Wings – Ambassador for Christ (Rapunzel, Jasmine, Pocahontas)

Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Wings series of devotional explorations! This week, we’re studying the role of Ambassador as described in 2 Corinthians and other passages. We’ll look at several different fictional characters who fit this Scriptural role in many different ways. Enjoy!

Fandom: Rapunzel from Tangled, Anna from Frozen, Moana from Moana,

Verses: 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, 3:4-5, 5:18-21, Exodus 19:6, Hebrews 4:14-16, Psalm 32:8, Romans 5:10-11, James 2:14-17, Proverbs 4:1-9, John 14:26, Romans 10:9-17, 1 Peter 2:9

Truth: As children of God and followers of Christ, we are His ambassadors to a lost and broken world. Our job is to carry the message of forgiveness and reconciliation to as many people as possible.

Want to read the other posts in this series? Here’s the intro post with more background on my heart behind it : )

Ambassadors in Christ

To me the Ambassador is the passionate young or young-ish member of an activist group or nonprofit. Their heart for people is automatically clear, and you immediately know that they will do anything to help those who need it. They might be an ambassador or other representative, ready to use all the authority at their disposal for the good of all. They are confident and well-spoken, gracious and wise. They are willing to sit and listen to those who are more experienced than they, and happy to exchange ideas. They are generous and kind, and will share truth and speak life with everyone they encounter when given the chance.

Characteristics of the Ambassador

• Is confident in her identity as a daughter of the King and His representative in the world
• Constantly considers her actions in relation to the Word, asking her Father for advice regularly
• Views every human that she encounters the way that her Father does: made in His image, loved deeply and unconditionally, and in desperate need of restoration
• Speaks the message entrusted to her by the Father with urgency, grace, and confidence
• Looks for ways to connect with every person she encounters so that she can share truth with them
• Defender of the helpless – wants those in low places to be restored to honor and prays/acts towards that goal
• Co-laborer with Christ as Lord and King and also as Advisor and Confidant

Rapunzel

One of the key components of this particular headspace or identity-piece is seeing others through the lens of Christ (2 Corinthians 5, below). Rapunzel’s character displays this quality from the beginning, but it’s especially apparent in the short films and the animated Disney+ show. She is constantly looking for ways to bring about peace and harmony in the lives of her people, and rarely knows a stranger. She is hospitable and generous, which is exactly what we’re called to be in Christ.

Here’s a post I wrote this past spring about the ways that Rapunzel shines in everything she does.

Anna/Elsa

Anna shows Ambassador-like characteristics from the beginning of her story. As soon as Elsa’s door closes in her face, she begins working to have it opened again. When her sister reveals powers that are unsettling and strange, Anna immediately seeks to bring her home again. Her love for Elsa knows no limits, and will risk life and limb (and a frozen heart) to see her restored.

In Frozen 2, both Anna and Elsa move on behalf of the people of Arendelle, making the difficult decision to have the people shelter outside of their peninsular kingdom. Each sister recognizes when their forebears have done wrong, and works to make things right. And in the end, they form a bridge between the spirits of nature and the human world. Anna herself goes on to become Queen of Arendelle, and we all know that she will do everything she can to lead with grace and wisdom.

Pocahontas (the watered-down Disney princess and the actual person)

I recently re-watched the Pocahontas Disney movie and was, frankly, appalled at the characterization and treatment of Native Americans. Like, seriously, this movie came out in the 1990s and they were still singing about some terrible things! So that part of the story isn’t worthy of admiration… But what about Pocahontas’ “Colors of the Wind” song?

As it turns out, the real-life Pocahontas (or Amonute) was only a child when John Smith’s group of colonizers arrived. The “historical” reports about this era of history tend to be untrustworthy, but some have written that the two of them made some effort to exchange languages and, thus, to promote understanding. This source that I found described her work to carry messages between her people and the colonizers, helping them adjust to life in the territory… until the colonizers decided not to be peaceful anymore.

Soooooo… the song “Colors of the Wind,” while it is part of the romanticized-and-glossed-over Disney version of history, does hold some value in its themes of seeking to promote understanding even in hostile strangers… which is exactly what the real-life Pocahontas may have done.

Moana

As I mentioned in last week’s post, Moana doesn’t really strike me as an Ambassador type at the beginning of her story… But she has most definitely stepped into this role by the climax. The words of “Who You Are,” with her holding out the heart of Te Fiti and crossing the dry-land-in-the-middle-of-the-sea, are almost LITERALLY THE ENTIRE GOSPEL MESSAGE LIKE C’MON IT’S LIKE THEY DID IT ON PURPOSE?!! But anyway, what really strikes me about this scene is Moana’s recognition that the lava monster she and Maui have been trying to defeat for most of the movie is actually a spirit in pain. That’s very Ambassador-like: seeing the hurts and the underlying motives behind people’s actions. So cool!!

Here’s a post with more on how Moana’s story reflects our lives as believers.

Verses

Confidently asking for wisdom

And who is adequate for these things? Such [is the] confidence we have toward God through Christ. Not that we are adequate in ourselves [so as] to consider anything as [having come] from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God,

2 Corinthians 3:4-5

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as [we are, yet] without sin. Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of [our] need.

Hebrews 4:14-16

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will advise you with My eye upon you.

Psalm 32:8

Listen, [my] sons, to the instruction of a father, And pay attention so that you may gain understanding, For I give you good teaching; Do not abandon my instruction. When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, He taught me and said to me, “Let your heart take hold of my words; Keep my commandments and live; Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. “Do not abandon her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you. “The beginning of wisdom [is:] Acquire wisdom; And with all your possessions, acquire understanding. “Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her. “She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

Proverbs 4:1-9

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you.

John 14:26

Carrying the kingdom to a lost world

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us reveals the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? Such [is the] confidence we have toward God through Christ. Not that we are adequate in ourselves [so as] to consider anything as [having come] from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God,

2 Corinthians 2:14-16

and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

Exodus 19:6

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that i have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:19-20

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart [a person] believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same [Lord] is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” How then are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written: “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!” However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?” So faith [comes] from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Romans 10:9-17

Some interesting Greek facts about this verse:

• the word we translate as “Go” is actually in a verb tense that would be better translated as “as you are going”, as in, you’re already moving through life, so while you’re moving, do this (the rest of the verse)
• the word we translate as “all nations” actually just means “people groups”. So high school students, and school district employees, or businesspeople, or firefighters or politicians or even, say, fangirls qualify as people groups. Whatever people group you’re a part of, or whatever group you’re already ministering to in some way, you’re following the instructions of these verses. So cool!!

Co-laborer with Christ

What use is it, my brothers [and sisters,] if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for [their] body, what use is that? In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, [being] by itself.

James 2:14-17

But you are A CHOSEN PEOPLE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR [GOD’S] OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

1 Peter 2:9

What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave [opportunity] to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

1 Cor. 3:5-9

Seeking to bring reconciliation between people and God

Now all [these] things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, 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. He made Him who knew no sin [to be] sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:18-21

These verses remind me of lots of different Disney princesses, but this scene in particular from Frozen 2 bears a particular resemblance:

Here’s a post I found that further analyzes Anna and Elsa’s role as the Bridge/ Fifth Spirit in Frozen 2.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only [this,] but we also celebrate in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Romans 5:10-11

Reflection

Here are some reflection questions to help us apply what we’ve studied today:

• How do you view the people you meet and interact with daily? How does God view them?
• Who in your community is in a low place and needs to be restored to a place of honor (Biblical justice)? How can you pray for them, and how can you respond with actions?
• Who gives wisdom in life and in our walk with Christ? When was the last time you asked God for wisdom in even the smallest of decisions?
• How are you representing Christ and proclaiming the “message of reconciliation” that has been entrusted to you?

Free printable!!

Conclusion

I hope you’ve enjoyed and were inspired by this week’s installment of Wings. What did you learn? Have any thoughts to share?

Happy fangirling!