforms, and the public shaming and ridicule of people who take a stand for biblical truth has become commonplace.
What are you risking these days as an ambassador for Christ? Whatever it is, you can count on it getting worse. The Bible predicts, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come” (2 Timothy 3:1). In these great last days of deception where evil people are getting worse and worse, the Bible warns, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).
For believers in the Lord’s army, our mission does not end when the credits roll after a sixty-minute episode. Our mission will not end until the Lord returns to rescue us from this present evil age (Galatians 1:4). When is the last time you told someone about Jesus Christ and His imminent return? When is the last time you implored someone to be reconciled to Christ by faith? These are urgent times for believers. All signs point to the soon coming of Christ. We must not fail in our mission.
01/29/2023
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)
Charlie’s Angels was a hit ABC TV series that ran for five years from 1976-1981. If you have watched any of the reruns on cable, you know the show was not exactly a television masterpiece, but it was popular with audiences (especially teenage boys!). The show starred three female private investigators played originally by Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett, and Kate Jackson. People from my generation may remember that Cheryl Ladd replaced Fawcett after the first season.
The show was unique not only because it starred three women in leading roles, a rarity in the 1970s, but also because of its premise. The three private eyes were hired by a mystery millionaire, Charlie, to represent him on adventurous cases. Charlie referred to his detectives as “angels.”
The women never met Charlie face-to-face. He would only contact them with their new mission using an old Western Electric speakerphone. Charlie’s angels were essentially his ambassadors, sent to accomplish a dangerous assignment on each episode of the series. These three courageous ladies would stop at nothing to complete the task they had been given.
Thinking about that show from my childhood, it occurs to me that “angel” is an appropriate word for an ambassador. The word “angel” in the New Testament is the Greek word angelos, meaning “envoy” or “one who is sent.” Like Charlie’s angels, believers have been given a mission by an invisible leader. We are God’s envoys in this present age.
God communicates with us, not through some outdated technology, but through His revealed Word in the Bible. If invisible Charlie could get three ladies to put their lives at risk for a man they had never seen, how much more should believers, God’s messengers, be willing to serve the One who saved us from the penalty of sin, no matter what the cost?
God has given us a message to proclaim regarding eternal salvation that can only be found through Christ. The Bible calls Christians “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). We are to implore others to be reconciled to God by placing their faith in Jesus Christ. That is our mission… the Great Commission.
The closer we get to the return of Christ, the more dangerous and difficult this mission will become. In just the past two or three years there has been a sharp rise in Christian persecution in America. Our right to assemble freely and proclaim the Word of the Lord has been greatly restricted. Christian conservatives have been cancelled from various social media platforms, and the public shaming and ridicule of people who take a stand for biblical truth has become commonplace.
What are you risking these days as an ambassador for Christ? Whatever it is, you can count on it getting worse. The Bible predicts, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come” (2 Timothy 3:1). In these great last days of deception where evil people are getting worse and worse, the Bible warns, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).
For believers in the Lord’s army, our mission does not end when the credits roll after a sixty-minute episode. Our mission will not end until the Lord returns to rescue us from this present evil age (Galatians 1:4). When is the last time you told someone about Jesus Christ and His imminent return? When is the last time you implored someone to be reconciled to Christ by faith? These are urgent times for believers. All signs point to the soon coming of Christ. We must not fail in our mission.
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