Behind the Name

I’d like to explain where the name “Red Ambassador” came from. There is a meaning behind it, actually.

Before I called myself “Red Ambassador”, I went by the artist name “RED 7” (in all caps). That was just a name I had used as an internet name for a while. It was kind of something that stemmed from the fact that I liked the color red and I also liked WWII air force terminology. “RED 7” is kind of a wingman- sounding name, so I went with it.

About a year later, I discovered that there were a couple other music groups with the name “RED 7.” Red 7 was a short-lived rock group from the 80’s, it’s some for-hire band, it’s also a night club in Texas, and I thought I had found out about some new-ish punk rock band from Russia or something who was calling themselves Red 7 (I can’t seem to find the link now). So, yeah, RED 7 was not going to work.

When my sister and I were kids, we played, sang, and wrote a couple (not-so-great) songs together. We called ourselves the “Ambassadors,” which we got from 2 Corinthians 5:20, which says this:

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. – 2 Cor 5:20 NKJV

I got to thinking about that name some more as I was trying to decide what I should change my artist name to. The whole idea of an ambassador is someone who is supposed to accurately represent and share the will of the sender. An ambassador isn’t just a messenger; someone who spouts off word-for-word what the master wanted him to say. An ambassador might do that too, but he’s more than that.

An ambassador is both himself and a representation of the wishes of the party he is working for. A messenger is just a carrier, not an image. An ambassador is sent to live in foreign countries to represent his or her homeland. He does all this peaceably and without weapons or forms of hostility with the hopes of building good relationships with the people in the foreign land.

However, I wouldn’t be much of an ambassador for Christ if I wasn’t washed by Him. I know that, on the inside, I look ugly. I’ve really messed things up in so many ways, but Jesus Christ has died for me, forgiven me, and washed me with his blood. Now, when people look at me, they see the results of what He’s done in my life. They see red.

In this world I live in, I am an ambassador for Christ. I live in a foreign, hostile country but I am not hostile towards them. I am broken and imperfect in so many ways. I’m inadequate. But I have been washed by His blood (figuratively). I’m forgiven.

I am Red Ambassador.