Steadfast, Immovable, Abounding

Ambition is not a concept we often associate with the life of a believer. If we do, it’s almost always spoken of in a negative light. When we think of ambition, we may think of a self-seeking career chaser with no concern for kingdom things or spiritual growth. We look at the world’s definition and assume that all ambition is wrong and has no place in the Christian life. For many of us, it can be easy to become discouraged. We start to wonder if the “non-faith-based” aspects of our lives—the exams, the job interviews, the self-starter businesses—are all a waste of time, and if we should instead be focusing on the things we call “ministry.”

As a college student involved in Christian circles, I often hear phrases like “God doesn’t care what you made on that exam today.” I completely understand and respect the thought behind this statement—God does not base our salvation, His love for us, or His forgiveness of our sins on any of the worldly things we think we must achieve. But to me, saying “God doesn’t care…” is trying to restrict God into the boxes where we want Him to exist. When we say our Father’s concern for us doesn’t cover some aspects of our lives, we are forgetting that He loves us enough to care about every moment of every day.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether, then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” If we can glorify God even while we eat and drink, we can certainly glorify Him while we sit at a 9-5 desk job, struggle through a 6-hour study session, care for our dependent children and declining parents, or deal with that one customer who always thinks it’s our fault. And the truth is, if we aren’t faithful to honor God in these simple, boring ways, we aren’t going to be faithful while serving on the mission field or leading a ministry.

If you’ve ever doubted it—yes, it is okay to work hard and want to succeed. Yet we do know that selfish, worldly ambition exists. As James 3:16 says, “Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.” So how do we know when our desire to honor God has turned into selfishness?

First, if the motives behind our hard work are based on other people’s opinions of us, the possessions wealth can buy, or the accolades the world likes to bestow, our ambition has become tainted by sin. We read in Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” This verse always serves as my convicting reminder that if I’m doing something for the Lord, I should be devoting myself to it far more than I would for my boss, my friends, my parents, my professors, or anyone else. If my ambitions are me-centered rather than He-centered, I have replaced God’s seat on the throne of my life.

The other gauge of the quality of our ambition is the reaction we have when we lose our success. I like what Paul Washer says: “If you are truly converted, your heart has been enlarged in such a fashion that if you were to gain the whole world, it would leave you empty, and if you were to lose the whole world, it would affect you not…you can, even in the ministry, have success, and it will not satisfy you.” I love the concept of our hearts being enlarged. This is the difference between worldly ambition and faithful ambition: when we are chasing the world, we are trying to fill our hearts with anything but Christ. But we will learn eventually that our efforts will never work. God made your heart so big that the entire world cannot fill it. We must make our hearts His home, and then give every ounce of our time, strength, and passion to serving Him and glorifying His name.

2 Corinthians 5:9-10 says, “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” It was this verse that got me thinking about God’s kind of ambition and how different it is from the world’s. We all go through seasons when we start to wonder if our goals and pursuits can really honor God, and it’s healthy to frequently check your heart and its motivations. But never believe that if you want to honor the Lord, you have to go live in a village in Africa or lead the biggest Bible study at your church. The real test is: are we willing to drop everything and go when He says the time is right? Are we preparing ourselves for the future we are praying for? And when His blessings come, will we glory in our success, or give glory to God for our success? Paul didn’t share the gospel to the nations by being complacent. Moses didn’t lead God’s people to the Promised Land by being complacent. David did not defeat the feared giant Goliath by being complacent. And none of them did any of that without the Lord’s strength. So never think your work is not worth God’s time—He sees your diligence and knows when you do it for Him. Keep doing the work, and He will reveal its purpose when the time is right.