{"id":25839,"date":"2020-07-01T16:29:51","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T22:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/?p=25839"},"modified":"2023-08-29T11:28:19","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T17:28:19","slug":"faithful-ambassadors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/","title":{"rendered":"Faithful Ambassadors"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are called to be ambassadors for Christ. We know that. But what might it mean in this season of COVID and change? Make no mistake, we are living in the end. If not The End, <\/span>an end<\/span><\/i>. Hinges in history \u2014 turning points \u2014 are tumultuous, but they are also generative. God brings new things out of the old as His kingdom advances, but the process isn\u2019t for the faint or distracted. God\u2019s reconciliation ministry will go on and endure, but will we go with it? Only as faithful ambassadors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Upheaval causes panic and paralysis in many, but in others it induces reflection and revival. The former won\u2019t contribute much to the kingdom if they\u2019re clinging to the old, but the latter group will build as the new is revealed. I can consider only myself, as you examine yourself. The first question is, \u201cWhose ambassador am I, in practice? What kingdom am I really representing?\u201d Something as simple as my use of social media can give me away. Assessing my attitudes and actions will tell if my priority is \u201cthe kingdom of God and His righteousness\u201d or something, someone, else.<\/span><\/p>\n

Has my true ambassadorship been co-opted to advance lesser agendas? Do I stamp <\/span>kingdom of God<\/span><\/i> on them to give the appearance of ultimate value? In reality, doing this is serving two masters. Ambassadors of this kind of confusion will fight indignantly, but not endure beyond this end. What our ambassadorial role and kingdom commission consist of is a second question.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

King Jesus provided the job description of His ambassadors plainly. In Matthew 10, He sends His disciples as a prototype of those to come: \u201cGo preach . . . \u2018the kingdom of heaven\u2019 . . . <\/span>Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give\u201d (vv. 7, 8). This is our unique grace.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ambassadors of the King will stand and witness before lesser kings and governors. If our reconciling task is to heal, cleanse, raise, and cast out, what of our character and disposition? <\/span>\u201cBehold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves\u201d (v. 16). This is our answer. To be less or other than wise and harmless in a time of upheaval and change \u2014 both an end and new \u2014 is to misrepresent King and kingdom. May we represent Him well and faithfully.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span><\/i>Jason Overman<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are called to be ambassadors for Christ. We know that. But what might it mean in this season of COVID and change? Make no mistake, we are living in the end. If not The End, an end. Hinges in history \u2014 turning points \u2014 are tumultuous, but they are also generative. God brings new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":25831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,36,1036],"tags":[971,919,845,970,252],"yoast_head":"\nFaithful Ambassadors - Bible Advocate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To be less or other than wise and harmless in a time of upheaval and change is to misrepresent King and kingdom. May we represent Him well and faithfully.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Faithful Ambassadors - Bible Advocate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To be less or other than wise and harmless in a time of upheaval and change is to misrepresent King and kingdom. May we represent Him well and faithfully.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bible Advocate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-01T22:29:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-29T17:28:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/04\/July-August20-E.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"462\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jason Overman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jason Overman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jason Overman\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/68443b7dc847765e22d7d9934532a7a1\"},\"headline\":\"Faithful Ambassadors\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-01T22:29:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-29T17:28:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/\"},\"wordCount\":403,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/04\/July-August20-E.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"ambassadors for Christ\",\"COVID-19\",\"faithful\",\"ministry of reconciliation\",\"righteousness\"],\"articleSection\":[\"BA\",\"Editor's Desk\",\"July August 2020\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/\",\"name\":\"Faithful Ambassadors - Bible Advocate\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/04\/July-August20-E.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-01T22:29:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-29T17:28:19+00:00\",\"description\":\"To be less or other than wise and harmless in a time of upheaval and change is to misrepresent King and kingdom. May we represent Him well and faithfully.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/04\/July-August20-E.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/04\/July-August20-E.jpg\",\"width\":462,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Faithful Ambassadors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/\",\"name\":\"Bible Advocate\",\"description\":\"Advocating the Bible, representing the Church, and glorifying the God of grace and truth\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Bible Advocate\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/05\/cropped-BA-Online-Logo-1-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/05\/cropped-BA-Online-Logo-1-3.jpg\",\"width\":380,\"height\":80,\"caption\":\"Bible Advocate\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/68443b7dc847765e22d7d9934532a7a1\",\"name\":\"Jason Overman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/879dd44f62e0c705659ad5d45bc1498a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/879dd44f62e0c705659ad5d45bc1498a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jason Overman\"},\"description\":\"Jason Overman is Editor of Publications of the Bible Advocate Press. After 24 years in the publishing industry (in sales and management) with the Harrison Daily Times, Jason left his general manager\u2019s position to join the BAP family in 2015. He has served in ministry for 30 years and currently pastors the Church of God (Seventh Day) in Jasper, Arkansas, with his wife, Stephanie, and two children, Tabitha and Isaac. Jason enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, reading theology, playing his guitar, and taking in the beautiful Ozark Mountains he calls home.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/author\/jason\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Faithful Ambassadors - Bible Advocate","description":"To be less or other than wise and harmless in a time of upheaval and change is to misrepresent King and kingdom. May we represent Him well and faithfully.\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Faithful Ambassadors - Bible Advocate","og_description":"To be less or other than wise and harmless in a time of upheaval and change is to misrepresent King and kingdom. May we represent Him well and faithfully.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/","og_site_name":"Bible Advocate","article_published_time":"2020-07-01T22:29:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-08-29T17:28:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":462,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/04\/July-August20-E.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jason Overman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jason Overman","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/"},"author":{"name":"Jason Overman","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/68443b7dc847765e22d7d9934532a7a1"},"headline":"Faithful Ambassadors","datePublished":"2020-07-01T22:29:51+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-29T17:28:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/"},"wordCount":403,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/04\/July-August20-E.jpg","keywords":["ambassadors for Christ","COVID-19","faithful","ministry of reconciliation","righteousness"],"articleSection":["BA","Editor's Desk","July August 2020"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/","url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/","name":"Faithful Ambassadors - Bible Advocate","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/04\/July-August20-E.jpg","datePublished":"2020-07-01T22:29:51+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-29T17:28:19+00:00","description":"To be less or other than wise and harmless in a time of upheaval and change is to misrepresent King and kingdom. May we represent Him well and faithfully.\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/04\/July-August20-E.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/04\/July-August20-E.jpg","width":462,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/faithful-ambassadors\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Faithful Ambassadors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/","name":"Bible Advocate","description":"Advocating the Bible, representing the Church, and glorifying the God of grace and truth","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization","name":"Bible Advocate","url":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/05\/cropped-BA-Online-Logo-1-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/05\/cropped-BA-Online-Logo-1-3.jpg","width":380,"height":80,"caption":"Bible Advocate"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/68443b7dc847765e22d7d9934532a7a1","name":"Jason Overman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/879dd44f62e0c705659ad5d45bc1498a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/879dd44f62e0c705659ad5d45bc1498a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jason Overman"},"description":"Jason Overman is Editor of Publications of the Bible Advocate Press. After 24 years in the publishing industry (in sales and management) with the Harrison Daily Times, Jason left his general manager\u2019s position to join the BAP family in 2015. He has served in ministry for 30 years and currently pastors the Church of God (Seventh Day) in Jasper, Arkansas, with his wife, Stephanie, and two children, Tabitha and Isaac. Jason enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, reading theology, playing his guitar, and taking in the beautiful Ozark Mountains he calls home.","url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/author\/jason\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25839"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25840,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25839\/revisions\/25840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}