Dispatches from the Embassy

The Kingdom needs ambassadors, not activists.

We are called to be salt and light to a tasteless, shadowed realm that is ruled by the darkness of ignorance. We are asked to stand directly in between what is and what should be, and be the ladder that displaces the difference. We died with Christ so that we could live in resurrection life with him, as citizens of heaven, to represent a Kingdom that is only accessible on the other side of death. In this way, our primary role is to represent the culture and government of another land.

Activists choose agendas and social issues to be at the focus of their lifestyle and energies. They carry a conviction to see society transformed and injustice ceased, but that conviction has overridden Christ’s call to represent a better reality. Thus, we take all of our authority, which is the sum total of His authority, and submit it for debate between the minds of men.

We do not carry an alternative message, but a superior atmosphere. To reduce our heavenly posture down to a political position is to cheapen the work of the Cross. We are living embassies that demonstrate a higher way of life, one that is to be freely shared and practically experienced. In this sense, a lack of experience in the Kingdom they represent leads them to have a lack of faith in Christ’s work. They are left to advocate their opinions to a world that will never truly listen. They forget that Christ alone has the position of Advocate, and it is not our job to defend or advance any opinion.

Instead, when we act as ambassadors, we are constantly aware of the authority we’ve been given to represent a greater nation. We know we are capable of bringing any willing person into their own citizenship, but we see no need to take them as slaves and prisoners into our better world. We respect them by honoring their boundaries, knowing that it is our atmosphere that will sway them.

Many ambassadors have been mislabeled as activists, for the world can only comprehend small measures of the Kingdom and its’ grace. It is clear, however, that believers known as “activists” are only truly successful when, in their heart, they behave as ambassadors. MLK did not have a new or novel position on racial inequality in the United States; he simply had the heart of a free man, who carried himself with the dignity and equality of a heavenly citizen. He gave others a point of reference for what heaven would look like. He did not demand that anyone agree with him; he simply stood for a greater heavenly truth that other people could then experience through his life.

The Kingdom needs ambassadors, not border guards.

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