It’s Sunday morning and the faithful have gathered. The room looks like everyone showed up even though it’s a holiday. The prelude is usually instrumental, but this morning it’s vocal—the sweet voice of a violin player. She has a first cousin once removed who is a Christian rock star. Their musical styles are a bit contrasting, but I like both.

The topic for the message is “Figurehead Diplomat or Real Ambassador.” This title makes me think of my step brother who is a career diplomat currently serving our country as ambassador to Mauritania. His career and position illuminates my perspective on diplomacy. The pastor’s point today is that we aren’t here just to create a comfortable religious organization and then go to heaven when we die. He seems to think Christians need to be good ambassadors who know the language and the culture of the people and engage the culture in a positive way. I can’t tell whether the faithful are buying it, but whether changed or not they will be back next week.