In his second letter to the Christians in Corinth, the apostle Paul describes believers as Christ’s ambassadors, writing: “… we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20).
An ambassador is an official envoy of a country, tasked with representing it by speaking on its behalf and promoting its interests. Paul uses this concept to illustrate the mission of Christians, who are called to represent their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, through both words and actions.
The role of an ambassador has two essential dimensions. The first is to faithfully convey the messages of the sovereign on his behalf. The second is to represent the sovereign’s character and intentions through personal conduct.
Conveying the message of the sovereign, of course, requires responsible speech. But representing the sovereign requires more than just careful words—it requires the ambassador to conduct himself in a way that clearly demonstrates the sovereign’s intentions and purposes.
Christ’s ambassadors are required to fulfil both roles. They are to bear witness to the truth and grace of the Lord, and to embody the love of God about which they speak. As Christ’s ambassadors, Christians are called to proclaim Christ not only with their lips but also with their lives.
They are to do so everywhere they find themselves—among family, friends and even strangers; in the public square, and most certainly in the workplace and marketplace.
For some Christians, the marketplace may be their primary arena of ministry, their “mission field”, where God uses them to accomplish his purposes and to bring glory to his name.
To take their ambassadorial role seriously, Christians must disabuse themselves of the dichotomous worldview that still holds some captive. This is the perspective that ministry is confined only to people in “full-time Christian work”, such as pastors, missionaries and seminary lecturers.
The great sixteenth-century Reformer, Martin Luther, corrected this misunderstanding by teaching that all Christians are given vocations through which to serve God. Some are indeed called to be pastors and theologians, but others are called to be teachers, doctors and politicians.
Christians fulfil their roles as Christ’s ambassadors in the global marketplace by carrying out their vocations for the glory of God. The Dutch theologian, politician and statesman, Abraham Kuyper, puts this well:
Wherever man may stand, whatever he may do, to whatever he may apply his hand—in agriculture, in commerce, and in industry, or his mind, in the world of art, and science—he is, in whatsoever it may be, constantly standing before the face of God. He is employed in the service of God. He has strictly to obey his God. And above all, he has to aim at the glory of his God. ¹
As Christ’s ambassadors, Christians must also display a distinctiveness that stems from belonging to a holy God. Though they are in the world—indeed, in a profound sense, sent into it—they are not of the world (John 17:14-16).
Christians have a distinctive worldview shaped by God’s revelation in Scripture. Regenerated and gradually being transformed into the image of Christ, Christians are governed by a different set of priorities and a higher moral code.
By remaining true to their identity in Christ and joyfully applying themselves to their vocations, Christians can fulfil a prophetic function in the marketplace. They can expose moral lapses and injustices while pointing to—to borrow an expression from Paul—a more excellent way.
In recent years, much has been written about lifestyle evangelism. Christians in the marketplace are well-placed to share the Gospel—not through aggressive preaching, but by quietly living it out.
They have often more access to non- believers than pastors do, creating opportunities for meaningful conversations about faith. These interactions, whether in boardrooms or at watercoolers, can serve as platforms for Christians to tell their stories and share how Jesus has transformed their lives.
This is not about employing a strategy or technique of workplace evangelism.
Rather, it is about Christians authentically being themselves—working with excellence, treating others with kindness, and showing Christ-like love to colleagues and associates.
By doing so, Christians bear witness to the truth and grace of Christ while embodying the love of God. As ambassadors of Christ, they point others to the hope and joy found in him, making their lives a living testimony of the transformative power of the gospel.
Dr Roland Chia is Chew Hock Hin Professor of Christian Doctrine at Trinity Theological College and Theological and Research Advisor at the Ethos Institute for Public Christianity.
1 Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism (Cosmos Classics, 2007), 53.