Christian Living

THE PARADOX OF AMBITION

by GLENN PEASE
03/18/22
Free to Share

  Message Writer
  Hire Writer

Tweet

It is confusing when the same thing can be both good and bad; both beautiful and ugly, and both to be respected and rejected, but that is what paradox is all about. Ambition is a classic case of paradox, for it is a subject that is blasted from many pulpits as the essence of sinfulness, and also from many books and preachers as the key to the God pleasing life. Is there some way these opposing views can be reconciled? No! They do not need to be reconciled, for they are just both true, and when you know all the facts, you just accept both realities. The goal is not to reconcile them, but to accept that just because something is true, does not mean that its opposite cannot also be true. Just because a river can be so narrow that you can jump across it, does not mean that it cannot also be so wide that it would be difficult to swim across it. The same river can be both narrow and wide.

A forum question I found on the internet shows how confusing this can be. The unknown author wrote, “It seems like ambition has a negative connotation...but so does the lack of it. The sentence, "He's a very ambitious person" makes me think he's pushing and shoving others to get to the top, that his priorities are out of focus, that it's all about worldly success. On the other hand, if I hear someone say, "The problem with him is that he has no ambition" I think he's lazy.
So is ambition a good thing or a bad thing? Or does it depend on the context? Like, is it okay to be ambitious in a secular job, but not within a church?”

When people choose one side of a paradox, they go to an extreme by excluding the other side, and that is what the majority tend to do. They do have some basis for this in terms of quantity of information from the use of the word ambition in the Bible. It is used 7 times in the NIV, and out of that 7 there are 5 that make ambition a bad and selfish thing. Here are the 5:

Galatians 5:20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions

Philippians 1:17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

James 3:14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.

James 3:16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”

It is easy to conclude from these texts that selfish ambition is a bad and evil thing, and something that is to be excluded from the Christian life, but the issue is, do these text tell us all that ambition can be? The answer is, no they do not. Look at the following texts:

Romans 15:20 “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation.”

1 Thessalonians 4:11 “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you..”

Paul, who has just given you reason to hate and avoid selfish ambition, now says there is such a thing as selfless ambition which is something to love and pursue. Now you see why the issue of ambition is so confusing to people, for Paul condemns it and commends it. Paul is not being contradictory, however, for he is using two different words to describe the two kinds of ambition. When he is referring to the bad kind he is using the word erithia. Vine's Greek New Testament Dictionary has this to say about this word: “erithia denotes "ambition, self-seeking, rivalry," self-will being an underlying idea in the word; hence it denotes "party-making." It is derived, not from eris, "strife," but from erithos, "a hireling;" hence the meaning of "seeking to win followers," "factions," so rendered in the RV of 2 Cor 12:20, AV, "strifes;" not improbably the meaning here is rivalries, or base ambitions (all the other words in the list express abstract ideas rather than factions); Gal 5:20 (ditto); Php 1:17 (RV; AV, Php 1:16, "contention"); Php 2:3 (AV, "strife"); James 3:14,16 (ditto); in Rom 2:8 it is translated as an adjective, "factious" (AV, "contentious"). The order "strife, jealousy, wrath, faction," is the same in 2 Cor 12:20;Gal 5:20. "Faction" is the fruit of jealousy. Cp. the synonymous adjective hairetikos, Titus 3:10, causing division (marg., "factious"), not necessarily "heretical," in the sense of holding false doctrine.”

That is a lot of bad, and if you stop there and look no further, you will join the parade of those who condemn all ambition as of the devil, and that parade is a long one. John Macarthur describes how most think of ambition in these words, “Usually, we think of “ambition” in completely negative terms, like power hungry business Executives and ego seeking politicians. Like the lawyer character in the John Grisham novel, The Firm, played by Tom Cruise in the movie based on that book. Pride, power, money, wealth, controlling people, influence, — these are concepts that come to our mind when we think of “ambition”. The English word comes from the idea of “canvassing for a promotion”

John, however, does not stop there and follow blindly those who do. He goes on, “But the Bible says there are godly ambitions. Pleasing God in our lives; and working hard and earning a living and not being a busybody, which is what the Thessalonians were doing. The Greek word for “ambition” φιλοτιμέομαι (philotimeomai) comes from two other Greek words, “love” (phileo) and “honor” ( timae ). The love of honor or the intense desire to see true honor exalted. A godly ambition is the intense desire for God to be honored and glorified in this world.” This completely different Greek word is the basis for the positive perspective on ambition. Paul used it three times.

1. 2 Corinthians 5:9 “Thus we have as our ambition, to be pleasing to Him”

2. I Thessalonians 4:11 “make it your ambition to live a quiet life and to mind your own business and work with you hands . . . “

3. Romans 15:20, “I have always had as my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ is named, so that I might not build upon another man’s foundation.”

This word means to be eager to do something, and to labor, strive and study to achieve a goal that is honorable. When you love what is honorable, you will want to strive and study to make sure you can achieve that goal. This is what godly ambition is all about. It is discovering some goal and value that God makes clear in his word that is his will for you life, and then giving your all to achieve that goal, and incorporate that value into your life. This becomes an ambition that will drive you to a good end that benefits you, and pleases God. So what we have is bad ambition that is purely selfish, and with no regard to God's will, and good ambition that is totally consistent with God's will, and which will benefit others as well as yourself. It is all positive, and everybody involved wins, for anytime you have an ambition to know and do the will of God, you will be a blessing to others in your life. In bad ambition you do not care about others, and you are willing to trample them in the dust to get yourself ahead in the world. In good ambition you do nothing that hurts or hinders others, but only that which pleases God and blesses other people.

Those who refuse to balance out the understanding of ambition with both sides tend to focus on the negative only and see nothing but evil in the whole concept of ambition. One internet site states it dogmatically, “True Christians Avoid Ambition. The Bible indicates that haughty ambition is linked to human imperfection. (James 4:5, 6) The apostle John was at one time ambitious. So ardent was his desire for rank that, together with his brother, he boldly asked Jesus for a highly prominent place in the Kingdom. (Mark 10:37) Later John changed his attitude. In fact, in his third epistle, he had strong words of censure for Diotrephes, who, he said, “likes to have the first place.” (3 John 9, 10) Christians today take to heart Jesus’ words and humble themselves, while following the example of the aged apostle John, who learned to shun ambitious tendencies.” This is a true statement, but because it is not balanced with showing the positive side of ambition, it gives the impression that ambition is basically evil, and has no place in the Christian life. Many promote this one sided view of ambition, and the result is that many Christians do not become all that they could be because they think it is wrong to do so. They think it is more spiritual to remain mediocre than to become the best in any field in which they are gifted. It would be prideful to become the best, for they would need to develop an ambition to achieve that level. It takes a hunger and strong desire to be the best at anything, and why strive to develop that strong desire if it is the selfish ambition that the Bible condemns? This is how people think who see only a negative side of ambition.

Life is a sheet of paper white

Whereon each one of us may write

His word or two, and then comes night.

Greatly begin! Though thou hast time

But for a line, be that sublime.

Not failure, but low aim is crime.—Lowell

This low aim mentality was promoted by the fact that the word ambition never appeared in the KJV of the Bible, and that was the only Bible that people read and studied for nearly 400 years.

An unknown author wrote, “The Greek `philotimeomai', to be ambitious, or, literally, to covet the honor, occurs three times in the New Testament, and is not once translated 'be ambitious' in the Authorized Version. The ambitions a true Christian should have are: To get on quietly with his own business—translated 'study' (1 Thess. 4. 11). To be well-pleasing to the Lord—translated 'labor' (2 Cor. 5. 9). To preach the gospel in places where Christ is not known-translated 'strive' (Rom. 15. 20). 29.” This hid the reality of godly ambition from many generations, and so all they read about ambition was of the evil kind, as in the following quotes:

`I charge thee, Cromwell, fling away ambition:

By that sin fell the angels: how can man, then,

The image of his Maker, hope to gain by it?'—Shakespeare in Henry VIII (Jude 6; Jer. 45. 5)

How like a mounting devil in the heart

Rules the unreigned ambition! Let it once

But play the monarch, and its haughty brow

Glows with a beauty that bewilders thought

And unthrones peace forever.—Willis

Those with a negative view quote Jesus in a number of places. Matthew 18:1 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Matthew 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 20:25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

Matthew 23:11-12 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”

The implication in the minds of those with a strictly negative view is that it is impossible to be humble and still have an ambition to be the very best that you can be. It is implied that you cannot be so effective in the use of the gifts God gives you that it leads to receiving great honor from your peers, and from all godly people who appreciate your love and loyalty to God and his Word. The Apostles were out of the will of Jesus by their competing to be the greatest among themselves, and to have the greatest places of honor. When they stopped this prideful nonsense, however, and became humble servants of one another, they did rise to levels of great honor. Being humble did not keep them from great achievements in serving their Lord. They pressed on, as did Paul, to do great things for the cause of Christ. Their humility did not mean that they should never seek to be all they could be, and have ambitions to be great for their Lord. They became great and we honor them above all servants in the kingdom of God.

Those who focus on the badness of ambition point to the fact that it was the ambition of Satan that led to his downfall. We read of it in Isaiah 14:12-15, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” All who follow this path of exalting themselves will also be brought low, for God condemns their pride, but he exalts the humble. This is a true and valid perspective, and the Bible has many examples of the folly of prideful ambition that is guaranteed to end in judgment, but it is not the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. A half truth can be a whole lie when that is all the truth you have about a subject. Paradox helps us get the whole truth, for it gives us a balancing perspective to prevent extremism, and that is what it is when Christian believe and teach that ambition is always wrong and satanic. It is true that selfish ambition is satanic, but something can be true without being the truth. Truth takes in the whole of what God says on an issue, and we can clearly see that God's Word says there is such a thing as godly ambition.

Adam and Eve become examples of the terrible consequence of high ambition, for they wanted to be like God, and to attain wisdom, and so we read, Genesis 3:5-6 “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

It was not wrong for Adam and Eve to have the ambition to be God-like, and to attain wisdom, but they sought to reach that goal by means that God had forbidden. It was not the high ambition, but the means to reach it that was evil. The end does not justify the means, and so no matter how high and noble the ambition, it is sinful when the means to reach it is clearly out of God's will. Ambition, therefore, is not the culprit, but disobedience to God's revealed will. Any ambition to reach a goal consistent with God's will, and pursued also in accordance with what is acceptable to God is a truly godly ambition. Jesus wanted his disciples to be great, but not in pride. He wanted them to reach the goal of greatness by means of humility and their service to others, and not by a prideful competition to lord in over others, and gain power by means of selfishness. The same goals are reached by two different roads. Some travel the road of selfish ambition to reach honor, and others travel a totally different road, and they reach honor by means of humble and loving service to others. Jesus had the highest ambition of any man ever to live, for his ambition was to give his life so that others might have eternal life in fellowship with him and his heavenly father. He did not reach this place of honor as Savior of the world by means of ruthless trampling of others to reach the throne, but by humble service and meekly letting self centered men take his life on the cruel cross. No one really took his life, but he laid it down of his own will, for he was determined to reach his high ambition only by those means ordained of God. His ambition was the most godly, and his means to achieve it were in full accordance with the plan and wisdom of God. When the goal and the means to reach it are in harmony with God's will, ambition is among the very highest virtues.

There is a humorous story called blind ambition about a man who became the best of what he could be even though he was blind. The story goes like this: “Charlie Boswell has always been one of my heroes. He has inspired me and thousands of others to rise above circumstances and live our true passion. Charlie was blinded during World War II while rescuing his friend from a tank that was under fire. He was a great athlete before his accident and in a testimony to his talent and determination he decided to try a brand new sport, a sport he never imagined playing, even with his eyesight . . . golf!

Through determination and a deep love for the game he became the National Blind Golf Champion! He won that honor 13 times. One of his heroes was the great golfer Ben Hogan, so it truly was an honor for Charlie to win the Ben Hogan Award in 1958.

Upon meeting Ben Hogan, Charlie was awestruck and stated that he had one wish and it was to have one round of golf with the great Ben Hogan.

Mr. Hogan agreed that playing a round together would be an honor for him as well, as he had heard about all of Charlie's accomplishments and truly admired his skills.

"Would you like to play for money, Mr. Hogan?" blurted out Charlie.

"I can't play you for money, it wouldn't be fair!" said Mr. Hogan.

"Aw, come on, Mr. Hogan...$1,000 per hole!"

"I can't, what would people think of me, taking advantage of you and your circumstance," replied the sighted golfer.

"Chicken, Mr. Hogan?"

"Okay," blurted a frustrated Hogan, "but I am going to play my best!"

"I wouldn't expect anything else," said the confident Boswell.

"You're on Mr. Boswell, you name the time and the place!"

A very self-assured Boswell responded "10 o'clock . . . tonight!"

John Kanary

"A Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul"

Editor: Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Barry Spilchuk

Submitted by Richard

He was not only good, but clever, and he outwitted a better golfer than himself. The point is, it was a noble and good thing for a blind man to have the ambition to get better at golf than most people in the whole world. He could have given up and refused to even try playing the game, but there is nothing noble in giving up. He illustrates determinism and the overcoming of handicaps that inspires people to keep trying. We do not know the state of his faith, but this is the kind of spirit that all believers need to have in their weakness, for God does wondrous things through weaknesses that are dedicated to his cause.

Why was it wrong for Miriam and Aaron to have the ambition to take leadership from Moses to themselves? Numbers 12:2 says of them, “And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it.” God was not pleased with their ambition because it was prideful, and in competition with Moses who was God's chosen leader of his people. The ambition to be a leader of God's people is a good thing, but when it becomes a selfish ambition that is out to take away the authority of another whom God has chosen, it becomes a sinful thing worthy of punishment, and that is why they were punished by God. Even a good ambition is a danger if one pursues it in a way that is selfish, and without regard to the feelings and roles of others. Godly ambition has to get the goal and the means together so that both are in harmony with the clear will of God. It is a noble goal to help the poor, but if you do so by stealing famous art works, and selling them through the underground, you are not pleasing God, even though helping the poor is very high on his list of truly good works that he loves to honor and reward. The means spoils the whole thing so that it is not justifiable ambition. It is evil designed only to satisfy an ego, and not a good work pleasing to God. No ambition can be noble and godly until the goal and the means are both pleasing to God.

 The Bible is filled with the history of those who had ambitions, and all of them fall into the two categories of good and bad based on the selfishness or selflessness of them. Georgene Girouard summed it up with these words: “The Bible is full of examples of holy and unholy ambition. "Gideon had the holy ambition of wanting to save Israel, Joshua of conquering the land, Nehemiah of restoring the kingdom and Paul of planting a self- propagating church in every major center of the Roman Empire." On the other hand, Jezebel, Absalom, the mother of the sons of Zebedee, and Simon the former magician are some examples that come to mind when I think of unholy ambition. They sought to exalt self and fulfill their lusts and desires instead of bringing glory to God through obedience.” The list could go on and on, for just about every person in the Bible has some ambition, and it becomes good or bad depending on how consistent it is with God's will. We all need to have some ambitions, but we need to examine them constantly to make sure they are truly godly, and that we are pursuing them in ways that are also godly. Every good ambition can be spoiled by it becoming driven by that which is self centered and not Christ like in spirit.

 Let me focus on the positive perspective of the three verses where Paul promotes ambition in the Christian life. We could call these three the ABC's of godly ambition.

A. "Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him." (2 Corinthians 5:9).

Paul is saying that his highest ambition is always the same, and that is that in every situation he be doing that which is pleasing to God. This is obviously to be the supreme ambition of all who love God with their whole being, and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. No one can fault this ambition even though it is on the highest possible level. No one can have a higher ambition, and so ambition is not only good, but it is essential for the truly godly life. We need to strive to make this our ambition in all that we do, for this ambition is to guide us through life helping us make the wise choices in every endeavor that we pursue. My ambition is to please God in every role I am called on to play on the stage of history. If I am married, I must have an ambition to be the best possible wife or husband that I can be in conformity to what God has revealed as his ideal for marriage. If I am a parent, it is my duty to aspire to be the best possible parent that God's word reveals to be the ideal. If I am a worker for someone else, or a manager, or an owner, I am to have an ambition to be the best that God expects of me according to the wisdom he has revealed through the Proverbs of Solomon. If I have a talent that can be useful to bring honor to my Savior, I need to develop an ambition to become the best possible to magnify the Lord to the highest degree. Ambition with the right focus is the key to the complete Christian life.

Paul made it clear again in Col. 1:9-10, "For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;" The ambition to please God involves study to know the will of God, and then having the wisdom to walk according to what you have learned so that your life produces the fruit of such knowledge, wisdom and practical living. This ambition takes over your whole life so that pleasing God become the primary focus of all you do. This does not mean that you become a monk and isolate yourself from the pleasures of life, for God loves to see his children enjoy the world he has made, and to have fun with family and friends. The good life of pleasing God involved the enjoyment of all good things that God has made for his people to treasure and by which they gain pleasure. When we seek first the kingdom of God, all these things will be added to us, for when we please God, he his pleased to respond by giving us what pleases us as well.

Jon W. Quinn has these interesting comments on our text: “The idea of being "at home or absent" in the context of this verse has to do with being at home with the Lord following death or absent from the Lord while still on earth living in our bodies. In both cases, whether here or there, the ambition of the faithful is still the same, "to be pleasing to Him." This means that we continue to have purpose and goals in eternity. Our state and surroundings change, but our goal is to glorify God and thus share in His glory (Romans 14:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:10). Even in heaven we will have productive lives with goals and aims, satisfying and fulfilling. There will be things to do, places to go, endeavors to partake in glories untold. What more noble, honorable purpose could there be than to please God?

The Christian makes it his "aim" to be well pleasing to God. "Ambition" or "aim" comes from a Greek word which means "to have as one's ambition, to act from a love of honor." The Christian strives, labors, aspires to please God - doing so is the height of his ambition, his supreme intent. This is an all-encompassing goal - that whatever we do in word or deed we do in His name (Colossians 3:17). Pleasing God is a matter of deliberate choice. It requires premeditation, a studied effort. It means I must be willing to disappoint men (including self) in order to please God. Paul wrote: "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:10). A faithful man or woman of God does not consult opinion polls to decide what to teach. They consult God's standard. The disciple needs to settle his priorities and consciously decide that pleasing God is his most important consideration.”

When pleasing God is your top priority of life, and your driving ambition, you will better understand and experience what David is saying in his Psalms when he writes, Psalm 42:1-2: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? Psalm 63:1: “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.”

The sad reality is that so much negative writing on the majority texts of Scripture that condemn ambition have blinded Christians to the fact that ambition is still a great virtue and motivator of godly living. Do research on the internet, and you will find that most deal with the negative ambition, and this does make some sense because history reveal how godless ambition has produced so much suffering in the world. Godless tyrants have murdered millions, and caused millions of others to die because of their selfish ambition to rule the world. Ambitious people don't care who gets hurt as long as they are climbing to a higher status, and this kind of disaster is going on all the time. That is why it is all people tend to see when they study this issue. Dave Harvey, however, saw the need to change the perspectives of Christians, and so he wrote a book titled Rescuing Ambition. It has changed the minds of a great many people. Let me share this testimony of one of his readers.

“I’ve always been a pretty ambitious person. I don’t like ceilings or limits. I love thinking and dreaming about doing great things, about being a part of something great, something world-changing—and I’ve always felt guilty about this. I’ve wrestled with my motives and why I want to do great things. My struggle has been how to discern the difference in my own heart between selfish ambition and a God-centered drive in life. And to err on the safe side, I have at times tended to reduce the size of my dreams and lower my expectations. Under the banner of trying to be humble, I settle for less. I suppose I’ll struggle with this tension for the rest of my fallen life in this broken world, but, thanks to Dave Harvey, I now have a new tool in my toolbox to help me sort through these things in a gospel-drenched way. Thank you Dave!”

—Tullian Tchividjian, Pastor, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church; author, Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different

Many other readers have praised this book to the highest degree, and they do so because this book opened their eyes to the reality that a believer can be both humble and ambitious. They can shoot for the stars, dream big, and aim high, and all the while not be operating in selfish ambition, but in godly ambition doing all for the glory of God. I will quote just one more of the many who have highly recommended this book. “I didn’t know that my ambition was defective and in need of rescuing until I read this book. Harvey writes with such compelling insight and clarity that you’re left thinking the lack of godly ambition ranks alongside pragmatism and theological flimsiness as ailments afflicting the church today. Yet, at root, this book isn’t about problem-hunting nearly as much as it is about the gospel, salvation, and embracing the ambitious agenda Jesus sets for our lives. Those who want to live with high and glorious purpose for the Savior must read this book. So do those who don’t, and those who never thought about what godly ambition really involves. Rescuing Ambition calls us to live large, bold lives by swiping as much glory for Jesus as possible.”—Thabiti M. Anyabwile, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman; author, What Is a Healthy Church Member?

I have not read the book, but I know from the many testimonies of those who have read it that the bottom line is just what I am writing about in this study. He is saying we need to rescue ambition from the layers of negativity that have been laid on it so long that nobody wants to dig through it all to discover that there is a whole aspect of ambition that has been lost to the body of Christ. He is rescuing and resurrecting the positive and godly ambition that believers so desperately need to be all they can be for the glory of God. All the bad stuff about ambition does not nullify the positive side of it, and this needs to be grasped so that believers can escape from a false kind of humility, and be bold and aggressive in developing strong desires to please God, for such desires are what godly ambition is all about. Mark Twain said, “Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.” All of us can truly become great to the degree that we develop the ambition to please God in all that we do. This involves being the best we can be in all that we endeavor to do. This may or may not lead to fame and fortune, but if it does it is not a problem as long as our motive always stays fixed on pleasing God with all the glory that comes our way. It is possible to have greatness in the kingdom of God, and never fall into the snare of Satan by becoming prideful, and using our fame and fortune for selfish ambitions. It is folly to think that the danger of falling is not also possible, but it is important to know its opposite is also possible, and this paradox of ambition being ever before us will give us balance in living our life for the glory of God.

B. 2. I Thessalonians 4:11 “make it your ambition to live a quiet life and to mind your own business and work with you hands . . .”

This does not sound like a very high and noble ambition, but it is a lot harder than it sounds, for people like to make noise, and get involved in other people's business, and then be lazy to boot. Creating problems by being too talkative, nosy and lazy is not anybody's ambition in life, but there are many who achieve this goal anyway. In the context Paul is saying this is to be the believer's ambition because by this means they will win the respect of their pagan neighbors. Believers are to always have the ambition to gain respect, for they represent Jesus Christ, and if people have no respect for them, they will have no interest in hearing about their religious faith, for it does nothing to impress them in a positive way. If non-believers think you are a pain in the neck, and places lower, it kills your testimony, and you will not likely have any positive fruit in witnessing.

If the world looks at you as a loud mouth blabber mouth who is always sticking your nose into other people's business, they will shun you and never be open to hear of your faith. If you are lazy and depend on others to keep you afloat, you are a burden in the eyes of your neighbors, and they will have no respect for your faith. People need to see you as a good person, and one who is a benefit to the community to be open to hear of what motivates you. So living the quiet life of non interference in other lives, and being willing to labor with you hands are goals that need to be valid ambitions in every believers life.

It is a matter of honor that believers be citizens who respect the law, and are never a part of the lawless crowd who disturb the peace, and engage in rioting. It would be a disgrace for Christians to be a part of any group who stir up hatred and animosity among the people. It is their role in society to live in peace, and to maintain tranquility as much as possible. This is to be one of their deepest desires, and thus, an ambition. It is one of their life goals to be peacemakers, and not troublemakers. This is a goal that all believers can aspire to achieve. It could be called one of the universal ambitions of God's people.

William Watkinson wrote, “Theophile Gautier proudly writes : "The goldsmith works only for emperors, popes, kings, princes, and the fortunate people of the world " ; but, we may add, he

who labors with his hands in ordinary tasks is the benefactor of rich and poor alike ; and, if he labors intelligently, is solaced by the pleasure springing from the consciousness of practical philanthropy. All such servants of humanity are also members of God's Legion of Honor. In this lowly sphere, too, the highest rewards are accessible. The consciousness of duty loyally done, of character perfected through obedience, the unfading garland of moral conquest and eternal life these are the crowning prizes, and they belong to the faithful with one talent equally with the exceptional few who trade with ten.”

The key value of this text is that it makes it possible for even those with the least potential of becoming great or famous to still have high ambitions. High ambitions are those that please God, and it is possible for slaves and the common laborer among Christians to have such high ambitions. In their daily walk with the Lord as common citizens they have the opportunity to please God by fulfilling these ambitions. Matthew Henry wrote on this verse, “It is the most desirable thing to have a calm and quiet temper, and to be of a peaceable and quiet behavior. This tends much to our own and others' happiness; and Christians should study how to be quiet. We should be ambitious and industrious how to be calm and quiet in our minds, in patience to possess our own souls, and to be quiet towards others; or of a meek and mild, a gentle and peaceable disposition, not given to strife, contention, or division. Satan is very busy to disquiet us; and we have that in our own hearts that disposes us to be disquiet; therefore let us study to be quiet. It follows, Do your own business. When we go beyond this, we expose ourselves to a great deal of inquietude. Those who are busy-bodies, meddling in other men's matters, generally have but little quiet in their own minds and cause great disturbances among their neighbors; at least they seldom mind the other exhortation, to be diligent in their own calling, to work with their own hands; and yet this was what the apostle commanded them, and what is required of us also. Christianity does not discharge us from the work and duty of our particular callings, but teaches us to be diligent therein.”

O, to be something, something!

Something, my Savior, for Thee;

To show forth the wondrous power,

Of the love that could save even me.

Something—for use in Thy vineyard,

Tho' simple the service may be;

Something—Thy grace can find use for,

To win other wanderers to Thee.

O, to be something, something!

A word—or a light—or a song,—

To speak—or to shine for the Master,

Or sing,—to win lost ones from wrong.

The cup of cold water to offer,

To those who in weariness stray,—

Thy "sure word of promise" to whisper,

To those whom temptations dismay.

O, to be something, something!

Where others Thy likeness may see;

That self may be lost in service,

And our lives glorify Thee.

Ready to work or to suffer,

Whichever Thy love shall command;

Secure—whether shadow or sunshine,

They are all from Thy loving hand.—Ida Tremain

C. 3. Romans 15:20, “I have always had as my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ is named, so that I might not build upon another man’s foundation.”

Here we see Paul declaring an ambition that motivates him, and it is to preach the gospel, but with this special aspect, that it be where Christ is not named. Paul wants to be a missionary, and a man who follows an unmarked path. He does not want to come into territory where the church has been established, but to always be going to new places where people have never heard the gospel. Paul is a church planter, and not a pastor. He is on the move always opening up new territory for the body of Christ to expand. He does not have any ambition to settle down and have his own church. He wants to ever press on to new challenges, and reaching out to new people who will never hear without someone who will leave all behind to come to them. It was this ambition that made Paul the greatest church planter in the New Testament. Nobody went so many places as Paul. That was his unique ambition, and he fulfilled that ambition, and half of the New Testament is the result of it as he wrote to these many churches he started, or of whom he heard in his travels.

People have unique ambitions that are not meant to be ambitions that are universal for all believers. The first two text we looked at apply to all believers, but this one may apply to only a few. These are the unusual people who feel called to do things that most of us would not dream of doing. They are often one of a kind people who go to places nobody else would ever go. They go to minister to leper colonies, or to cannibals, or some other people and places that all other believer would rather die than go to. But, on the other hand, this text applies to all believers in the sense that they can specialize in how they chose to minister to the world. Some have more skill and taste for certain tasks than others, and they are good at what they do. Their ambition ought to be to be specialists, and so what they can do best rather than waste their gift by doing what almost anyone else can do. If you have a special love for something, or some particular type of individual or group, give yourself to that goal, for that is your gift, and it pleases God when we use our gifts rather than bury them because we are too busy doing other things that we are not gifted at, and which we do not love. Make it your ambition to do those things that you are gifted to do, and for which you have a passion. This will make you happy, and please God as well.

Barnes wrote on this verse, “Yea, so have I strived - The word used here φιλοτιμούμενονphilotimoumenon means properly “to be ambitious, to be studious of honor;” and then to “desire” earnestly. In that sense it is used here. He earnestly desired; he made it a point for which he struggled, to penetrate into regions which had not heard the gospel. Not where Christ was named - Where the gospel had not been before preached. Lest I should build ... - That is, he desired to found churches himself; he regarded himself as particularly called to this. Others might be called to edify the church, but he regarded it as his function to make known the name of the Saviour where it was not before known. This work was particularly adapted to the ardor, zeal, energy, and bravery of such a man as Paul. Every man has his proper gift; and there are some particularly suited to “found” and establish churches; others to edify and comfort them; compare 2Co_10:13-16. The apostle chose the higher honor, involving most danger and responsibility; but still any office in building up the church is honorable.”

CONCLUSION

I want to conclude with some quotes from the book that motivated me to write this study of ambition. William Watkinson wrote Moral Paradoxes of St. Paul many decades ago, but it is as fresh as the morning paper. He was rescuing ambition back then, but most never got the message. He wrote, “Nothing more need be said of the passion in question than that it is responsible for the darkest tragedies, for measureless suffering and misery. Smitten by its glamour, all the obligations of morality and humanity are forgotten, and the rights and happiness of millions are sacrificed in the rage for greatness and dominion. The ambitious Wade through slaughter to a throne, And shut the gates of mercy on mankind.

The wrongs springing from this lust in more obscure men and ways are only less than infinite. The apostle not merely knew this quite well ; he also saw this pride of power intruding into the Church of Christ, and threatening its very existence. Members of it " desired in all things to have the pre-eminence and various parties arose under their several champions contending for the mastery. The spirit of our Lord's unregenerate disciples, when they strove which should be the greatest, reappeared in the congregations of the saints to dishonor and destroy.

Yet vividly, painfully conscious of these facts, St. Paul makes no attack on the passion itself, he does not attempt its extirpation, he propounds no discipline by which the spirit of the race should be broken. He knew that if the worst evils were occasioned by this aspiration, it must also be credited with the most splendid advances in human progress and civilization. He was perfectly well aware that emulation and rivalry play an essential part in the education of the world, and that if the stimulus of ambition were once removed degeneration and dissolution would follow. As expressed by Bishop Lightfoot, "If by ambition angels fell, by ambition men have risen " ; and St. Paul was the last man to deny the vital principle underlying all life and ensuring all its ideals.

To sum up the matter in a single phrase, he recognized in our craving for approbation and

influence an innate impulse, a fundamental principle of our nature, a seed of God's own planting. Nietzsche cries, " Throw not away the hero in thy soul " ; this was exactly to echo what St. Paul had already said. His design was far otherwise than to discredit the mighty passion. In allowing the authority of the thirst for excellence and distinction, it was the special service of the apostle to purify the yearning, to free it from false ideals, to direct it into right channels, to obsess it with noble objects. Ambition can achieve splendid results only by virtue of splendid qualities, and it is

the task of the apostle to explain and enforce these qualities and conditions.”

The bottom line is, ambition is very very bad when it is self centered. It is one of the worst sins of mankind, and it has been one of history's most destructive human characteristics. Yet, that is not the whole story, for ambition has also changed the world for the better like no other human characteristic, for it has propelled men like Paul to bring the gospel of eternal life to mankind all over the world. It has enabled millions of believers to change the quality of human life in societies all over the world, and bring peace that reduces hostility. Most of the great and wonderful works of believers all through history are due to their ambition to do their best in every endeavor so that they might be pleasing to God. Yes, this is a paradox, but it is wonderful to know that we can, by God's grace, change this worst desire of man into the best desire of man when all our ambitions are dedicated to be expressions of God's love in this fallen world.

William Watkinson concluded, “Serve humanity in the spirit of Christ, emulate in beneficence His example. Set your heart upon reaching a glorious eminence among the benefactors of the race. Carry out the magnificent purpose of the Lord, not as a sordid hireling, but as a soldier feeling that his knapsack holds a marshal's baton, and who is fired with patriotic ideals and devotion. Labor in the field of the world, not as a slothful servant, but as a whole-hearted ploughman, who proudly drives a straight furrow so that the harvest shall be plenteous. In the exposition of Christ's redemptive message, in the enforcement of His claims, in the defense and extension of His kingdom, put forth your whole genius and strength, as the impassioned artist does in the service of beauty, or the scientist in the pursuit of knowledge, or as does the unfaltering hero seeking glory in the cannon's mouth. The apostle himself knew this holy ambition in all its frenzy. " Are they ministers of Christ ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more ; in labors more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft."

What a marvelous change has ambition suffered, what an altogether different thing it has become ! In the past it has been notoriously egoistic and destructive. To secure personal ascendency rival chiefs have sacrificed the happiness of millions ; it is no exaggeration to say that ambition has mainly been a vice, and a vice costing the race more suffering than any other vice. The malign star of Napoleon rained wormwood and blood on the nations. And in myriads of instances, where the hunger for place and power works less dramatically, it works none the less disastrously. But, on the contrary, the zeal of Christ was to bless and save ; He endured the cross, despising the shame, for the glory that was set before Him, the glory of bringing many sons unto glory ; and just as we follow " His star' our passion of consecrationis fruitful only of good and blessing. When the aim is to please Him, when the heart glows in the white heat of His love, our whole nature streams forth in deeds and labors of unselfishness and sacrifice. Here, then, is an object worthy of the soul's master passions, a crown of glory compared with which all other prizes are as the toys of childhood.”

God has His best things for the few

Who dare to stand the test;

God has His second choice for those

Who will not have the best.

It is not always open sin

That risks the promised rest;

The better often is the foe

That keeps us from the best.

There's scarcely one but vaguely wants

In some way to be blessed;

'Tis not Thy blessing, Lord, I seek;

I want Thy very best.

I want in this short life of mine

As much as can be pressed

Of service true for God and man;

Help me to be my best.

I want amid the victor throng

To have my name confessed;

And hear my Master say at last,

"Well done! You did your best."

Give me, O Lord, Thy highest choice,

Let others take the rest;

Their good things have no charm for me,

For I have got Thy Best. —A. B. Simpson.