… but God sent me
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. (2 Corinthians 5:18-20 ESV)
In my previous post, I stated that they don’t need me, meaning that those outside the family of God need God himself, not me. In the passage above, I think Paul reveals the other side of this coin. While the world does not need me, God has sent me into the world as his ambassador, his representative.
As God sends me (and his other children) into the world, he sends us on a mission of reconciliation. This is interesting to me. God does not send us on a mission of condemnation, but reconciliation. Just as we have been reconciled to God, we have been give a service and a message of reconciliation to take to those who are not reconciled to God.
We implore… but God reconciles. We speak… but God transforms. We engage… but God brings into relationship with himself.
They don’t need me; they need God. I know God. They need the God that I know. I introduce them to God through a service and message of reconciliation. Through my service and message, God reconciles the world to himself.
They don’t need me; they need God. They don’t need me; but God sent me.