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Ambition

Posted by arsindelve, Executive Director, Delve Christian Ministries
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Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do us a favor." "What is your request?" he asked. They replied, "When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left." But Jesus said to them, "You don't know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?" "Oh yes," they replied, "we are able!" Then Jesus told them, "You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen." When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:35-45

God created the world out of nothing, and so long as we are nothing, He can make something out of us. - Martin Luther

Watch a few day-time talk shows and you'll hear mothers complaining about their teenager's lack of ambition. Check out a few dating shows and you'll hear the same complaint from women who can't find men with any ambition. There's no question; it's a quality that's in high demand.

We tend to think of personality characteristics as being entirely positive or negative. It seems obvious that justice is a good quality while impatience is a bad one. However, C.S Lewis warns us that even the most positive traits must be tempered, otherwise they all have the potential for harm. He writes,

"There is none of our impulses which the Moral Law may not sometimes tell us to suppress, and none which it may not sometimes tell us to encourage. It is a mistake to think that some of our impulses - say mother love or patriotism - are good, and others, like sex or the fighting instinct are bad.The most dangerous thing you can do is take any one impulse of your own nature and set it up as the thing you ought to follow at all costs. There is none of them which will not make us into devils if we set it up as an absolute guide."


Ambition is an excellent example of what Lewis is talking about. While ambition is a much sought-after quality in our employees, spouses and children, it's easy to imagine ruthless business tyrants whose unrestrained ambition drives them to the top of the ladder, leaving a mess of devastated adversaries and shattered relationships in their wake. Scores of movies and books have been written about men and woman such as these. Without a doubt, ambition has to be restrained by love, justice, mercy and tenderness. This is true whether you're a Christian or not.

However, for Christians, the need to reign in our ambition is far greater. Ambition will be one of those qualities that the Moral Law will more often tell us to suppress.

Many assume that ambition and hard work are virtually the same thing, and that someone who lacks ambitions is lazy. If that were true, then there could be no such thing as a hard-working person who lacks ambition. Yet, obviously there are people everywhere who work very hard at their job, but have no ambition to any greater status or position in their life. If that person is doing the work the Lord has called them to do, then a lack of personal ambition is entirely appropriate. The most hard-working women I know are two missionaries who work at a widow's school in Nigeria and these sisters have no ambition to do anything else, for they are exactly where God wants them to be. No one could possibly suggest that their lack of ambition is something negative, and they are the furthest thing from lazy one could imagine.

I think more accurately, the opposite of ambition is humility. If this is true, then pride rather than hard work is synonymous with ambition. This comparison has a much greater ring of truth to it, for when we examine what lies beneath our personal ambitions for success and glory, it is precisely pride that we find there. Hard work might be the means to personal glory, but it is not at all what fuels our desire for glory. Pride alone fuels our ambition for greater personal reward and recognition.

Unfortunately, personal ambition and pride are completely incompatible with living within God's will. By its very nature, ambition drives us to strive for personal glory and achievement. When that is driving us, how can we also strive to be that which God is intending us to be? We cannot serve two masters. While we harbor greater desires for personal success and glory, we will turn our back on God's will for our lives. If we are to empty ourselves and live in service to God as Jesus taught, then we must abandon whatever position, status or success we desire for ourselves.

Should Christians abandon all ambition? Not at all! We just need to be clear about whose glory we're striving for. If the reward of our struggle is for ourselves, then we must set it down and allow God to give us whatever money, status or position He desires for us. However, we should always be ambitious in meeting goals and setting high standards for what we can achieve for God's glory.

There is nothing wrong with having ambitious goals for your ministry or your God-centered service to others. If you serve as a youth pastor in your local church, it's great to have ambitious plans for your youth programs. God deserves the best you have to offer, and He wants you to use your gifts to their fullest. Just be wary of crossing that line into personal ambition where the goal becomes recognition and awards for the work you've done. If you're a musician, then set ambitious goals for the quality of the music you write and your dedication to putting on an inspiring show, but let God decide how successful you will be and how many albums you will sell.

Pause for a moment today and take an inventory of the ambitions in your life. If you achieved all of your goals, who would get the glory? Are you striving for you or for God? Take a moment to determine if there are any adjustments you need to make to the goals and targets you've set, and ask God in prayer to help you realign your personal ambitions so that you desire nothing but His will in your life.

By God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, may this devotional be a blessing to you today.

Comments


After reading this, i dont think i'd ever remain the same! God Bless!
7/22/2008 4:05:55 AM - anonymous


Thank you for this. I believe God led me here today as I was seeking an answer on a music ministry opportunity. I want to serve God, but was leary of the title/position that would come with it. Seeking HIS will for my life is of utmost importance and reading this gave me more insight into what I felt the Lord was laying on my heart.
7/24/2008 11:31:02 AM - anonymous


I have been greatly refreshed by this devotional. I have known that God is calling me to music ministry for quite some time. The last line of the second to last paragraph makes a world of difference in how I will proceed. Thank you!
7/24/2008 3:54:53 PM - anonymous


Ambition has never been in my blood but after this I truly will work in having an ambition in my life that is in Christ Jesus! God is amazing and understands our strengths and weakness. I have strive my best to put on ambition in my life. Thanks!
7/28/2008 1:17:37 AM - anonymous


Thank you.
7/30/2008 12:42:41 AM - anonymous


I thank God this message, I really needed this. I have always been a driven person from childhood, always striving to be the best at everything especially academics. I have struggled over completing an exam for eight years, that it is only sheer determination and "ambition" that has kept me on this path. This exam is purely secular and is neither life nor death. I realise it more and more that it is about my ambition, pride and affirmation. My results are coming out in two weeks and I don't know what the final outcome will be, but I am giving thanks that whatever God's will is, that it will be. This exam has consumed my life for far too long and I don't think God intended that. I really thank God for this message!
8/3/2008 9:21:58 AM - anonymous


I really thank God for your section about ambition,upon reading this and the last paragraph i realized how selfish i am because i too have an ambition but never get one,but upon reading your column im so refresh and move forward in what God wanted me to be. i am 52 yrs. old and almost 25 yrs. as a christian, i am a sunday school teacher in our local church here in the Philippines, and in my 8 yrs of teaching children i didnt know if i am doing what God intended me to be.but thank God and you. God Bless you.

Winnie
9/2/2008 11:23:06 PM - anonymous


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