In my pursuit to be a somebody in my life, I was driven by ambition to succeed. This was my approach in ministry – to be ambitious. I think it is great to be driven – satisfying to be goal-oriented – but is it truly God-pleasing?
I recently have come to conclusion that ambition is not the fuel that drives a person from one destination to another. It is not ambition that makes a person to “succeed” in life or even in the ministry. There is always a sacrifice involved for the ambitious in life – and when their life comes to the end, I have met way too many men who felt that the price ended up being way too high.
How often does the word “ambition” occur in the New Testament (NIV)? Out of curiousity, I found the word “ambition” occurs seven times. Five times out of the seven the word “selfish” is attached to ambition. So, we can certainly come to the conclusion that ambition is typically a selfish pursuit for worldly gains or worldly attention. For the apostle Paul, his ambition (Rom. 15:20) was to preach the gospel. His motivation was to “become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some”. (1 Corinthians 9:22)
For most of us, ambition to succeed or to be considered a success, is what drives us. Our motivation is to be approved or to seek approval from others. Yet, so many times, it is never enough, is it? For ministers, we want to do the miraculous, receive nods of approval from our members and fellow ministers, we don’t want to dissapoint. For lay people, we want to appear has holy and righteous – a super-servant for my church. As a result, when success doesn’t come, or are plans don’t come to fruition, we are left disappointed, disenchanted and dysfunctional.
In a book written by H.B. London of Focus on the Family, he offers the following suggestions for ministers to conquer ambition which really could be applied to anybody. He lists:
-Know your limits.
-Consider the counsel of others.
-Don’t let people put you on a pedestal.
-Make sure you are transparent and confessional.
-Learn the phrase, “I don’t know, but I care deeply.”
-Encourage your spouse to keep you humble.
-Listen closely to the still small voice of God.
-Remember: Jesus loved all men, but obeyed only His Father – not the urgency of the moment, the push of the crowd, or the whims of His disciples.
Yes, I believe ambition can be a fruit of the Spirit in that it takes on the attitude of service, the heart of a slave, and the pure motivation of glorifying God. If our ambition is to draw closer to our Lord and to walk in his Spirit as our highest priority in life, than that does take on the resemblance of the fruit of our spirit.
Let’s stop trying to be supermen and superwomen. But let’s be a man and women full of the Spirit who serves a super God. He will lead and guide us where we need to be – and in trusting and obeying in Him, we can’t help but not be successful in this life.
