Ambition
(Discussion Notes Below)
Today’s topic is ambition. The lie is that ambition is the fuel for personal success. The truth is that ambition is a gift for Kingdom impact.
Ambition: a working definition – “A strong desire which leads to a willingness to overcome and fight through obstacles – to achieve a desired outcome.”
Ambition is a good thing. God’s mandates are very ambitious!
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28
Subdue and dominion. Rule and Reign. To rule is to bring under control for one’s advantage; to harness the potential of creation for good. To reign is to act like God’s representatives; to use power and resources like God would, to extend the garden out to all the world. I would say that’s a pretty ambitious mandate!
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
Go – spread the news about Jesus around the world. Make disciples by teaching – helping mankind come back under the authority of God so they can then “rule and reign” like God would. I would say that’s a pretty ambitious mandate!
And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” Romans 15:20-21
The Apostle Paul had massive ambition. He knew God had wired him in this particular way and he stayed in his lane. His charge was to spread the gospel and he was ambitious all the way to the end. The word ambition that Paul is using here means “responding with honor.” Not “responding for honor.” You are in honor to do the task, NOT you are looking for honor from the task. If the President of the United States calls you and gives you a task, you might say, “I am honored to do so.” You are responding in honor, you are not doing tasks looking for honor. There is quite a difference. Paul was ambitious. He was responding in honor to God’s request in Matthew 28. Paul wasn’t chasing honor.
When you think about your ambitions, are you responding in honor or are you looking for honor?
Are you ambitious or are you aspirational? Do you have a lot of ideas but nothing you’re focused on fighting through to get it done? Are you ambitious where you have a direction, something that motivates you to get up and get it done? Or are you more like a balloon, you float wherever the wind/life circumstances takes you.
What area(s) in life are you ambitious? Where do you need to be more ambitious? Could you write down in a sentence your primary ambition?
Orienting our Ambition Toward God
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Matthew 6:9-13
This is Jesus teaching uneducated men how to pray. The first half is nothing about them. If you prayed for three minutes, would the first 90 seconds not be about you? Or would all three minutes be about you? Your prayers help you identify what kind of kingdom you’re trying to build. He’s trying to reorient you to his kingdom.
In his book A Christian Manifesto, Francis Schaeffer warned of a looming threat to the church. It wasn’t the huge culture wars we think of today; it was something smaller, more insidious. It was a reduction of kingdom vision to personal vision. He warned about reducing our faith to “personal peace and affluence.” When Christian men stop caring about God’s kingdom and mission, and reduce their vision to personal well-being and wealth, the church is doomed. A man must live for more than himself and his stuff. Fighting Shadows, pg. 116
We’ve been given these mandates that are more than one person can possibly do, but his concern is we have shifted the kingdom vision to our personal vision. We’re disoriented because of Genesis 3 and sin. This disorientation comes out in two ways.
In Luke 22, Jesus is at the last supper with his disciples pouring out his heart, saying he will be betrayed by someone at the table when a fight breaks out among the disciples over who will be the greatest. They were ambitious, but they were planning to use Jesus to fuel their ambition.
In Matthew 25, the Parable of the Talents, God has given people different amounts of talent. The person who got 5 doubled his, the person who got 2, invests his and doubles it. The person who got one, buried his. The man says he was afraid, but Jesus tells him he was lazy. Fear often serves as a deflection for laziness. The goal is not equality, the goal is stewardship. Use what God has given you, don’t bury your talents.
Questions:
- How do your ambitions tend to get disoriented: do you tend toward the love of distinction…”the greatest”? Or do you tend toward burying your talents…fear hides laziness?
- The Lie: Is your ambition fuel for personal success?
The Truth: Is your ambition a gift for Kingdom impact? - How can you think about your current job as one which makes Kingdom impact?
Iron Leadership Material: