Paul was very urgent in his directives to all believers about their involvement with God in reaching out to a lost world: we, then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain (2Corinthians 6:1).  He had just spoken to the entire church at Corinth giving specifics to the believers there that they were all to be ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through [them] (2 Corinthians 5:20).

This remains an urgent message for each of us today. All of us are to function at all times as ambassadors for Christ, living as though God were pleading through us!

We must remember that most people spend five full days in the marketplaces of our continent. And it is there, in the midst of the multitudes, who may never attend a church, that our witness is to be most urgent and real. 

This has always been Gods strategy for His people to reach the lost world around them. When God gave 12 men to Jesus to be His disciples, all 12 were businessmen. And all along He taught them and urged them to be witnesses for Him at all times.

Furthermore, when you read of the places Jesus went to teach and preach Gods good news, most of His time was spent in the marketplaces of His daywhere the common people were to be found!

Likewise, in the Book of Acts, Gods strategy was to save the common people, teach and train them to live out their new relationship with Him, and then scatter them all over the world where they could tell others about Him. They bore witness in the power of the Holy Spirit, as God added daily to the churches that were established.

Acts 8:1 states clearly that they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Then the record adds: therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. This was Gods eternal plan for spreading His gospel to people all over the world.

Paul also reminded believers that their bodies were the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are Gods (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

So, the call to be a child of God is at the same time a call to be on mission with God! Unfortunately, our religious culture seems to lead many to believe that only professional or full-time ministers are the called. Our call, however, is in the conversion experience itself. Where God assigns us is up to Him.

Fortunately, I am now witnessing a tremendous return to this call to be an ambassador for Christ in the marketplace. For example, many of the CEOs across the nation that I minister with have an ever-increasing desire to be spiritual leaders.

They say, We are sensing God calling us to seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness here in our own marketplaces!

As they share with me I hear the incredible effectiveness of their witnessin their boardrooms, in their decisions, in their relationships and in the national and international planning of their companies.

There is great freshness and joy in their lives as they serve with freedom in their call to their marketplaces.

I also see key businesspeople witnessing extensively in their workplaces, their families, their communities and to the ends of the earth.

Recently, one executive felt led to establish a significant contribution from his company to the villages of East Africa. While he visited there he shared Christ with the villagers, and the chief became a Christ-follower along with many others.

Many businesspeople are now leading Bible studies in their home offices. Others are establishing prayer movements in their companies, and others are finding creative ways to witness where God has placed them.

Schools, businesses, law offices, courts and even legislative offices are being transformed.

One national senator is now leading a group of senators through the Experiencing God course each Friday. While we call all of this marketplace evangelism, God calls it obedience to Him.

When we answer His call, and our lives and words tell His story daily, the marketplace of North America will change...and so will our world.

The author of Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby is president of Henry Blackaby Ministries. Visit www.henryblackaby.com for more information. Bible references are from The New King James Version.