¹⁸Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

What we receive we must give out. We must not be like a stagnant pond that receives a flow of pure, fresh water, but has no outlet except evaporation. We (the pond) have been reconciled to God (inflow of fresh water); therefore, we must become ambassadors for Christ (outflow of that water), urging others toward that same reconciliation (enjoyment of the water). If we don’t, we stagnate in our Christian walk. Evaporation leaves the water in the pond intensely concentrated but in time smelly, repugnant, and unfit to drink. So Christians who are not actively sharing their faith become ingrown, concentrating and analyzing the benefits of being reconciled to God, engrossed in theological controversies, and nitpicking doctrinal minutia—and they become repugnant to the world, to God, and to themselves. The fresh water becomes bottled up and useless.

How can we who have been reconciled to God not share this great news with those who are alienated from God, like we once were? Follow Paul’s inspired thinking here. First, it’s all about God, for “all these things are from God.” These lives of ours and the spiritual truth about how we should live compose God’s narrative, not ours. We need to get in line with His story and not develop our own. Second, His plot has Him reconciling us who are believers to Him. Third, He wants us to further His narrative by taking on the ministry of reconciliation, that is, to lead others to the place where they too can be reconciled to God. We are not the ones who reconcile them, but we represent God as His ambassadors, acting on His behalf. Fourth, God’s narrative has Christ working to reconcile the world to God. This means making a new life for all people who come to God by faith in Christ, to the position where God no longer counts their sins against them.

In verse 20, Paul is not calling the Corinthians to be reconciled, for they have already come to that point, unless he means they need to return to living as reconciled people. Possibly he may be speaking to the unregenerate individuals among the Corinthians. More probably, Paul is telling them that the message of Christ’s ambassador is this: “We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” Very simple, very straightforward.

Lord, help me move from my stagnation to being an alive ambassador for You.