At every funeral I have gone to there is a part of the ceremony that someone will stand up among the many and tell stories, jokes, encourage the family and give their condolences and it never fails that every one of them with tears in their eyes begin to talk about what the individual loved; what they hoped for; what they desired; what brought them joy; what their ambitions were, and if you pay attention you can quickly begin to tell which ones lived an ambitious life and which ones lived a life of idleness and comfort. Now, don’t get me wrong, is idleness or comfort wrong? Well, not really, much like wanting to live a life that is fun and enjoyable is not wrong either (the Lord knows I love a good Sunday afternoon nap). However, if those things are all you desire to achieve in life that’s when it becomes a problem. The person devoted to living the Christian life well, should not only look to avoid living an ambitious-free life but they must also be able to know how to discern which ambitions promote themselves and which ones promote the Lord.
The thing we can’t forget is that every one of us have ambitions but not every ambition we have is good. The reality of sin in our lives distorts every part of us and if we aren’t careful we will spend our entire lives promoting a name that won’t last. Because that’s it; every desire, every goal, every ambition that we have gives glory to someone; the question we have to ask ourselves is, who is my ambition glorifying, Christ of self?
Selfish Ambition Glorifies Self:
It goes without saying, but selfish ambition glorifies yourself. Paul warns of this kind of ambition in his letter to the Philippians when he said,
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)
Paul zooms in on the ambition of self; the ambitions that sinful beings use to accomplish their own will. This can look like the “ambition of the sluggard” (Prov. 6:9) that Proverbs speaks about who spends their days never leaving the comfort of their bedroom as they indulge themselves in video games and movies all to achieve a life of comfort and ease but its not just the sluggard. This can also look like “the ambition of the greedy man”. The man who sets out to gain the world (Mk. 8:36). To have the possessions, to drive the fancy cars, to own the biggest houses, to achieve the fame and have their name etched in stone. The reality is that these ambitions and the many more like them do nothing for the kingdom of God. If anything, it actively combats it. How are we to think of God more if we are too busy trying to figure out how to make our lives better without him? If our job as Christ followers is supposed to be fighting for the kingdom of God to be here on earth then why are our ambitions trying to accomplish the opposite?
Godly Ambition Glorifies Christ:
If it is true that selfish ambition glorifies self then the opposite is true as well; godly ambition glorifies Christ. If selfish ambition has the goal of pleasing the individual then it would equally be true that godly ambition has the goal of pleasing Christ. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthian church writes,
“So, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.” (2 Corinthians 5:9)
What does this mean? That wherever we are and whatever we are doing our greatest aim, our greatest desire ought to be to please him and how are we to please him if our ambitions are set to please ourselves; we can’t. This is why godly ambition rejects the life of the sluggard while simultaneously rejecting the life of the greedy man. Godly ambition leaves no room for self nor does it have the desire for it. It fulfills the scripture in John when he says that “He (Christ) must increase, I must decrease” (Jn. 3:30). This is the heart of the believer. That Christ would increase in their lives, in their community, in their city, state and beyond and when this kind of ambition meets the will of God that is when we will see christians pursuing and accomplishing things that will have an eternal impact. We see this very thing from Paul in his letter to the Romans. He says,
“And it has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known” (Rom. 15:20).
The ambition to take Christ where he is not known does not have the DNA of selfish ambition, why? Because it is about making Christ known so Christ gets the glory. But godly ambition doesn’t require you to go to a place where Christ is not known, it could, but it also could look like bringing Christ to your workplace or school, the coffee shop or the doctors office. It could look like starting your own company or working at the same company for years. It could look like moving across the street or the globe because the Spirit convicted you that a different place was in need of the gifts that God has given you. Because thats just it, Godly ambition may look different for everyone because God has given each of us certain gifts to use but the goal remains the same for everyone. Glory for Christ.
Its A Heart Issue:
Paul’s desire for the lost to know the Lord created an ambition to not only preach the gospel to those who were directly around him but also to those who have never heard it before. The truth of the matter is that our ambitions can only reflect that of the nature of our heart. If our heart is far from the Lord then our ambitions will reflect the selfish desires within us. But, if our heart is near to the Lord, sensitive to him moving and working in our lives then our ambitions will be for him. The only way for Pauls ambition to go from wanting to kill christians to seeing them come to Christ is because of the heart change he experienced on the road to Damascus. The same thing can be said for us. When our hearts are awakened to the gospel then our ambitions will transform from what they once were, selfish; to seeking glory for God alone.
At the end of it all, our ambitions will eventually come to an end but it’s the outcome of those ambitions that will either last for eternity or will prove to be worthless and disappear like the wind; which one will yours be?
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