Although the Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris won’t take place until Friday, fans of the Olympics don’t have to wait that long to get their sports fix. The first competition of this year’s Olympics officially occurred this morning, with Argentina and Morocco facing off in men’s soccer. In addition to soccer, sports that will start competition before the Opening Ceremony include rugby, handball, archery, and shooting. What a tremendous privilege it must be to represent your country on the biggest stage of competition. There has to be an immense sense of pride in knowing you’re playing on behalf of your family, friends, and fellow citizens to demonstrate to a global audience what your country is all about. While most of us will never experience the feeling of representing our country in an international sporting competition, as followers of Jesus, we have a greater privilege to serve as representatives of something even more majestic than our country. Philippians 3:20 (NIV) says, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Ahead of being citizens of our earthly country, followers of Jesus are citizens of heaven called to live a life that reflects that reality. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (ESV) adds, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 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. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” In His infinite wisdom, God has ordained that every believer who has been reconciled to Himself through Jesus' finished work on the cross is appointed to serve as an ambassador for Christ. We, the redeemed people of God, have the tremendous honor and privilege of proclaiming the message of salvation to a lost world on behalf of our great God. We are blessed to serve on this earth as His representatives, telling people how they can be reconciled to God. For Olympic athletes, representing their country is more than just attempting to win a medal. It ensures that they conduct themselves in a manner that doesn’t reproach their nation. The same is true for us as believers. We cannot control whether or not people respond to the gospel message, but we can control how we conduct ourselves in our day-to-day lives. Since we live as representatives of the kingdom of heaven here on earth, it is vitally important that we conduct ourselves in a way that reflects the reality of the message we herald. Our character and integrity should point people to the value system of our heavenly home while also demonstrating the true power available through the gospel to transform the lives of sinners. Today, let’s remember that our citizenship in heaven is more important than our citizenship in our earthly countries. As ambassadors for Christ, let’s boldly proclaim His gospel of grace while living lives that prove His power to save and transform. I’m Matt Osborne, and you can UNPACK that! PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for making me a citizen of heaven through what Jesus accomplished for me. Please help me serve well as Your ambassador during my time on earth so that You might be glorified and honored in all I do. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
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