Ambition

If you’re ever going to a new place, you’ve probably turned to Google or Chat GPT and said some version of, “Tell me about _______.” San Francisco or Cuba or the best bone fishing spots (just me?) or whatever. You’re not looking for a deep dive. A deep dive can always follow if there is interest. Quite the opposite. Give me the big ideas, the things not to miss, a quick snapshot. It’s a primer. I’m taking that primer idea to a series of practical theological topics over the summer. No dissertation here. Just a Biblical door opening on a few different themes that touch our life and work. Enjoy.

Ambition, according to Elvis, is “a dream with a V8 engine.”

But it’s probably best told in word pictures. Ambition is:

• Ebenezer Scrooge hoarding his fortune and squeezing a few more pennies.
• Mother Teresa cradling a desperate child.
• Catherine the Great taking the Russian throne from her husband, what followed were dramatic reforms and dramatic romances.
• The church planting pastor considering a move for his entire family.
• The sixth-generation farmer who decides to launch a run for Senate, convinced she should make a difference.
• The entrepreneur with a concept he’s pitching to angel investors.

Our English word “ambition” comes from two Latin words: “ambi,” which means “about” and “itum,” which means “to go.” Put the two together and you’re “About to go.” It’s a pull strong enough to make someone go out of his or her way—or more accurately, make someone chart a new way—to satisfy that drive.

Because that’s ambition: a pull forward that runs over, under, or through obstacles.

Or as Wilfred Owen put it, “Ambition may be defined as the willingness to receive any number of hits on the nose.”

It’s a single-minded craving for something, a sustained drive that springs from intense desire. Sometimes it looks like a raging river that carves a valley. Other times, it’s a slow trickle of water that inexorably wears a smooth path through jagged rock. Either way, it gets you there from here.

Here’s the key idea though: ambition is a morally neutral idea. It can be either good or bad. And there’s a simple question to help you figure out which is which: is it motivated by self or by God?

Consider the following:

• “[They] preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely.” –Philippians 1:17
• “It has been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known”—Romans 13:20
• “Do nothing from selfish ambition.”—Philippians 2:3
• “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.”—1 Thessalonians 4:11]

See what I mean? Ambition can go either way. It’s about what it’s motivated from and applied toward.

Or consider another picture—the person of Solomon in Scripture. The third king of Israel, he hit the ground running and did not stop until he was dead. He was a man of ambition. Or better put, he was a man of ambitions. Some of which were God ambitions and some were self ambitions.

The ambition to rule well: At the beginning of Solomon’s reign, God appears to him in a dream and says “Ask for whatever you want.” Solomon’s answer? “Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” Put another way, “I want to excel at my role and I need help.” God ambition.

The ambition to build big: Solomon initiated the huge temple project, and he went to great lengths to make sure it happened. He signed treaties to get resources, he organized significant manpower for building, and when it was done, he gathered the nation together to mark the moment when it was completed. He knew they needed to remember the significance of the temple. God ambition.

The ambition to rule alone: As he got older, Solomon felt threatened by a challenge to the throne. His response? Wipe it out. He tried to kill the man. Rather than get the message he had turned away from God, Solomon just tried to silence the voice and protect his power. Self ambition.

The ambition to pursue pleasure: Solomon stopped at nothing in his pursuit of gratification. Women, wine, all of it. At the end of his life, he looked back and said it was all vanity, a “chasing after wind.” Self-ambition.

Solomon personifies some truths about ambition that show up in Scripture, and you and I, if we’re honest, feel deep in our souls. Here's four:

1. Ambitions are deeply personal. We’re all made in God’s image but with distinguishing marks that set us apart. Context also matters a ton. So Paul and Peter have the same ambition of growing the church, but they play that song in different keys to different people. Today, one person may have ambition to be a CEO and another to plug away faithfully in a non-profit. Both can (and should) push forward out of ambition.
2. We choose between God ambitions and self-ambitions. The builders of the Tower of Babel. Caleb and Joshua. Queen Jezebel. Nehemiah. Jonah. Mary. Esau. Esther. There’s no end to the examples of ambition in Scripture. Like so many things, if the Spirit gets ahold of ambition it goes great places. If the flesh gets ahold of it, watch out.
3. Self-ambitions yield emptiness. Ecclesiastes says it this way, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.” Scottie Scheffler wrestles with it and chances are, so do you. What you love most enslaves you. If that’s your ambition, it will enslave you and you’ll never get it. It’s that simple.
4. God ambitions yield fulfillment. When internal ambition is linked with God’s plan, life is good. Not easy, mind you, but good. Allowing God to direct our ambitions provides a sense of realism and flexibility that would never be present if our desires were based on selfish motives.

Should I have ambition? 100%. Just make sure it’s big enough. Henry Van Dyke, a writer and one-time US ambassador, said it this way, “There is a loftier ambition than merely to stand high in the world. It is to stoop down and lift mankind a little higher.”

Sounds like what God does, right? He creates, enlivens, and then stoops down (at his own cost) to lift up others. Selfish ambition is too small with too small a wake and no guarantee of success. Attach yourself to the ambition of God.

View the other primers here.