I’m at the Acts 29 bootcamp in Louisville this week, to connect with fellow church planters and talk about the possibility of our church affiliating with the network. This morning Dave Harvey (church-planting director for Sovereign Grace ministries and author of one of my favorite books on marriage, When Sinners Say I Do) spoke on the topic of Ambition.
His main point was that humility and ambition are not opposed, as many people assume. True humility will harness ambition, not hinder it.
Here are a few notes from his message:
We chase what we love.
- We’re born glory-chasers, and that can be a good thing: “To those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life” (Romans 2).
- The problem is when we seek glory from the wrong source: “They loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God” (John 12:43).
How do we develop love for the glory that comes from God?
- Recognize that his glory comes in a person, Jesus Christ: “Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him” (John 12:41)
- Recognize that his glory demands a pursuit, as it drove him to pursue us: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Implications
- Our need for approval was met at the cross, so our pursuit of glory can begin
- Ambition should lead us to explore new ways to glorify God
- Ambition should compel us to struggle long and finish well