MOVE | Week 4 | Daniel Goulding · Rewind

Pastor Daniel Goulding · Mar 27, 2022 · 74 min watch · 2 min read

MOVE | Week 4 | Daniel Goulding

Big Idea

Quoting the message: Before we're Americans, we're called to be ambassadors from heaven, end quote..

Pastor Daniel Goulding argues that Christians must ground their political engagement in their primary identity as ambassadors of God's kingdom, not as partisans of any earthly nation. Drawing from Romans 13, he contends that government is divinely ordained, that submission to governing authorities is a matter of conscience before God, and that the Church's greatest witness is not political alignment but Spirit-empowered unity — because the world will believe in Jesus when His people are visibly, unexplainably one.

Key points

1
1Our primary identity as Christians is not American citizens but ambassadors from heaven, sent to carry the ministry of reconciliation.
2
2The government is divinely ordained — all governing authority comes from God, and those in power have been placed there by Him.
3
3Submission to governing authorities is not optional; rebelling against them is rebelling against what God has instituted.
4
4Governments serve a God-given purpose — upholding the rule of law and carrying out justice — so Christians should avoid wrongdoing and respect that function.
5
5Christians are called to pay taxes and give genuine respect and honor to those in authority, not mere grudging compliance.
6
6As ambassadors we don't have to pick a political side — like the commander of the Lord's army in Joshua, we represent a completely different kingdom.
7
7The unity of the Church is the supreme metric of our witness; Jesus prayed that our unity would be the proof to the world that the Father sent Him.

Application

Pastor Daniel's call to action is both personal and communal. First, do a heart check: when people in your life think of you, do they think of your political views or your love for Jesus? Audit your social media and your conversations accordingly. Second, vote — engage fully in the civic process — but do so after spending time in Scripture, in prayer, and in community with believers who see things differently than you do, letting God shape your conscience rather than your party. Third, refuse to let political frustration cross into contempt for those in authority; Paul calls that a sin issue, not just a bad look. Finally, prioritize unity in the body of Christ above political agreement, because Jesus Himself said that the world will know He is real by watching His people remain one.

Take it into your week

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“hey, if you have a Bible, open up to Romans chapter 13. We have an incredible section of scripture to cover together today”
From the transcript
“we looked at last week in Romans chapter 12, how we love people who believe different than us and how we love the people around us”
From the transcript
“here's what Paul tells us in two Corinthians chapter five. The same Paul that is writing the letter to the church in Rome, he says this in Romans or in two Corinthians chapter five, he says, For God was in Christ”
From the transcript
“Paul goes so far to say this in verse 20. He says, So now what that means is that we are Christ's ambassadors. Is now making His appeal to bring people back to him through us”
From the transcript
“All that to say, this is where we pick up in Romans chapter 13. Here's how as ambassadors for the kingdom of God, this is how we engage in politics”
From the transcript
“And then in Genesis chapter eight, we see the government. The first instance of the government is actually created by God”
From the transcript
“Here's where Paul continues in verse two. He says, so anyone who rebels against this authority, you have to understand you're actually rebelling against what God has instituted”
From the transcript
“And in verse four, he continues with this. He says, The authorities are God's servants. They're sent for your good, but if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid”
From the transcript
“Remember again what we saw last week in Romans chapter 12, Paul says that you and I as we live this new life and as we really fulfill the mission to love this world the way that God has called us to love it”
From the transcript
“What Paul tells us in Romans 13 is part of how God gets vengeance for us is through the ruling powers that are in place”
From the transcript
“We saw last week in Romans chapter 12 that if we're going to love this world at all, we have to do it from a place of sincerity, we have to do it from a genuine place”
From the transcript
“He's famously referring to what Jesus in Matthew 22 reiterated, right? The trap that they tried to trap Jesus with”
From the transcript
“they tried to trap him and they said, okay, awesome, this kingdom that you're building and we're citizens of this new kingdom, does that mean we don't have to pay taxes to Rome? So what does Jesus say in Matthew chapter 22”
From the transcript
“here's where Paul kind of wraps this section up in verse seven. He says, Give to everyone what you owe them. Pay your taxes and the government fees to those who collect them and give respect and honor to those who are in authority”
From the transcript
“In Joshua chapter five, here's what we see. It says that when Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and he saw a man standing in front of him with a sword in hand”
From the transcript
“Here's Jesus' prayer in John chapter 17. Jesus prayed, He says that I'm praying not only for these disciples but also for all whoever believe in me through their message”

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7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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Before we can talk about how Christians should engage politics, we have to settle something more fundamental: who are we? Pastor Daniel opened with a pointed reminder — your primary identity is not your nationality, your party, or your political tribe. You are an ambassador of heaven. That word ambassador carries real weight. An ambassador doesn't represent personal opinions; they carry the message and the values of the kingdom that sent them. They live in a foreign land, build real relationships there, and genuinely love the people around them — but their ultimate loyalty belongs somewhere else. Paul puts it plainly in 2 Corinthians 5:20: we are Christ's ambassadors, and God is making His appeal to the world through us. That's not a casual metaphor. It means that when people in your life encounter you, they should be encountering a window into God's kingdom. So here is the honest question Pastor Daniel surfaced: when the people around you think of you — your coworkers, your neighbors, your social media connections — what comes to mind first? Your political views, or your love for Jesus? Identity shapes everything downstream. Getting this right isn't about disengaging from the world; it's about knowing whose you are before you engage it.

For reflection

When the people closest to you describe you, what word or phrase do you think they'd use — and does that reflect your identity as an ambassador of Christ?

Pray

Pray for a clear, settled sense of your identity in Christ — that it would run deeper than any political or cultural label.

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Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message asked a question that's worth sitting with together: when the people around us think of us, what comes to mind first — our political opinions, or our love for Jesus?

Discussion questions

1
In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul describes Christians as 'ambassadors' for Christ. What does that image actually mean — what does an ambassador do, and what does it suggest about how we're supposed to relate to the country we're living in?
2
Romans 13:1 says that all governing authority comes from God and that those in power have been placed there by Him. What does that claim make more difficult — and what does it make simpler — about the way we engage with government?
3
Paul tells the Roman church to give taxes, respect, and genuine honor to those in authority — not just grudging compliance. What's the difference between those two things in practice, and why might that distinction matter to a watching world?
4
In Joshua 5:13-14, the commander of the Lord's army tells Joshua he's on neither side — and Pastor Daniel used that moment to suggest Christians don't have to pick a political team. What do you think that posture actually looks like when conversations get heated?
5
Jesus prayed in John 17:20-23 that His followers would be one so that the world would believe the Father sent Him. What does it look like for a church to be visibly, unexplainably unified — especially across political differences?
6
Pastor Daniel challenged us to ask whether our social media and everyday conversations reflect our identity as ambassadors or our identity as partisans. How might a community of believers help one another with that kind of ongoing audit?

Pray together

Ask God to shape our consciences by His Word and to make our unity as His people a real and visible witness to the world around us.

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Week 4 · 5 messages

Where these passages are preached

Romans 13 Romans 12 2 Corinthians 5 Genesis 8

Explore related topics

Ambassadors of God's Kingdom Christian Identity Church Unity Political Engagement Submission to Authority

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