Ambassadorship

Last week I was talking to a friend who was helping me and Tovah with her international travel in a couple of weeks. During our 3 hour phone conversation (smile) I brought up a situation I encountered when I opened my home to two young women from France as a host family for 3 weeks. Needless to say they left a very bad taste in my mouth as far as French people are concerned and I mentioned to her, “If and when I meet others from France I must make sure not to stereo type them based on these two young ladies.” And her response was very profound, “Yes, we do forget that when we travel to other countries, we are “Ambassadors” for our country!” Wow!! It smacked me right in the face as to how we as Believers are Ambassadors for our Lord and how we mess up just like the Frenchies (our nickname for them) did with me.

According to my very old and wonderful World Book Encyclopedia dictionary, an Ambassador is a representative sent by their government or highest ruler. Well, God (creator of everything) is the highest Ruler there is. He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and we as His Chosen are His Ambassadors [representatives]!

Until I met the young girls from France, I had never interacted with anyone from France before. So, my first impression of French people and their attitudes was not a good one thanks to them and the people that chaperoned them on their trip. Now thank God I am mature enough to work through that and hopefully not let it interfere with how I perceive someone I might meet one day from France. Because we all know there is good and bad in all nationalities of people, from every country and every walk of life, so we can’t allow it to tarnish us against any particular group. But often that is not the attitude of those who have had a bad experience in a church or with church folks. And why is that? I think because we have forgotten what it means to be an Ambassador for the Kingdom of God.

What does it entail being an Ambassador? Well, for starters we must remember our position at all times. To put it in a nutshell, “We are the visible representation for an invisible God!”

Years ago when I worked in a large teaching hospital in Philadelphia, there was a young man who told the world he was a Christian. But it wasn’t in a good way. Truth be told, if I had not been a Christian there is no way I would have wanted to hear anything he had to say. He came off as being superior and better than others, yet he was not the best worker around. In fact it seemed he spent too much time preaching to folks (that was not his job) then doing the work he was being paid to do. One day in a very crowed elevator a young woman got on from his department and he said loud enough for everyone to hear, “Oh look here comes the devil!” And she turned around and cussed him out in a way that when I was growing up was only reserved for sailors! The truth is…he asked for it. His pompous, puffed up, judgmental and holier than thou attitude alienated him from those who needed to hear the Good News. And he looked nothing like Christ which made him a poor excuse for an Ambassador. And that was a bad reflection on God’s Kingdom.

I recently had a situation where I have not been a good Ambassador myself. The house that is attached to ours is rented out to four guys who attend a local university. They are loud, drink all the time and started off their first week here by throwing wild parties a couple of times a week, making enemies of the neighbors and me. As I look back on how I have handled a couple of the incidents with them, I see where if it were to come up that I am a Christian; they might have doubts about that. I didn’t cuss them out or anything like that, but my attitude toward them has not been right to say the least.

Once when their plastic cups and trash from the latest party had blown over to our property instead of picking it up and putting it in the trash, I threw it back on their side. In fact I threw the same cup back on three different occasions in a 5 day period!! Am I proud of this? Nope! But I’m sharing to show how we can all get caught up in forgetting who we represent. None of us has arrived and it doesn’t matter how old you are or how long you have been walking with the Lord—it can happen!

I want to encourage us to look at what type of Representative or Ambassador we are? How do we look to others? Do we standout because we work in excellence or do we blend in with everyone else? Are we kind and patient while standing in line or grumble and complain like others? How do our neighbors perceive us? Do they think we are kind and hard workers, or do they see us as standoffish and puffed up? If one of your neighbors needed something would they feel comfortable in asking you for help even if they really don’t know you? Same goes for people in your church, how is God represented through you to them?

Being an Ambassador in the Kingdom of God is a 24/7 position. It entails how we act at all times…from pumping gas, to the way we drive, interactions with our coworkers, family, neighbors, bosses, spouses, children, friends, the cashier at the supermarket, the clerk in the department store, the babysitter, the waitress in the restaurant, even the people we pass on the street. Anyone we come in contact with during our day will be subject to the way we are representing our Father.

We need to be diligent in making God and His Kingdom look good to others. It is more likely people (who do not know the Lord) will read us long before they read the Bible. So, ask yourself, “What are they seeing?” Are they intrigued because they see that something is different about you? Do they wonder how it is you are always so joyful and pleasant all the time? Or do they want to run and hide when they see you coming? These are questions we really do need to ask ourselves and if the answers are not the right ones, then it’s time to change things around.

As for my situation I’ve asked God to forgive me for not being as kind as I could have been and to help me remember who I represent in any future dealings I might have with them.

I hope I have encouraged you my dear sisters to take a moment to see if there is any area in your life you are falling short, in how you represent God. People in this world need the Lord, and they should be able to see the Love of Christ through all whose names are in the book of life. Amen!

Look for a blog next week, until then….be blessed!!

Love & Hugs
Ponnie

Are You Teachable?

I want to start off by asking you to ask yourself, “Do I have a teachable spirit?” Most of us are going to immediately say, “Yes!” But the truth is, in many cases the answer is, “No, not really!” And because it is hard for the human side of us to own up to the fact we can be stiffed necked and unteachable, I find to be one of the main reasons there are so many problems in the sisterhood of Christ.

It seems to me that you can’t have a teachable spirit without humility and wisdom. And I say that because the book of Proverbs, speaks so much about wisdom and how it is a wise man (or woman) who keeps their mouth shut and listens and learns. Also depending on what translation you are reading it talks about a having a “teachable spirit” and the great benefits that come from that.

Over the years I have come to know quite a few people in the Body of Christ who have all types of degrees. I even know a man who many say is genius—but his people skills are horrible, so I really don’t see how his great “genius” benefits the Body that much? I deal with people who think their degree from seminary is the be-all and end-all. Truth is…it’s not! Why do I take this stance? Because we cannot be anything apart from the Messiah, we cannot have anything apart from the Messiah, accomplish anything apart from the Messiah and we cannot do anything apart from the Messiah...this is what the New Testament says, so therefore, those who put stock in their degree has forgotten how they got it and who made it possible.

I know a man who is a minister but also has a very prestigious title and position at a world renowned University. And too boot he has a PhD. But he is the most humble and kind person you ever want to meet. His love for God, his family and others is very obvious to all who meet him. And having a conversation with him is always a pleasure because not only does he have a lot to offer, but he also listens. Sadly though, not all who have worked to get a PhD feel the same way. They feel they have “arrived”. But no one in the Kingdom has made it! We all have a long way to go as long as we are alive on this earth.

Just last week I had a wonderful phone conversation with a friend whom I met many years ago when we were telephone operators for Bell Telephone back in the 70’s. We were hellions to say the least. We loved to party, we smoked, drank, cussed and she reminded me not too long ago—wore hot pants. LOL!!! We lost touch over the years and went our separate ways, and about 2 years ago she found me on Facebook. And guess what? She is minister for the Lord!!! She had retired from Bell and was a full time college student in seminary at the time. She has finished and gotten her Masters in Divinity. And what I love about her is that she is still an everyday person. She is not puffed up about her degree or her title and position in her church. And her degree and hard work did not give a false sense of “She has now made it!” She remains humble knowing that she still has much to learn about God and people. But I can’t say that about everyone I know who has as Bachelors or Masters. In fact some of them are such big No-it-All’s and you can’t tell them anything. But there is one thing I’ve noticed they all have in common—they are all unhappy and or unsatisfied people. Why is that? Because it’s lonely being at the top—especially when you have invented the position for yourself.

When I was in fulltime missions I went with a group of women to hear a speaker who had just written about women in the Presbyterian denomination and their position in the Church. The group consisted of wives of Elders and a few other women. The speaker talked about her life and struggles in her church and her home life and support of her husband and so on. And when the Q & E was over, I noticed that one of the young women with us was sitting in her seat crying. When asked what was wrong, she did share, and I shared a scripture with her to comfort her and she bit my head off in front of everyone saying, “You are quoting that scripture wrong and you better be careful of that! It says, “So and so, and I know what I’m talking about because I went to seminary and have my degree!” Well! I backed off and I’m grateful that I was at a point in my walk with the Lord that I could do that, because there was a time when I would not have backed down. I would have opened my Bible in front of everyone to show her where she was wrong and then commentated on how little her degree meant if she didn’t know that. But again, Praise God, I didn’t. But later on I did show the scripture to one of the women with us, only because she was new in the Lord, and I wanted her to see that what I had spoken was truth and how this was a great example of why we as individuals must read the Bible for ourselves, and not depend on what others tell us. And that having a degree from a Seminary really wasn’t a big deal to God, because He says to study the Bible and show ourselves approved unto Him. But this situation did give me insight as to why the young woman who had blasted me was such an unhappy person. She really didn’t know God or His Word. She had been taught in Seminary, but not to think, question and understand.

Being 60 years of age is great, and walking with the Lord over the years has given me a great testimony. And yes, I can tell you some things about Him that might blow your mind—but I still struggle at times to swallow my pride and back down. Humility is something we must all work at on a daily bases. God uses whom He uses for whatever His plan and purpose and therefore we cannot allow ourselves to be duped (by pride) to think we have arrived. Because we haven’t! For as much as I can tell you about God, it is nothing compared to what I don’t know about Him. As Paul said, “The more I know, the more I realize I don’t know.” [My paraphrase] But it is so true.

Again I ask, “Do you have a teachable spirit?” If not then ask yourself why? For a lot of us, we don’t spend the time reading our Bibles as we should. Going to a Bible study (especially one for women) or attending Sunday school will help us to stay in the Word. And having people in your life who love to talk about God’s Kingdom and all it has to offer is of a great benefit too. Just attending church on Sunday alone is not enough if you really want to grow in the Lord. And in order to grow (not get degrees) we must have a teachable spirit. That means you have to be able to learn from others, be corrected in love if necessary, and most of all be taught by the Holy Spirit of God. Because when we think we know it all with people we have the same attitude with the Holy Spirit.

Sisters, I hope I have provoked you to think about if you are teachable or not. And if you find you are one who falls in the category of “I got this or been there done that” then maybe it’s time to deal with the pride that grips you and holds you back. If you are one who has fallen into the trap of the world about how valuable your degree is and it causes you to be puffed up, then it is time to step back and see yourself as God does.

Everyone struggles with pride in their life, but there are some of us who are consumed by it and don’t even know it. And that is not a good place to be in the Kingdom of God because “Pride” is something He hates and talks about a lot. So, if you find you’re not as teachable as you may have thought, then take the necessary steps to move forward in changing that flawed characteristic that does not reflect the Christ in us!

Look for a blog next week, until then….be blessed!!

Love & Hugs
Ponnie