In our daily lives, on the busy streets, in the newspapers everyday or on every TV channel we observe several products being advertised. Many of them are promoted by a celebrity. A recent survey says several celebrities earn much more by promoting a product than their specific profession. Masses are prone to believing that if their favorite celebrity is using a brand that must be the one for them as well. Corporates budget huge amounts for their A & SP (which simply is Advertising & Sales promotion). You need brand ambassadors to impress the public and convince them that your product is the best. The media plays a dominant role to reach out to the masses.

If we stop for a moment and ponder … aren’t we brand ambassadors too? Do we have what it takes to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ? We are the ones people look at, to see what Christianity is like. Our eternal home is in heaven, and our job as ambassadors of Christ is to show people how amazing our life is because of the mighty God we serve. But before we can be ambassadors, we need to know who we are representing. We cannot be an ambassador of a country we do not belong to. When we choose to follow Christ, we start afresh, and we become “Ambassadors for Christ”. We are citizens of heaven and ambassadors on earth. We need to remember to act accordingly. For us to do a good job of representing Christ to an unbelieving world we need to first spend time in getting to know Him. We need to work towards having a personal relationship with Him and building on our faith and be sure of Him before we represent Him.

Being an ambassador of Christ means having integrity in our words and actions. Being an ambassador of Christ means loving people without any agenda. Being an ambassador of Christ means being openly honest about our faith. This list can go on endlessly. However, being an ambassador of Christ boils down to being his hands and feet to a world that desperately needs God. It means being available for Him to use us. It means being worthy of His love to reflect Him.

Being an ambassador to Christ is what we have been called to do. It is not an optional extra to the Christian life. What a privilege it is to be chosen by the Lord to represent HIM. Proverbs 13:17 reads, “A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a faithful ambassador brings health.” As faithful ambassadors of Christ, we ought to bring refreshment, and comfort to the people with whom we come in contact with. We have been sent to this world to represent the Kingdom of the most High. Yes. God has bestowed a huge responsibility on us which we need to discharge to perfection – Let us not say or do anything that reflects poorly on the King we represent, or on the Kingdom we belong to.

Jayashree Augustine