Rick Warren - How to Live as Christs Ambassador in a Broken World Part 2

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are

a representative of Jesus Christ. You are an ambassador. You

have an assignment, and your assignment is to build relationships. Now,

if you're going to follow Jesus as an ambassador, it's

going to have to affect the way you live. It's

going to radically change the way you live. In fact,

the Bible says this Philippians one twenty seven. Be sure

that you live in a way that brings honor to

the good News of Christ. Says if you're going to

be ambassador, you're going to be a representative of Jesus.

You got to live like it. You can't just name

the name without playing the game. You've got to back

it up with your life. I think it's a good

phrase we need to ask ourselves quite frequently as we

get up in the morning, when you're getting going out

for the days, Remember who you represent when you're out

playing a pickup game of ball. Remember who you represent.

When you go into a grocery store or a theater,

or you're in line with traffic. Remember who you represent

when you're frustrated with a clerk and you want to

chew them out. Remember who you represent. If you name

the name of Christ, the Bible says, you are an

ambassador of Jesus. Now, the Bible says in Ephesians, chapter

four of this.

Live a life.

Worthy of the calling you have received as an ambassador.

You have three responsibilities here on earth, and these are

the things that God wants you to do as an ambassador.

Number one, I must be an example. I must set

an example for other people. The first thing God wants

you to do is help other people know what God

is like by being example of his character qualities love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, meekness,

self control. Now, the Bible says this in One Peter

chapter two. People who do not believe are living all

around you. That's kind of obvious. People who do not

believe are living all around you, and they might say

you're doing wrong. So live such good lives that they'll

see the good things you do and will give glory

to God. What's he saying there? The first job of

an ambassador, whether it's of a country or of Jesus,

is you set a good example. What if you lived

your life like that that you realize that you're always

on as an ambassador of Jesus Christ, then no matter

where you go, you are the only Christians some people

will ever know that the people around you, you're the

only Bible that they will ever read. You are a

living Bible. And as a representative of Jesus Christ, as

an ambassador of Jesus, you're either a Bible or you're

a libel. You either make God look good or you

make God look bad. And there's plenty of Christians who

make God look bad. Would you agree with that? And

they say stupid things, and they're dogmatic, and they're mean

and they're cranky, and that's not a good day.

See, there are two.

Reasons why people don't know the Lord. One of them

is they've never met a Christian and the other is

they have. And they say, if that's what a follower

of Jesus is, no thanks God. And so you need

to realize that your life is to be an example

in everything you do. When my kids were growing up,

particularly in the teenage years, it used to bug them

that I greeted everybody no matter wherever we went, you know,

they said, Dad, do you always have to smile at everybody?

I mean, you're in the grocery store and you're talking

to people, and you're greeting people. And doesn't matter if

we're at the theater or we're at a baseball game,

or you know, we're driving down the street, or you

smile at everybody.

You have to always smile. I said, I'm an ambassador.

That's true.

I'm an ambassador not because I'm a pastor, but because

I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. And there are people

out there in the community go, I know who that

guy is. That's Rick, and they want to know he

does his walk matches talk. Is he two different ways?

One way at church and another way in the community.

Is he genuinely kind to everybody? Is he friendly? Is

he compassionate? Is he merciful? Is he polite? Does he

take it into consideration other peopleeople's feelings. I am an

ambassador of Jesus Christ, and so are you. And people

are watching you all the time. So you must set

an example. So my question is how well does your

daily life represent Jesus? Can anybody tell from your example

what God is like? I mean, if they look at

you where they say, you know what, Jesus must be

very kind because that guy's kind or she's kind. Jesus

must be very patient because Jesus is in his life

and he's patient. Jesus must be very forgiving because that

guy doesn't hold it against you. He's forgiving. He returns

good for evil. What does your life say about God

to the people around you? You may not like it,

but if you claim to be a follower of Christ,

you are an ambassador. You may be a lousy one

or you may be a good one, but you are

an ambassador. You represent Jesus in everything you do, whether

you like it or not. So the first thing is

I must set an example. Second responsibility of an ambassador,

I must share the message. I have a message that

God has given me, and he wants me to share

it with other people. That's interesting that in politics or

in diplomacy, ambassadors are often used in history to end wars.

Ambassadors are sent to negotiate the peace. Ambassadors are sent

to sign the treaties. Ambassadors are sent to bring a

reconciliation between warring entities and conflicting groups. And it's not

an accident that God shows that term to refer to you.

Where to help people make peace with God?

Where to help people reconcile their relationship to God to

help people.

Make their peace with Him.

Now, God is very clear about the message he expects

you to share, so let's read it. Tewo Corinthians, chapter five,

verses seventeen and nineteen says this, anybody, anyone who is

joined to Christ becomes a new person. The old is gone,

he says. You know, all your past is wiped out, forgiven, forgotten.

You get a clear conscience. He says, you get a

chance to start over. And most of the world is

hungry for that. They want to know, how do I

get rid of guilt? How do I get rid of shame?

How do I get rid of regrets? He says, anybody

who's joined to Christ becomes a new person. You get

a fresh start in life. It's like being born a

second time. In fact, the Bible calls it being born again.

It's like getting a fresh start. All this is done

by God in the words you don't do it, who

through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and

gave us the task of making others his friends. Also,

that's our task as ambassadors, to make others the friends

of God. Our message, here's the message is that God

was making all human beings as friends through Christ.

That's why I sent Jesus.

God did not keep an account of their sins. He

forgave it all, and He's given us the message which

tells how he makes them his friends. This passage is

filled with spiritual truth. So let me point out a

couple of things. Number one, the first part of our

message is this, Jesus offers everybody a new life, so

that anybody whos joined to Christ becomes a new person.

This is the message of regeneration, the message of a

new birth, or message of you get a brand new life.

Would you like a chance to start over? Ever been

halfway through painting a room? He said, wish I could

start over, halfway climbing up a mountain, Wish I could

start over? Halfway through life? Go wish I could start over?

God says, you can. I'll give you a brand new life.

Jesus offers everybody in new life. Second part of our

message is Jesus ends our war with God. Did you

know that you're at war with God until you.

Make peace with him?

Where's the war? The war is the conflict in your

soul on who's going to be God? You are God?

And the Bible says every human being and all of

humanity is in rebellion against God because I want to

be God. I don't want God run in my life.

I want to run my life. I want to make

my decisions. I don't want God telling me what to do.

I want to do what I want to do. That

is the attitude that got Satan kicked out of heaven.

It's pride. The middle letter of pride is I, and

the middle letter of sin is I. And he's saying,

it is I that causes my problems, and that rebellion

against God puts me at war with God. You may

not realize it, but you're at war with God until

you accept what Christ has done for you. And that

conflict causes all of the problems in your life. This

unknown stress, the subconscious pressure, the guilt, the the anxiety,

all those different things come from being out of whack

with your creator.

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And so he says, we're at war with God. But

God says God wants us, says its friends. That's the

message of reconciliation. And then he says the third thing here,

all of our war crimes have been forgiven. God just

wipes him out. That's salvation. How does God do this?

He does it through Jesus, and he does it out

of love. Look of the next couple verses. God was

in Christ making peace between the world and himself. That's

what Jesus died for. In Christ. God did not hold

the world guilty of its sin. That's good news. And

he gave us this message of peace. God has said,

we have a message of reconciliation. We have a message

of peace. We have a message that says the warring

parties are being brought together. God did not hold the

world guilty of its sin, and he gave us the

message of peace. So we have been sent to speak

for Christ. It is as if God is calling to

you through us. We speak for Christ talking about every

believer when we beg you to be at peace of God.

Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin

so that in Christ we could become right with God.

In other words, God took all of our badness. God

took it out of us and poured it on Christ.

And he took of all of good Christ's goodness and

poured it into us. And he said that made the peace.

And we are workers together with God. And once you

circle the phrase we've been sent to speak for Christ.

That's the second thing we do as ambassadors. We share

the message. Anybody bought a car in the last two

or three years to see your hands, Okay, everybody's bought

a car probably at some point. Do you know this

game that they play where you go to like a

car dealership and you find the car you want, and

the young you know, salesman is there, and then they

take you inside and you sit down in the showroom

and you start the deal and how much you're going

to give me for my car, and how much you're

gonna cut off the price of that car, and you

think you got a deal, and all of a sudden,

the salesman goes, excuse me, I have to go check

with the manager, you know I'm talking about, And they

play this game and it's a good cop bad cop.

I really want to give it to you like this,

but I got to go check with the manager. So

they go back into the inner sanctum where you can't go,

and they're there for a little bit, and they wait

along for a while, you know, And then they come

back out and say, well, you know, I'm sorry, but

my manager won't let me give this.

We're all good.

Well, then I'm going to go and win it. You're

not authorized to close the deal. Then I don't want

to talk to you. I want to talk to the

manager because I don't want to play this game of

good cop bad cop. Of I'd really like to help you,

but the bad guy won't let me. So let me

just talk to the manager. And this little game of

give and take there means that I say, if you're

not authorized to close the deal, why am I talking

to you? Let me talk to the guys is authorized

to close the deal. Here's the amazing thing. When it

comes to offering the deal of salvation.

You you, you are authorized to close the deal. You don't

have to go to the manager in the back office.

You can say to anybody, I'm an ambassador of Jesus

Christ and i am a plury potent potentiary, which means

I'm authorized to make the offer in Jesus's name, and

I don't have to go check with anybody else. And

here's the offer. All your sins from your past can

be forgiven. You get a purpose for living, You get

a home in heaven, and God promises to take care

of your life here on earth until he takes you

home to heaven. If you put your trust in faith

in Jesus Christ, that's the deal, and you don't have

to go check with anybody else. You are the ambassador.

God has authorized every one of his children to speak

on his behalf and to make that offer and to

not have to go say, well, let me go get

my priest's opinion, or let me go get my pastor's opinion,

or let me go get somebody else's authority. No, no,

you have been given the authority to close the deal,

to make the offer of the message of peace to

anybody out there. Would you like to have your sins forgiven?

I can offer that to you to Jesus Christ. Would

you like to have a home in heaven. I can

offer that to you in Jesus Christ. And I don't

have to check with anybody else, because you are an ambassador.

Number three, the third responsibility of an ambassador. Number one,

I must set the example. I must share the message.

I must show love. I must show love to everybody.

Because if you're an ambassador, you've got to have a

big heart and you got to show love. Why must

an ambassador of Jesus Christ show love to everybody? Because

God is love and if you show anything but love

to other people, you're not representing Jesus. God is love. Now,

how do I show love to the people in my life?

The people I work with, my neighbors, my family, my coworkers,

my enemies, my boss.

How do I do it? Three ways? It's the next

three verses.

The first way I show love is by using my

life life to meet others' needs. When you use your

life to meet the needs of other people in a

practical way, whether it's taking them a meal, or helping

them with a project, or offering them a ride, or

praying for them, or you know, picking up something at

the grocery thing, or helping them with a plan or

a deal. Every time you do practical help to somebody else,

you serve others, you're ministering to them. You're showing love

to meet their needs. Now, this is what an ambassador does.

The Bible says this. In First Essalonians two. Paul says,

we loved you so much. He's talking about the people

in this town in Greece called Thessalonika. He said, we

loved you so much that we gave you not only

God's good news that's number two, but number three our

own lives as well. Now, if you're going to be

an ambassador, some of the time you got to get

out of the embassy.

Does that make sense?

If you spend all your whole Christian life is spent

inside the four walls of the church, you're not much

of an ambassador. You've got to get out where people

are hurting, where they're needed, where they're love, need love,

and now they need help and concern. So you've got

to get out out of the embassy and into the interior,

using my life to meet others need. Second way, you

show love by giving respect to everyone. By giving respect

to everyone, as an ambassador of Jesus Christ, you are

not allowed to be disrespectful to anyone. Why because God

values every person. Doesn't matter who they are, what they've done,

who they've done it with, or how long they've done it.

They have the dignity of being created in the image

of God, and the Bible says this on the screen

one Peter two seventeen.

Treat everyone you like with dignity or doesn't say that?

Does it treat everyone you agree with politically with dignity? No,

it says treat everyone you meet with dignity. That means

even the people who voted differently than you, you may

not put them down. You may not use sarcasm and

slice and dice and use the same kind of words

that the world does for people you disagree with. Treat

everyone you meet with dignity, Love your spiritual family, revere God,

and respect the government. That doesn't say respect the government.

If you voted for him, you didn't. Maybe you didn't

vote for the city council, you still need to respect them.

Maybe you didn't vote for the governor, you still don't

respect them. Senator President whoever, it doesn't matter me. The

Bible says respect the government. Why because as representatives of Jesus,

we show dignity to everybody. Everyone, We show love and kindness.

Let me ask you, this is an ambassador dogmatic or diplomatic,

diplomatic They don't stay as ambassadors very long if they're

not diplomatic. When you find a dogmatic Christian, they are

not an ambassador of Jesus.

They may be on the radio.

They may be on television, they may write books or

blogs or whatever. If they're dogmatic, they may be right,

but they're wrong because they're not being diplomatic. The Bible

says we're to do everything in love. We're to respect everyone,

doesn't matter who they are, what they are, what they've done.

I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but

most of the time when I'm not at saddleback, I'm

speaking to people who totally disagree with me. Almost all

the time, I'm speaking to groups, and that gets me

in a lot of trouble. Okay, I speak to other religions,

to atheists, to Muslims, to Jewish, to Buddhist, to secularists,

to gay groups to I speak most of the time

when I'm not saddled back to groups who totally disagree

with me. Why Because I am an ambassador. That's my job.

And you are an ambassador too. You know, no matter

how bad things seem, you can always trust that God

is active in your life, working things out for the good.

While you are waiting. God is working. God always has

your best interest at heart. He's a good God. Today,

I want to give you the example from a note

that I got from a young man named Tyler, who

has seen how God is always there even when circumstances

seemed to be their worst. Tyler wrote me, said, you know, Rick,

I haven't had a close relationship with Christ. But then

several events occurred in my life all at once. First,

my girlfriend broke up with me and that was the

biggest heartache that I could imagine for both of us.

Then my friends left for college the same week, and third,

my dad left for California to start a new job,

leaving me in Ohio. All of this hit me at once,

and I was a complete mess. But with guidance from

others and realizing this was a scheduled appointment from God himself,

I found Christ through your Daily Hope podcast and through

prayer and in going to church, I finally found the

joy in my life again. And I'm a changed person.

Every day now. I listened to you, Rick, and I

read my daily devotional, and I look at life with

a whole new perspective. You know, before I was living

for me, I wasn't living for God. But this journey

has been so amazing. God is so good and the

best part is that I can wake up every day

knowing that He loves me and will listen to me,

and that Jesus Christ will take my worries from me.

I'm so thankful Rick, that God woke me up and

changed me into a better and healthier person that I

am today. And I'm thankful for my savior, Jesus Christ.

So God bless you well. Thanks Tyler, Thanks for writing

that encouraging letter. You have experienced firsthand how much God

cares for you, even in the smallest details of your life,

and through this what was a very difficult season. He

led you to Jesus, the greatest gift you could ever receive.

So did you know that the Bible says in Luke fifteen,

right now, all of Heaven is rejoicing because you're a

part of God family. The Bible says they have a

party in heaven every time one person steps across the line.

And what that.

Means that you and I are now brothers. Did you

know that we're brothers in Christ? And your church family

are your brothers and sisters here to walk alongside you. So, Tyler,

welcome to the Family of God. And as you grow

in your faith, staying connected with a strong church community

is so so important. I want you to surround yourself

with people who will encourage you in the Lord, who

will pray for you, who will help you stay strong

in your journey with Jesus, and just watch and see

how God moves in your life as you faithfully follow

Him into your future. By the way, you also mentioned

that you listen to the Daily Hope podcast. For anybody

who hasn't checked that out yet, it is completely free.

It's completely available on all major platforms. It's on Apple Podcasts,

it's on Spotify, It's on wherever you get your podcasts.

You can also listen anytime by just going to a

pastor Rick dot com on the internet. Now, friends, we're

able to share daily hope with people around the world

because of your generosity listeners just like you, So let

me just stay here.

Thanks.

Thanks a lot, Thanks for being a part of this community.

Thanks for your contributions to care for other people so

that they could get the word of God and build

the hope that they need. And they can keep seeking

God and He will guide them.

God let him you know.

This Christmas, you can enjoy the beauty of God's Word

with a brand new set of fifty two stunning scripture cards,

each featuring verses about the birth of Christ and adorned

with elegant Christmas artwork. Are perfect for memorizing scripture, tucking

into gifts, or placing on your holiday table. These cards

are a simple way to bring meaning to the season

and share God's love with those around you. So whether

you're starting a new tradition or looking for a unique

way to share the Gospel with friends and family, well,

these cards are a perfect fit today when you give

a gift to help daily Hope take the certain hope

of Jesus to people worldwide. Be sure to request this

very special collection of Christmas scripture cards. It's our way

of saying thanks for supporting Daily Hope