I used to think ambition was a bad thing. When we were raising money to launch Harbor, I sat down with a guy who gives money to new churches. He said, “So tell me about your church. What do you want to accomplish?”
I said, “Well, we want to be more about being than doing. We want to be more about who we are than what we accomplish. We’re really going to be an or…”
He stopped me right there and said, If the next word out of your mouth is … organic church … this meeting is done. I’ve given money to way too many organic churches, and none of them lasted a year.”
So I said, “We want to be an … orrrrr-ganized church. Really really organized. Lots of goals and strategies and systems and structures.”
I had to learn that it’s a great thing to have ambition! It’s a great thing to pursue accomplishments and influence. For some reason, many Christians don’t think that way. Why not?
False humility is one reason. We think we can’t look like we want it too much. We think ambition is about making a name for yourself. Fear is another reason we don’t have ambition. You’re opening yourself up to failure and rejection. Laziness is another reason we don’t step up. Just let somebody else do it! We’d rather know the person than be the person: “Eh, that’s my cousin up there!”
Some of us don’t have a whole lot of ambition, but Paul sure did. He said, “My aim (or ambition) is to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named” (Romans 15:20). What a great ambition to have. And it’s a great model for us as we develop godly ambitions of our own.
A godly ambition is about Jesus, like Paul wanted to preach the gospel of Jesus. And a godly ambition is about other people, like Paul wanted to preach the gospel “where Christ has not been named.” He didn’t want to preach the gospel to make a name for himself. He wanted to bless people who hadn’t been blessed yet.
That’s what was at the top of the mountain he was climbing: blessing others with the gospel.
God’s taking you up a mountain somewhere. What’s at the top? What are you trying to achieve with your life?
If you’re in business, you probably want to make big deals and sign big contracts. If you’re in education, you want your school, your class to crush it on the state testing. If you’re in government, you want your department to get more recognition and more funding. If you’re a stay-at-home-parent, you want your kids to crush it in school and in sports.
And all of those things are great. It’s great to keep pushing for success. But there’s a way to build God’s kingdom even while you’re building your own kingdom. There’s a way to transform your personal ambition into godly ambition, like Paul.
Paul wanted to bless others with the gospel. For you, it might be blessing the people in your career with the gospel. Or maybe it’s raising up gospel-driven kids who will bless their friends and their friends’ families with the gospel.
What’s at the top of the mountain for you? Find a godly ambition, and go for it!