Speaker: Tommy Pratt
Thoughts on Wise Living
We have all been there. I sure know I have.
You move to a new town, join a new church, or find your favourite new café.
New acquaintances come thick and fast. Small talk starts. The exchange goes something like this…
“So lovely to meet you,” they say. “I hope you’re liking the town, church, café, etc.”
“Oh yes. It’s just great,” you smile.
“So…” they ask. “What is it that you do?”
How do you answer? Well, I know what I would automatically say, but I also know what I deep-down believe I ought to say. Does that make sense?
I know that I would say something along the lines of: “Thanks for asking. I have been a teacher for almost 10 years now. How time flies.”
Maybe your answer would go something like: “Thanks for asking. I am a nurse, or a brain surgeon, or I am your new dustman and boy do you guys go through a lot of baked beans!”
These are all fair and valid answers. But, like I said, I know deep-down what I believe my answer ought to be. Whenever I am asked what I do, I wish I had the guts to say: “Thanks for asking. I am an ambassador.”
“An ambassador?” they would gasp, eyebrows raised. “For which country?”
“Oh no. Not a country. A kingdom.”
“Wow! You are an ambassador for a kingdom?” they would marvel.
“Oh yes. I am an ambassador for King Jesus. The Lord now seeks reconciliation and healing through me and all believers like me.”
This could sound pompous, or probably just bizarre, to most folks. But it is true, isn’t it? Those of us who hear and believe the gospel are remade as His ambassadors. For God made Christ, who never sinned, the final offering for sin, so that anyone who believes is made right with their Maker.
This good news – the greatest of all news! – is now our message to spread in Minehead, then in Somerset, then Britain, and wherever else the Lord leads us.
Scriptures teaches that we are ambassadors not only by sharing the gospel of reconciliation but by living it out. James, the Lord’s own brother, warned the infant Church of just this. He penned what was likely the first letter in the New Testament, saying:
“Do not just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and do not obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and do not forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it” (James 1:22-25).
Scripture says we must be ‘doers of the Word.’ While we do not earn God’s grace by works, true faith is never devoid of Godly works. Just actions cannot communicate the saving gospel message, but if our lives are not transformed, how will fellow Christians – especially the lost – know that God is at work within us?