AMBITION

I Was Just Thinking About – AMBITION.

We’ve all met them. There are those who are listless, shiftless and lazy. They are just there. Sometimes they are seen – most of the time they aren’t. They go unnoticed by most. We have also met other types. They are aggressive, demanding, desiring recognition, acting superior to others. They are seen as being highly motivated and ambitious. They resort to whatever means requires so they will receive the recognition they crave. Have you met them? Do you know them? On a human scale, where do you and your thinking place you?

For our purposes, we owe it to ourselves to give thought and response to: What does the Bible say about ambition? A basic definition is: The earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, power, fame, honor, wealth, recognition. It also includes: The willingness to strive for attainment. To achieve, one will resort to whatever it takes to acquire the desired goal. While this is a secular definition and range of possibilities, it has crept into and affected the thinking of some in the spiritual sphere.

What should the Biblical understanding and application be in and for one’s life? Personally, over the years, I have made the Book of Philippians a must read and reference point for my and one’s life. We should never find ourselves measuring who we are or what we do by the secular standards and practices. Philippians 1:17 makes note of those who are motivated by “selfish ambition” and their individual interpretations to gain an audience and support group. To a certain degree, they are successful in their own eyes. Contrast that with Philippians 2:3-4 and the instruction: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit…” The admonition is that one should “look to the interests of others.” If this is one’s commitment and goal for life, it will be evidence in the application of First Thessalonians 4:10-11,

“We urge you…to make it you ambition to lead a quiet life; you should mind your own business…so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders.” In that process, our sole purpose is the application of Second Corinthians 5:9, “We make it our goal (ambition) to please Him (the Lord).”

The Got Questions Ministry shares this helpful thought about ambition: “The Greek word for ambition, philotim, means literally: to esteem as an honor. Being ambitious, in and of itself, is not wrong, it’s what we esteem or honor that can be a problem. The Bible teaches that we should be ambitious, yet the objective is to be accepted by Christ, not by the world. Christ taught us that to be first in the Kingdom is to become a servant (Matthew 20:26-28; Matthew 23:11-12).” What should one be ambitious to be and do? The disciples had to learn this lesson as hey followed Jesus and learned more about Him and His will. One lesson was to learn how to be a servant. It was not what they thought or said but what they were becoming and doing for the Master, Jesus Christ.

Charles Wesley captured this concept from words ascribed to Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Leviticus: “We have every one of us a charge to keep, an eternal God to glorify, an immortal soul to provide for, needful duty to be done, our generation to serve; and it must be our daily care to keep this charge, for it is the charge of the Lord our Master, who will shortly call us account about it, and it is our utmost peril if we neglect it. Keep it that ye die not; it is death, eternal death, to betray the trust that we are charged with; by the consideration of this we must be kept in awe.” Charles Wesley went on to write:

A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify,
A never-dying soul to save, 

And fit it for the sky.

To serve the present age, My calling to fulfill:
O may it all my powers engage 

To do my master’s will!

Arm me with jealous care, As in Thy sight to live;
And O Thy servant, Lord, prepare 

A strict account to give!

Prayerfully – consider these things with me.