2 Corinthians 5:11-21
You have a ministry! If you are in Christ, you are a new creation (5:17). God has reconciled us to himself and given us the ministry of reconciliation (5:18). This ministry is centered in a message (5:19). … Every Christian has a ministry. Having a ministry isn't just for pastors, it's something we all have as believers. A ministry isn't all about preaching. A ministry is a service and we all have a service to provide. Our primary ministry is one of reconciliation, one where we work to bring other people to Christ to be reconciled. We do this by talking to people and telling them about Jesus.
Because we have a ministry of reconciliation:
We no longer live for ourselves (5:15). … Jesus died for us and now we are to live for Him. ``It would make sense if we were happiest living for ourselves, but the Bible tells us this isn't how it works. Instead, we find purpose and joy by living for Christ.
We view people differently (5:16). … As Christians we shouldn't judge people on external factors. Instead, our first thought should be "do they know Jesus?" and if they don't we look at the next bullet point.
We try to persuade people (5:11-14). … The best that could possibly happen to someone is for them to come to know Jesus. The vast majority of believers will agree with that statement. If we truly believe that, then one of our goals should be to persuade others to know Jesus. Unfortunately, we are losing the drive to persuade others because we've been taught that sharing what we believe with someone else is judgmental and wrong. It's better to be called judgmental by human society than it is to let someone live and die without hearing the Gospel.
We are Christ’s ambassadors (5:20). … An ambassador is someone sent from one country to live in another. They live there as representatives of their home country and speak with the authority of their home country. As Christians our home is Heaven. We live on Earth as ambassadors, as representatives, from our home, Heaven. We are to represent our ruler, God, on Earth. Part of that is telling the world about God and what He has done for us, which verse 21 sums up so nicely.