Sample Discussion: Dad, are Christian narrow-minded?
18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. — 2 Corinthians 5:18–20
Do you know what an ambassador does? An ambassador is a citizen of one country who lives in a different country. But they don’t just live in a different country—lots of people do that—they have a special job in that country. They represent the government of their home country and try to help the country they are living in get along well with their home country. To do that well, they have to learn the language and customs of the country where they live, so that those people will be willing and able to hear their message and understand it. In the time when Paul, who wrote these verses, was living, the main job of an ambassador was to prevent a war between his home country and the one he was living in. The ambassador might say to the people of that country, “My king is not happy with the way you are behaving. If you don’t change your ways, he is going to march in and conquer your country.”
If an ambassador were to say something like that to the people of the country where he was living, they might not like it. They might even call him “narrow-minded” for claiming that they should act in a certain way. But a good ambassador only says these things for the good of the people he now lives with. He doesn’t want a war. He wants peace between his home country and the one he lives in. As Paul says, he wants them to be “reconciled.”
These days, Christians are often called narrow-minded when they declare what Jesus, the King, wants for people. It’s true that sometimes Christians can be narrow-minded, prideful, and selfish, but, if they’re truly acting as ambassadors for Jesus, they only tell others what their king wants for them because they want peace. They want people to be reconciled to God. They wouldn’t be good ambassadors if they didn’t tell people what their king wants. If they give up on representing their king and just start agreeing with everyone in their new country, they are no longer doing their job as ambassadors.
But they also wouldn’t be good ambassadors if they didn’t get to know the people around them well enough to tell them Jesus’s message in a way that they will understand. If ambassadors aren't willing to talk with the people in their new country and get to know them, they are also not living as ambassadors. They are just people who live in a different country.
As Christians, Jesus has given us a difficult but exciting job. We are called to be his ambassadors. This world is not our home, but we aren’t supposed to run away from it and create separate little communities for ourselves. We also shouldn’t get too comfortable with the world and forget that our true home is in heaven either. Instead, we get to represent King Jesus to the world. If they call us narrow-minded because we tell them what he desires, that’s ok. But let’s make sure that we’re actually doing our job, getting to know people well enough that we know how to tell them this important message we’ve been given for them and loving them well enough that they’re willing to listen to us.
