If you’ve been around the last few weeks, you know we are in the middle of a series about godly goals. If you’ve missed a post, here are all of them:
- Godly Goals and Identity
- What the Bible Says About Goals
- Striving Toward Godly Goals
- What the Bible Says about Ambition
- What Does It Mean to Work for the Lord?
About the Series
First, a quick recap. In short, I’m a goal-oriented person who is historically bad at goal setting. I’ve placed by value in the hands of my goals and spent many New Year’s “goal seasons” burnt out, feeling like a failure. Last year I ditched traditional goal-setting to simply focus on grace. Both, God’s grace toward me, and learning to extend more grace toward myself and others.
This year I wanted to explore what the Bible has to say about goals and working toward them. I made a list of “goal-ish” words and studied what Scripture has to say about each one. This was a personal study, but I came away with too many notes and geekery not to share. The words on my list were: Goal, Strive, Ambition, Aim, Intend, and Labor. Today we’ll look at “Ambition”. Next week will be our last post in the series.
Ambition
I love it when my Bible geeking surprises me. When I looked into the word ambition I was surprised by what I found. The Bible makes it clear what a godly goal looks like, that we should be moving forward in faith, growing to maturity in Christ and setting Christ centered goals. However, when I looked at what the Bible says about ambition I found more warning than offensive instruction.
The heart of this series is meant to help us (me) align our goals more closely with God’s heart. The old cliche is very true, life IS short. Our days on this side of eternity are a gift–we need to steward them well. I don’t know about you, but I want to spend my days working at things that matter. I’ve spend too many Januaries setting goals that worked me to the bone, but didn’t matter at all. Let’s leave that pattern for good.
A good first step is examining ambition, both what the dictionary and the Bible says about ambition.
The English definition of “ambition.”
am·bi·tion | amˈbiSH(ə)n
- an earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honor, fame, or wealth, and the willingness to strive for its attainment
- a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.
- desire and determination to achieve success.
Ambition is Heart Oriented
Can you see that ambition is a little more heart-oriented than a goal? A goal/aim is passive. It’s an object. An ambition is desire. Ambition is personal, often dependent on our own labor.
In every translation of Scripture, “ambition” is usually used in tandem with “selfish.” As in, “selfish ambition.” (Some translations do use the word “ambition” in place of goal, ie 1 Thes 4:1q and Rom 15:20–both discussed in this post.)
Because I truly do believe that Scripture is God-breathed, I believe all the words in the Bible are placed with meaning.
So why does the Bible typically speak of ambition in terms of selfishness? Let’s see what we can learn.
What the Bible Says About Ambition
The word most commonly translated into occurrences of the English word “ambition” is actually a Greek word denoting selfish-ambition.
eritheia: a desire to put one’s self forward; self-seeking pursuit of political office by unfair means
Eritheia has a political background. Outside of the Bible it was used to describe unfair power grabs and seeking to place oneself in a high-ranking position. Keep this and the definition in mind as you read the following verses that use eritheia in them.
For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition (eritheia), slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition (eritheia) or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
For where you have envy and selfish ambition (eritheia), there you find disorder and every evil practice.
Selfish Ambition
I don’t want you to walk away from this post discouraged, or thinking that ambition is negative. Ambition is not negative. Remember, there are verses that translate “philotimeomai” (to strive, goal, aspire) into “ambition.”
Instead, as we examine our goals–the things we are striving toward and setting our eyes upon–we must intentionally ward off eritheia, selfish ambition. What do can learn about selfish ambition from the verses above? Here is my list from my study notes. By all means, this is not everything we can learn from these passages, nor are these the only right answers. (And remember to read the verses in context.)
- Paul had godly goals for the church in Corinth–selfish ambition is among the things that could derail those goals. (See examples of godly goals here and here.) (2 Cor 12:20)
- Selfish ambition is companion to other undesirable/selfish qualities. (2 Cor 12:20)
- We should not pursue our godly goals from a heart posture of selfish ambition. (Phil 2:3)
- Humility and genuine interest/care/concern for others is the opposite and antidote of selfish ambition. (Phil 2:3)
- Selfish ambition breeds disorder and other bad, hurtful practices. (Jas 3:16)
Guarding Against Selfish Ambition
As we seek to create godly goals, we must guard against selfish ambition. As we’ve learned so far in this series, godly goals are not self seeking. They are peace-driven, church-edifying, God-glorifying. If our goals are truly aligned with God’s heart and what His Word tells us to strive for, we will not operate out of selfish ambition.
It’s also important to remember the character of God when considering our goals. God is all-knowing, all-powerful. He knows us fully and loves us fully. God’s primary concern is not our accomplishments, it’s our heart. (1 Sam 16:7) The God of the Bible will never berate you for not being enough.
Here is the truth. You are perfectly enough when you take your not-enoughness and let Christ complete you with His grace.
Friends, the amount of water you drink, money you make, miles you log at the gym–they are all inconsequential when compared to your heart posture. If your heart is out of alignment, you can do all the things, loose the weight, get the job, etc, etc, etc and still feel like it’s not enough. If your ambition is selfish, there will always be a gnawing emptiness in your belly.
God sees and cares about our heart.
One of my favorite verses is Psalm 37:4.
“Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.”
Psalm 37:4
Can you see that this is a self-fulfilling prophecy? When the Lord is our delight our heart’s deepest ambitions/desires will be met. If our goals are godly and in line with what the Bible tells us is worth setting our eyes on and striving toward, He will be our desire. And God never withholds Himself from those who seek Him.
Your Challenge
Your challenge this week is to prayerfully assess your goals. Check back in. What are you working toward? How are you striving? Why are those the things you’ve chosen to focus on? What is your heart posture? What is your motive? If you uncover selfish ambition (I’ve uncovered more than my fair share in my own heart), ask God to help you realign that goal with His heart.
Next week we’ll wrap up the series by looking at “labor.” Thanks for stopping in. Join me on Facebook or Instagram for more fun. I’d love to get to know you!
