Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 8426 Plough Quarterly • Winter 2017 and no church is permitted to bless any attempts to do so. Nor can there be a “Christian politics” in international organizations such as the League of Nations. If the League of Nations decides to organize an armed punitive police force, no one can rightly claim that this is done in the name of Christ. There are two distinct and separate spheres of life: one is the state and the other is the church. National or international politics are not the Christian’s politics. The apostle says that our politics is in heaven, from where we expect our Lord Jesus Christ to come (Phil. 3:20). Our politics is that of the kingdom of God. Therefore, beloved Hermann Arnold, I want to entrust you with the very highest and greatest thing which can exist for a human being. You are asked whether you can take upon yourself the task of serving the church in its mission as an embassy of God’s kingdom. The apostle Paul says we are ambassadors of the kingdom of God (2 Cor. 5:18–20). One must understand this statement in the sense of diplomacy. When the British ambassador is in the British Embassy in Berlin, he is not subject to the laws of the German Reich. The grounds of the embassy are inviolable: in the residence of the ambassador, only the laws of the country he represents are valid. Paul says that we are ambassadors of God, representing Christ, the Messiah King, the regent of that last kingdom – a kingdom represented not by any state or government of this world, but rather by the church. We are ambassadors of the reign of God. This is something enormous. It means that we do nothing at all except what the king of God’s kingdom would himself do for his kingdom. And the will of this king is to unite. This is why the apostle says we are God’s ambassadors on behalf of Christ, appealing to all people, “Be reconciled to God.” Our task is reconciliation and uniting, and nothing else. There is nothing else we have to do in this world. When we take this service upon ourselves we enter into mortal danger. Whoever goes the way of Christ goes the way of the cross, for the world, the state, and society are not willing to follow such a call. Nevertheless, there is in every human heart the certainty that this is the only way of truth. As Paul writes, our testimony will bear witness to every human conscience that it is the truth (Rom. 2:15; 2 Cor. 4:2). This conviction gives us the courage of love, because we sense that what we are proclaiming is what all our fellow human beings want as well. At the moment, to be sure, they feel unable to begin this way because they are hypnotized, under a spell, and subject to the power of suggestion. Yet they them- selves sense that God’s peace and justice is the way the world should be! There is no greater bravery than that of faith. There is no greater courage than that of love.  Reconstructed from a transcript of Eberhard Arnold’s address to the Alm Bruder- hof, Principality of Liechtenstein, on August 3, 1934 (Bruderhof Historical Archive, EA 255). Translated by Nicoline Maas. We are ambassadors of the reign of God. This means that we do nothing at all except what the King of God’s kingdom would do.