2 Corinthians 5:20 - Ambassadors of Christ

In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul tells the church, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.” This verse isn’t a compliment—it’s a commissioning. Paul is telling the Church: You are the representation of Jesus to a world that desperately needs Him.

Devotional: Let’s be honest—most of us don’t wake up feeling like ambassadors. We might feel like tired parents, stressed workers, overwhelmed students, or folks just doing our best to keep our heads above water. And yet, Paul hands us this weighty title: ambassadors of Christ.

What does that even mean? Ambassadors don’t speak for themselves. They don’t set the agenda. They are sent, stationed, and empowered to represent someone else—someone greater. When Paul uses this language, he’s not just being poetic. He’s laying down the reality of our calling. If you’ve been reconciled to God through Christ, then you are now part of His mission of reconciliation. You don’t just benefit from the Gospel—you carry it.

And this world needs carriers of reconciliation more than ever. Scroll the headlines. Listen to conversations. Pay attention to the fracture lines that run deep through politics, families, and even churches. Everywhere we turn, people are building walls to keep others out, drawing lines in the sand, picking sides. But here’s what’s radical about being an ambassador of Christ: you don’t come to take sides. You come to bring peace.

Not the kind of peace that ignores injustice or demands silence. No, the Gospel is full of both grace and truth. It holds space for honesty and healing. It makes the bold claim that through Christ, even the most impossible relationships can be restored. As ambassadors, we don’t get to water that down or weaponize it. We get to live it. To embody it.

You don’t have to travel the globe to live as an ambassador. Sometimes the most important reconciliation work is done at the kitchen table. At the office. In the sanctuary. On your front porch. Wherever you go, you carry with you the hope that Jesus still heals what’s broken.

And maybe that’s what makes this calling both humbling and holy. Because God could have picked anyone or anything to represent His love. But He chose us—flawed, ordinary, sometimes unsure—because His power is made perfect in our weakness. Because His Spirit in us is enough.

Action: Identify one relationship, space, or situation where God might be calling you to act as His ambassador. What would it look like to carry His message of reconciliation there today—not by fixing everything, but by showing up with humility, love, and hope?

Prayer: God, it humbles me that You would entrust me with Your message of reconciliation. I don’t always know what to say or do, but I want to live in a way that reflects You. Make me aware of the places where I can be an ambassador for Your love. Teach me to speak peace where there’s tension, to listen where there’s pain, and to love where there’s division. Help me be faithful to the message You’ve placed in me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Thought for the Day: Being an ambassador of Christ isn’t about perfection—it’s about showing up, speaking grace, and living out the love that changed your life.