The Christian Embassy of Canada exists for one reason: to inspire leaders with the person and values of Jesus.
Since 1984 the Christian Embassy of Canada in Ottawa has been serving diplomats and their spouses, parliamentarians and business leaders of varied religious backgrounds. Their mission is to, “Inspire diplomatic, political and business leaders, giving them an opportunity to discover Jesus, to experience His life-changing power and to inspire others similarly.”
Until recently I had never heard of the concept of a Christian Embassy. The Canadian Christian Embassy is part of a network of 7 other Christian Embassies around the world in New York, Washington DC, London, Geneva, Pretoria, Dublin, and Manila.
What a fabulous work. These embassies are staffed with passionate followers of Jesus who want to make Him known at the highest levels of the federal government and in the international diplomatic community.
In late November I had the great pleasure and privilege to speak in Ottawa at the Christmas Gala of the Christian Embassy of Canada. With hundreds of people in attendance and over 50 countries represented it was an exhilarating occasion. I met scores of Ambassadors and High Commissioners.
I spoke on the HEART of a leader: humility, empathy, authenticity, risk and tenacity. I used this as a segue into explaining that Christmas is really the announcement of the world’s greatest free trade agreement. Through Jesus, God is offering mankind a free heart exchange. We can trade our broken heart for a healed heart, a hard heart for a soft heart, a heart of stone for a heart of flesh, a dark heart for one filled with light, a hateful heart for a loving heart, an imprisoned heart for a free heart.
I was enormously encouraged to hear from one of the Christian Embassy staff that during a follow up meeting with an ambassador, the ambassador had indicated a desire to make this heart trade. So, the staff member was able to introduce the ambassador to Christ, and a heart exchange was made.
This experience got me thinking more about the diplomatic community. There is a common mission that unites all diplomats in Canada:
To create good relations between their own country and Canada.
Christmas is the time of year when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Jesus came to demonstrate and to preach the good news of the Kingdom of God. Jesus came to make a way for mankind to live differently – to make a heart exchange so we can become citizens of the Kingdom of Light, set free from the Kingdom of Darkness.
In other words, Jesus came to establish the Government of God on earth. He taught us to pray for God’s Kingdom (government) to come and His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. And now that He has launched the Government of God on earth He has recruited His people to become the Divine Diplomats of His Government.
You and I are Ambassadors of the Government of God on earth. We are here to establish good relations between Jesus and all those around us. We are Divine Diplomats of God’s Kingdom – this is our full time mission. Yes, there is work we do each and every day, and this work is an opportunity to be Divine Diplomats of the Government of God in the lives of other people.
Like Jesus, we are called to demonstrate the nature of God’s Government, and to share with people how the Government of God can change their lives. As people learn about the culture of God’s Government, the heart exchange He offers us, and the freedom He has purchased for us from the evil dictatorship of the enemy of mankind, we can also have the eternal privilege of praying with people to change their citizenship and be born again into the Government of God.
We are governmental representatives. We are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God. As diplomats we are charged by God Himself to demonstrate and share the nature of His Government on earth as it is in Heaven.
Divine Diplomats – let’s live in the authority of that.
2 Corinthians 5:20
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”
Colossians 1:13, 14
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Ezekiel 36:26
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Matthew 4:23 (The Message)
“From there he went all over Galilee. He used synagogues for meeting places and taught people the truth of God. God’s kingdom was his theme—that beginning right now they were under God’s government, a good government! He also healed people of their diseases and of the bad effects of their bad lives.”