Define ambassadorship and relate it to the Third Commandment. BIB 502-2-20-7

Exodus 20:7 “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”
 
Before CM and KI I naïvely thought the third commandment had to do with swearing. Now I realize that taking the Lord’s name in vain has to do with being a poor ambassador for God. Many of the churches of today have deviated from the simple message of Jesus as well as being tolerant of immorality.

Paul tells us in ll Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
I talk to people about the simple message of justification by faith: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 KJV.

However and in my opinion it is not enough just to say that salvation through Jesus Christ is the only way. We have to back it up by knowing something about other faiths.

“Fast Facts® on False Teachings” by Ed Decker, 2002 is a quick overview of many of the so-called world religions and/or cults.

While the Catholic Church conforms to some Christian principles, much of their doctrine flies in the face of Jesus’ simple message. I refer people to Dave hunt's book, “A Woman Rides the Beast: The Roman Catholic Church and the Last Days.”

“The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes” by Dave Hunt and Ed Decker, 1983 is a good book to study and then share with your Mormon friends.

Thomas Heinze has a recent series of books including “Answers To My Jehovah's Witness Friends,” “Answers To My Mormon Friends” and “Answers To My Catholic Friends.” His books are written in a fairly simple style that puts the cookies on the bottom shelve.

I recall being in a chat room where one member started an interesting thread titled "Eternity is a long time to be wrong about God." She got the attention of many of our fellow chat room members but turned them off by only quoting Scripture with no explanation. She had the best of intentions and we've remained friends on another thread dealing with prayer only; of course on that thread we are singing to the choir.
As ambassadors in training we need to put on the full armor of God and also be credible in what we say. I gently witnessed many times to a good "all roads lead to God" friend about Jesus being the way. One day a mutual friend told him pretty much that if you don't accept Jesus you will burn in hell. So much for reaching him.