Right and Wrong Ambitions // Essential Life Skills, Part 2

Christianityworks Official Podcast

So let me ask you, is ambition right, or wrong? I mean is it okay to be ambitious, or, if you believe in Jesus, is ambition something that you need to give up? As things turn out, it’s not ambition itself that’s the problem, it’s the sort of ambition, the type of ambition that you have in your heart, that brings you unstuck.

Dealing with Ambition

So let me ask you, is it right to be ambitious? My dictionary tells me that ambition is a strong desire to do or to achieve something. A desire, a determination to achieve success. As someone who believes in Jesus, I’ve often struggled with this one, because success, well that can be truly self-seeking, self-fulfilling. Jesus, after all, said this – Luke chapter 9, verse 23:

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

I don’t know, but that radical view – and it is a radical view – of what it means to believe in Jesus, to live your life for Jesus, well, it doesn’t seem to fit too well with this notion of success. And frankly, I’ve lived my life, at least the first thirty-six years of it, often with the wrong sort of ambition in my heart.

Here’s what it looks like, this wrong ambition. You want to make a splash, you want to be noticed, you want other people to think well of you. You want, you want, you want … to be successful. Yeah, there’s money involved. Hey, who doesn’t want to have money? Who doesn’t want to live in a nice big house and drive the sort of car that other people will notice? Who doesn’t want to be able to afford the sort of clothes that’ll make them look sharp and catch people’s eyes?

That’s precisely how the thinking goes. And so what you do, what I did, is you climb over the top of other people, you walk over them, crash through them, even destroy them to get to your success. That’s what wrong ambition looks like. I ought to know. When I was in business, I was known to make grown men cry. I wanted to win. I wanted to succeed. How about you? Does any of that sound even vaguely familiar?

And I can tell you, sadly, you see that sort of behaviour even amongst people who profess to believe in Jesus. Jesus saw it too and this is what He had to say about this wrong kind of ambition. John chapter 5, verse 44:

How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God?

That’s the bottom line isn’t it? How can we possibly believe in Jesus, how can we possibly follow Him and serve Him and love Him with all that we are, when we’re seeking glory for ourselves? And that’s what many people do. We want to put our best foot forward. We want other people to think well of us, to admire us. And when you do that, when you seek glory for yourself, it becomes virtually impossible to believe in Jesus. That sort of ambition, well, it’s simply not God’s plan for your life. But there is an ambition, a zeal that God does want you to have.

Jim Collins is a man who, with a research team that he established, set out to determine what it is that sets the great companies apart from the ordinary ones. What are the common threads, the common attributes that run through truly great companies, when compared to the also rans? That was the question.

So, he chose a number of stellar performers on the New York stock exchange, and set about doing the research to get answers to those questions.

What he discovered, not surprisingly, is that one of the things that set the great companies apart was great leadership. And one of the essential leadership attributes that he writes about in his book, "Good to Great" is this:

Great leaders embody a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will. They are ambitions, to be sure, but ambitious first and foremost for the company, not for themselves.

I’ve thought about that … a lot. And the conclusion I’ve come to is that Collins’ research simply bears out the truth of what Jesus had to say about ambition. Mark chapter 10, verses 42 to 44:

You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognise as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are like tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; whoever wishes to become great must become your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be the slave of all.

The sort of zeal, the sort of ambition that Jesus is looking for, in you and in me, is the sort that sets out to serve others. The sort that removes us from the limelight, the sort that gives up the clamour and the desire for glory. The sort that is driven to seeing others experience the love of Christ through the sacrifices that we make.

Think about it. Who are the people you admire most in your life? Who has achieved greatness in your eyes? Come on, it’s those who’ve served you the most, right? Those who’ve sacrificed the most for you, correct? Not the ones who’ve been self-seeking and sought to lord it over you. Later on in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul puts it this way, Romans chapter 12, verses 10 and 11:

… love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, but be ardent in spirit and serve the Lord.

Yes be zealous. Yes be ambitions. Yes be driven. But for the purpose of showing honour to others. For the purpose of serving God.

So, what drives you? What motivates you? What are you ambitious for? Yourself? Your own image? Your own success? Or for outdoing others in showing honour, and serving the Lord? Because God is looking for ambitious people. Driven people. Zealous people. People who will get on and serve Him for His glory. Are you one of those?

I was at a function recently and I ran into a retired businessman, a man whom I’d met one time before. Now this man, over his career, had been extremely successful. He’d been the chairman of boards of some very large public companies. He would often appear in the business pages of the newspaper, being reported on with great respect. By any measure, he had been very successful and, you’d have to imagine, he was pretty wealthy by this time, in his early seventies.

Now, he and I happened to pull up in our cars outside the function at the same time. We parked next to each other. And the first thing that struck me was the modest vehicle that he was driving. Certainly not one of those cars that screamed ‘success’ at you. And as I chatted with him during the course of the evening, one thing stood out for me.

His great humility. You don’t often hear those two words in one sentence – greatness and humility. But actually, and this becomes pretty obvious when you think about it, true greatness only comes to those who are humble. Or put it the other way around, humility is an essential ingredient, perhaps the essential ingredient, to greatness.

I think sometimes we over-complicate life. We try to imagine what success looks like and we think we have to jump through this hoop and that one, impress this person and that one over there, dress like this, speak like that, be seen, be admired … in fact what I see when I look around is a lot of people trying to please one another. So, let’s take it back to basics. Let’s look at something truly simple that leads to true greatness. Micah chapter 6, verse 8:

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Right there is a path to greatness – and let’s face it, your greatness is a legacy that lives in other people’s hearts. Greatness is how other people perceive you.

Firstly, do justice. Be honest and decent. Stand up for those who are in a difficult place. Be the one that the other people can trust and rely on.

Secondly, love kindness. Don’t you love being around people who are kind to you? You want to be around them. You love them, because first they showed kindness to you. Love kindness.

And thirdly, perhaps most importantly, walk humbly with your God. Don’t seek the glory or the limelight. Don’t try to be better than anyone else. Don’t forsake God and go your own way. Just walk humbly with your God.

That’s what godly greatness looks like. Justice, kindness, humility. That’s the greatness that’s ready and waiting for you.

Becoming a Good Person

Wickedness is rather a strong word. I don’t think that any of us really thinks of ourselves ever as being "wicked". According to my dictionary, wickedness is the quality of being evil or morally wrong. Someone who intends, or at least is capable of harming someone else. Wickedness is something that broods in a person’s heart and then comes out in their words, their demeanour and their actions. So, might I ask you today – are you a wicked person?

At this point, most of us are prepared to cut ourselves some slack. Well, you know, I’m not that bad. Sometimes I have bad thoughts about people and yep, sometimes I hurt other people, but ‘wicked’, no that’s too strong a word to apply to me.

Really? Isn’t it amazing how we want to flee to the middle ground when we judge ourselves, our own thoughts and intentions, our own actions? We forsake the black and white of right and wrong, good and evil, and we soften the blow of self-judgement with shades of grey. And in any case, other people, well, they compromise as well don’t they? They make mistakes too. They do things that are morally wrong too. I’m not the only one, right? It’s so easy to be led astray in a world that has such incredibly low standards. Psalm 1, verses 1 and 2:

Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night.

How easy is it in this world to take the advice of the wicked, to follow the path that sinners tread, or to sit in the seat of the scoffers? It’s so easy to do in the workplace, or in a social setting or even, let me say, in a church setting. When other people are behaving badly, we have a tendency to follow their lead, by stooping down to their level.

The original Hebrew word used there for "happy" literally means to be happy because you are blessed. God wants to bless you. God wants you to be happy as you receive His blessing into your life. But that’s not going to happen, if you follow the advice of the wicked, or tread in the path of the sinner, or sit in the seat of the scoffer.

So whatever wickedness you have bubbling away in your heart, wherever you know you’ve gone astray by following wicked advice – right now is the time to turn away from it and instead, delight in God’s Word. Instead meditate on it day and night. Because that’s where God’s blessing is to be found and that’s the only place where true happiness will overtake you.

Sometimes we find ourselves mired in the consequences of the mistakes that we’ve made, in the consequences of our sin, in the consequences of, let me be blunt here, our own wickedness. And when you’re that low, it seems virtually impossible to work your way out of it. How can I possibly move on from this place, from all the things that I’ve done wrong?

That’s the question that rattles around in the hearts and minds of so many people. And sadly, because they can’t see a way out, many of those same people end up wallowing in their sin and their wickedness for way too long.

Me? I knew in my life that many of the things I was doing were wrong. I knew there was a God out there somewhere. And I knew I needed to find Him. My problem was, that I also knew that I didn’t measure up. That He was good and I wasn’t, no doubt, if I bumped into Him, I’d be in some serious trouble.

Just in case you find yourself in that place, I want to share with you the way out. Unless and until our slate is wiped clean, unless and until the sins of the past are atoned for and our conscience is clean, the reality is, we simply can’t move forward. So here’s the good news. Are you ready? That’s exactly why Jesus died for you. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 3:

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.

Plain and simple, if you put your trust in that one truth, if you trust completely in Jesus, your sins are wiped away. You are forgiven. God’s wrath is removed from you. It's an act of God’s grace. It's an act of God’s mercy. Where once you were mired in your sin, now you are completely free, completely forgiven.

And it’s at this point, that you can make the decision that you’ve been longing to make. To start living your life the right way rather than the wrong way. To start living for good, rather than for bad. Because after all ... Romans chapter 2, verse 4:

Do you not realise that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

"Repentance" seems like such an old-fashioned word. But it literally means to turn – in this case, to turn away from evil and to turn back to God.

It's a decision that we all long to make. We all want to live a good life. But the power to make that decision, comes only when we trust in Jesus. So, no matter what evil, what wickedness, what sin, the consequences of which you’re living out right now, Jesus stands ready to forgive you, to set you free ... to give you a new life. And at that point, your life is going to start bearing good fruit. Really, really good fruit.

I love fruit trees. I remember as a young boy, Mum and Dad had nectarine trees, peach trees, apricot trees, plum trees in the backyard. Man, in spring and in summer when those trees started producing their fruit, my sister and I would just go outside and it was amazing.

What do I feel like today? Oh those plums look good, so I’d just pluck a plum off the tree, sit down on the grass and eat it. So sweet and tasty. And the nectarines, when they were ripe, wow! There’s something about fruit trees, right? So long as they have their roots down in good soil, and they get plenty of water, they are going to keep on giving. They are just going to yield their fruit in due season. And interestingly, it’s that luscious, tasty, amazing abundant picture that God uses to describe the life that He wants you to live. Psalm 1, verses 1 to 3:

Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of the scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all they do, they prosper.

Chances are, you’ve never really thought of yourself as a fruit tree. But let’s just sit down on the grass and look at this picture that God’s painting for us. When we choose to do good rather than to be wicked, when we choose to become a man or a woman of God’s Word, feeding on God’s Word the way that a fruit tree feeds on the soil and the streams, the promise is that our lives will indeed yield rich fruit in season.

Do you feel sometimes like there’s not quite the overwhelming abundance of fruit that there perhaps should be in your life? Do you feel as though sometimes your leaves seem to be withering, your emotions are frayed, you’re spiritually dry, you’re completely spent?

Then it’s time to deliberately get into God’s Word. Interestingly, the original Hebrew word used there for ‘streams of water’ implies irrigation channels. In other words, a deliberate, man-made decision and act, to bring the water to the trees. And it’s that same deliberate decision and act that you can make, to become someone who is immersed in God’s Word.

Because then, with goodness flowing into you, you won’t be tempted to follow the wicked, the sinners and the scoffers. Instead, you’ll be like one of those amazing fruit trees I was telling you about, yielding a bounty of stunning fruit in due season. That’s the natural consequence of a tree that’s planted in good soil, by streams of living water.

Get Comfortable In Your Own Skin

So here’s the question. How comfortable are you in your own skin? How comfortable are you with your natural gifts and abilities, and your natural weaknesses and limitations and with handing over the sin that God wants you to deal with in your life?

Once we believe in Jesus, our lives are meant to bear fruit. In other words, the faith we have in Jesus, is meant to change us, to flow out of us, and to impact the people around us. That’s what Jesus said, John chapter 15, verse 8:

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

But the problem is, all too often we compare our fruit with the next person’s fruit, and we feel as though we’re coming up short. I can’t do what he can do! I’m not as clever as she is. How come they can do that, but I can’t?

You’ve had those thoughts, right? And our reactions to that comparison can be really, quite negative and unhelpful. You can be a good person, honouring God, following Jesus, and yet ineffective in impacting this world with his love, make sense?

In fact, I know people whose emotions are curled up in a hard ball like an armadillo simply because they think they don’t measure up. It’s like they have a cramp in their soul, wrapped up all tight and hurting, with this sense of, "I’m not worth anything. My life doesn’t count for anything." But I believe that God wants you just to relax, to open yourself up to Him and to trust Him. 1 Peter chapter 5, verses 6 and 7:

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all of your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.

Part of letting go and letting God in, is humbling yourself. Accepting that the gifts and abilities that He’s given you, different though they may well be from those people around you, are unique and special and valuable.

Fruit comes inside skin. A banana looks different from an apple, which looks different again from a plum, or a peach, or an apricot, or a mango, or … whatever.

So often, we look at the next guy’s skin and come to the conclusion we’re no good. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. Your particular gift, your particular type of fruit, is what He has chosen in His Wisdom and His love to give you.

And His plan, Jesus’ plan, is that you should bear much fruit, for His glory. God cares for you, so cast all your anxiety on Him. Get comfortable in your skin, humble yourself under His mighty hand, for God will – He absolutely will – exalt you in due time. In the meantime, bear much fruit, for this is to the Father’s glory.

I don’t know how you feel about that, but for me, it’s really, really exciting. Of course sometimes we doubt ourselves. Take that self-doubt and cast it on God. He cares for you, He really does. And He wants you to bear much fruit, just the sort of fruit He created you to bear, for His glory.

What God’s doing with and through the next person, is completely irrelevant. Completely! That’s His sovereign choice. Your job is to bear much of the fruit that He’s made you to bear. And when you get those doubts happening, as we all do, cast yourself on God, for He cares for you!