Firefighters for Christ
An ambassador is the highest raking official sent from his Sovereign Lord to represent his homeland in a foreign land. As Christians, we are citizens of heaven. According to 2 Corinthians 5;20, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”
Phil Hanlen is a professional firefighter. Phil reminds us that, not only are we ambassadors for Christ, we are also his firefighters. A firefighter wears protective clothing to be able to get close to the fire. The temperature near the fire will exceed 1000 degrees. Fighting a fire is a team effort. A firefighter is a student of forcible entry to save a structure or prevent a fire from spreading.
To be a successful firefighter for God requires that we have been through the fire, for Jesus said, you shall be baptized with (immersed in) the Holy Spirit and with fire. Fire in the word of God symbolizes refinement. We have been refined by the refiner’s fire. God himself is the refiner.
Fire is also a destructive force that the devil uses for his own purposes, for the thief cometh not but for to steal, to kill and to destroy.
Phil relates stories about the recent Thomas fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara. That night 250 houses were destroyed in the neighborhood where his engine crew was stationed. The Thomas fire was the biggest fire in California’s recorded history.
There was one old man with a garden hose who refused to evacuate. Phil commanded him to leave but he said, “I’m a retired firefighter and I’ve got this.” He had taken a stand against the fire with his grandson. Phil warned him that if you don’t evacuate, you’ll die in this fire. The old man refused to leave. When Phil’s commander ordered his engine unit to evacuate the area, they saw through the smoke someone walking down the hill from the neighborhood. This guy was the old firefighter’s grandson. The grandfather had driven out of the neighborhood and said he would come back to pick up his grandson but the fire would have prevented him.
As Phil and his crew were evacuating, he saw saw the shadowy movement of someone inside of one house. They stopped their fire truck and discovered an old lady in the house. She had no clue that there was a fire and that she was in imminent danger. This is similar to Christians in the church who have no clue that the devil is lurking right outside their door.
As firefighters for Christ, God expects us to be prepared to rescue his people from the flames raging around us. To prepare, we need to set our affections on things above and not on the things of this world.
To prepare our hearts, we must practice the fundamentals of the Christian life. Therefore pray, study the word, serve in the church, and meet regularly with likeminded believers. Give generously of your earthly treasures to free yourself to believe God as your sufficiency. Rejoice Evermore and pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. Finally love God above all and your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said, “in that thou has done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
According to 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
17. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;”
19. To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
This is our mission and our co-mission. We are fellow Laborers with Christ. We are yoked together with him in the field to plant, water, and gather in the harvest.
God has called each of us to a different calling. Our challenge is to see our work from a spiritual perspective. Our stories are part of the tapestry that God is weaving through the fabric of the lives of all Christians. Jesus Christ is centerpiece of history. Our stories are unfolding within the context of history…our story in relation to His Story.
May we live to the praise of the glory of his grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael