Ambition is defined as “the ardent desire to high position or to attain rank, influence, distinction.”[1] When defined in this way, ambition hardly seems a desirable quality of a loving and good person – especially one involved in Christian ministry. Because of this, most Christian leaders are ambivalent toward ambition. “Most pastors would not want their peers to describe them as ambitious… On the other hand, most pastors would not enjoy being described as unambitious.”[2]

Is ambition something to be ashamed of or something to be full of? Is it inherently good or bad? If ambition can be either good or bad, what distinguishes good ambition from bad ambition? More particularly, what is godly ambition in contrast to ungodly ambition? What motivates it and what does it seek to obtain?

At its core, ambition is related both to the pursuit and expression of power. Discerning between good and bad ambition forces one to consider why he or she desires power and how he or she will go about obtaining it. Furthermore, once one’s ambitions are achieved and power is secured, how will one go about wielding the power one has obtained?

Jesus and Ambition

Jesus never undermines ambition. He views ambition as a normal aspect of human nature. For this reason Jesus never seeks to dissuade ambition in his followers, but rather, he appeals to human ambition in order to instill godly motivations and goals in them. Jesus wants his disciples to be great – but only in the proper way and toward the proper goal. But his way of greatness has little in common with normal human expressions of ambition. For Jesus, greatness is found in humble service. Any power one possesses should be used for the good of others. The selfish pursuit of self-exalting ends, though characteristic of the world, should not characterize Christ’s followers.

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)

Jesus appeals to his disciples’ natural ambitions (“whoever desires to be great) in order to properly motivate and direct their ambitions in a godly manner (“the great one must be servant of all”). Ambition is still necessary – one should ardently desire high position, influence, and distinction. But the high position is not lording over others for one’s own ends but serving beside and under others for their welfare.[3] Put simply, the love of power is set over against the power of love.

Godly ambition is motivated by completely different rationales and directed toward completely different ends than ungodly ambition. Ungodly ambition is self-serving. “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them… their great men exercise authority.” The ungodly use their power to serve their own ends. The people they tower over are a means to an end – greater power – rather than the reason for their power. In direct contrast, Jesus’ followers wield power for the welfare of all others by serving them with humility, gentleness, and love. Their power is not self-serving but self-giving.

The Complex Mess of Motivations

The essential difference between godly and ungodly ambition derives from one’s motivations and goals. Ambition itself is not the problem; what fuels and directs ambition often is. When ambition is driven by ungodly motivations and directed toward ungodly ends it is corrupt and sinful and brings harm to many, including the ambitious person. When ambition is energized and aimed by godly motivations and godly ends, it becomes a rich source for loving service.

These distinctions allow us to analyze ambition, but only to a point. The problem of distinguishing between godly and ungodly ambition is compounded by the reality of sin. Christians believe that humanity is broken and flawed, and thus in need of divine transformation. “We are born with self-serving appetites, which, if unchecked, destroy us by denying us communion with God and with one another. We naturally acquiesce to the tragic tendency to set ourselves up as the center of everything.”[4]

As fallen human beings, we possess a natural bent toward gratifying ourselves at the expense of others. We do not seek the good of others as much as we seek our own good. “Most people, if given the choice between having a better world, or a better place within the world as it is, would choose the latter.”[5] Because of this, our actions are often impure. Try as we might, our motivations are radically bent toward self-promotion. This makes it difficult to truly identify and understand our motivations and goals. Indeed, most (if not all) of the time our motivations are a mixture of good and bad. Seldom do we ever experience completely pure intentions or desire completely good goals.

 The complex mess of our motivations makes us susceptible to self-deception – believing our intentions are pure when they are really muddied with our own sinful self-seeking. Tragically, “we are capable of transforming even the most selfishly motivated action into an act of sacrificial altruism in our own minds.”[6] We can easily become “religious tyrants” by advancing our own agendas with zealous religious language. Only when we are willing to admit the persistent possibility of ungodly motivations are we able to combat and correct them. Sadly, “because ambition is easily disguised in Christian circles and couched in spiritual language (the need to fulfill the Great Commission and expand the church), the dysfunctions that drive Christian leaders often go undetected and unchallenged until it is too late.”[7]

Even one of the greatest spiritual leaders of all time – the Apostle Paul – had to accept the fact that his real motives eluded his grasp.

But to me it is a very small thing that I should be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God. (1 Corinthians 4:3-5)

We can analyze our own motivations and goals until we are blue in the face, and because of our sinful tendencies, still find that pure intentions and unselfish goals elude us. Even if we feel that we are completely void of wrong intentions, this does not guarantee that we truly are: “I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted.” It is for this reason that ambition itself is held at arm’s length by many Christian leaders. We are not quite sure what to make of it because we can never truly be certain that we are completely free from ungodly ambition.

Ultimately, the best way to keep ambition in check is within the community of faith. We will consider this below under the heading of “godly motivations.”

Selfish Ambition

Ungodly ambition is selfish ambition. It is the ardent desire for high position, rank, influence, and distinction for one’s own sake – one’s own glory. James identifies ungodly ambition as “selfish” ambition and closely associates it with bitter jealousy.

Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:13-18)

Selfish ambition is antithetical to walking in wisdom. Wisdom is related to God’s wise ordering of the world. To walk wisely is to walk in accordance with God’s design that is imprinted in the world God created. According to James, selfish ambition cuts against the grain of God’s wise order and introduces disorder and evil into the world. This evil is the source of quarrels and conflicts among God’s people (James 4:1-5).

Selfish ambition is a serious disorder unleashing great evil in the world. James pulls no punches. For him, selfish ambition is “earthly, natural, and demonic” since it is “not that which comes down from above.” In contrast, godly ambition does not bring disorder but instead brings peace, harmony, and love. The furthering of these peaceable fruits – gentleness, reasonableness, mercy, good works, fidelity, and authenticity – must be at the heart of ambition or it becomes selfish.

James associates selfish ambition with jealousy. Jealousy

threatens our spirits in a number of ways. First, it causes continuing unhappiness with ourselves. When we look into the lives and churches of other pastors, we see a thousand reminders of things we wish we had. Like Ahab [or Eve], who concentrated on the one thing he lacked, unable to see that the whole kingdom was his, we are denied a sense of satisfaction in our own churches and our own talents.[8]

James describes how this bitter jealousy destroys relationships.

What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. (James 4:1-2a)

Ambition fueled by jealousy is evil and desires evil goals and thus is ungodly, demonic, destructive – opposed to all that God is and wants. To live with this kind of ambition is to share the same motivations and goals as the unregenerate world.

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:3-4)

Selfish ambition drives us to serve ourselves at the expense of others. “All actions are evaluated by their effect, positive or negative, on ourselves, rather than on promoting God’s will.”[9]

Pride: The Ambition to be “The Best”

The desire to be “the best” is a strong motivation for some people, but ultimately, an unhealthy goal. Only a narrow margin of people can be “the best” in their respective field. Even if this goal is obtained, it usually only lasts for a short time. Others are constantly striving to take over this position.

However, the desire to be the best is understandable. The best, the fastest, the strongest, and the smartest are given most attention and are usually the most rewarded in our society. “Being good at something does not draw as much attention as being the best.”[10]

The ambition to be “the best” is often (if not always) fueled by pride. It is not enough to simply to the best one can be; pride desires to be the best over all others. In order to be “the best” we must rise above all others. People become an obstacle to our ambition. Pride fuels our desire to rise above the crowd and be recognized in a way that demonstrates our superiority to others.

Pride is essentially competitive… Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer; or cleverer; or better-looking than others… It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest... If I am a proud man, then, as long as there is one man in the whole world more powerful, or richer, or cleverer than I, he is my rival and my enemy.[11]

This desire to be “the best” can even appear in the context of ministry to others:

When James and John decided to move closer to Jesus, it was a commendable and inspired ambition. But when they desired to sit closest to Jesus, their focus changed. Rather than looking to Jesus, they glanced furtively over their shoulders at the other disciples, anticipating that their own spiritual accomplishments had markedly overshadowed everyone else’s.[12]

Unlike every other form of pride, spiritual pride – pride in one’s religious accomplishments – is the ugliest. It has the veneer of humility and goodness, but it is inwardly using God for one’s own selfish ends. Because Christian leaders are most susceptible to this blasphemous and heinous sin, we must make every effort to continually “humble ourselves” in the presence of God and of others. When religion becomes self-serving it has become demonic and deadly.

Whenever we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are good – above all, that we are better than someone else – I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the devil. The real test of being in the presence of God is that you either forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small, dirty object. It is better to forget about yourself altogether.[13]

Toward an Understanding of Godly Ambition

Ungodly ambition revolves around the self. When one’s goals are for one’s self-gratification or self-exaltation, then the power one obtains will be used to the detriment of others. Ambition which is motivated by selfish desires toward selfish ends is ultimately destructive to society and to self. When self is the center of all, then relationships serve one’s selfish interests. Relationships with others become a means to an end rather than an end in and of themselves. People are used rather than loved.

The apostle Paul was an extremely ambitious man – both before and after his conversion to Christian faith. He described himself during his pre-Christian days as “being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions” than most of his fellow countrymen (Gal. 1:14). As a Christian he plainly admitted, “I worked harder than any of the other apostles” (1 Cor. 15:10). He expected the same zeal from all of God’s people – a zeal manifest in a godly ambition motivated by and directed toward the good of others: “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; outdo one another in showing honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:10-11).

Paul’s zeal manifested itself in his daily death to self and selfish desires: “I die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31). Paul opposed his own desires for self-gratification and self-exaltation through self-denial and self-sacrifice. Only through such drastic measures could his selfish ambition be checked. His language is violent and abrupt. His selfish desires must be mortified – they must die! Although Paul was gifted enough to seek high positions in the world, Paul chose to make the world a better place rather than to hold a better place within the world. This ambition brought great suffering to his life – the price of godly ambition that is diametrically at odds with human ambitions.

Ultimately, Paul sought to do everything for the glory of God and good of others. To please God in all things was his heart’s desire. “[W]e have as our ambition… to be pleasing to Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9). Only through the mortification of godless self-serving ambition could godly self-giving ambition exist (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:7-15).

Paul saw Jesus as the ultimate example of godly ambition. Jesus’ motivations and goals – his attitude and mindset – are presented for our imitation.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped [did not take advantage or exploit his privileges], but emptied Himself… He humbled Himself… (Philippians 2:5-8)

This self-emptying and self-humbling resulted in God’s exalting Jesus to the highest place (Phil. 2:9-11). This is our pattern for greatness. For Paul, the church should be “of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose” (Phil. 2:2):

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4)

Both in his teaching and life Jesus demonstrated the proper motivation for ambition. The motivation must be self-giving love for the good of others. True greatness is not found in self-gratification or self-exaltation. Thus, selfishness and pride are sinful and ungodly motivations for ambition.

The Community’s Check on Ungodly Ambition

One of the means to keep self-gratification and self-exaltation in control is to seek the good of one’s church community rather than one’s own personal advancement. In seeking the good of the community, we are actually seeking our own good, but it is our good in subservience to the good of all. It is a shared good, a common good – a good that does not depend on our rising above the herd, but of uniquely contributing to the good of all by being the best person we can be.

We have one another in common. Rather than each of us playing a single role with our individual functions, in koinonia we participate in the ministries of one another. You are present in what I do, and I in what you do. I am part of your ministry, and you are part of mine, because we are both part of Christ. I am accountable for your well-being, as you are for mine. In mutuality, we share one another's burdens, delight in one another's successes, and offer ourselves fully in service to one another. We call one another to greater fullness. It is not you against me, instead of me, under me, or over me. It is you in service to me, and I to you, both of us thereby expressing our service to Christ.[14]

When the good of the community is our goal then it is more likely that we will not use others to serve our own ambitions. Ultimately, we know our ambition is wrong when we are no longer serving people for their good, but using people for our own good. People are an end, not a means to an end. “When we view people as a means to our end, we do not seek what’s best for them, only how they can be used to help us.”[15]

Jean Vanier suggests that ungodly ambition fueled by a heart-separation from his community was at the heart of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.

Judas himself lived with the eleven and with Jesus, but his heart was full of malice and jealousy ,and long before Satan led him to the final act of betrayal, his heart had become separated from the hearts of the others. Jesus had called him, but very quickly – and for reasons we do not know – he decided to take advantage of his position to further his own glory and personal plan. He did not want to serve Jesus with the other apostles; he wanted to use Jesus for his own ambitions.[16]

Because the good of the community is such an important check upon selfish ambition, community leaders should be chosen not because they are “the best” in any particular field but because they seek the best for the community.

Some communities choose their leaders for their administrative ability or ascendancy over others. But leaders should be chosen because they have shown that they put the interests of the community above their own… There is nothing more terrible than a tyrant using religion as his or her cover.[17]

Conclusion

Ultimately, by seeking the good of others we gain the best goal possible – we become like Christ. Filled with the Spirit we manifest divine love to others and thus become the people God destined us to be – gracious stewards over God’s creation seeking the good of all to the glory of God. Like Paul, we can say, “I do not seek what is yours, but you… And I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls… I love you” (2 Corinthians 12:14-15).

According to Paul, Timothy exuded the right motivations and goals of godly ambition. Paul wrote this of his partner in ministry: “For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 2:20-21). This is in direct contrast to Diotrephes, “who loves to be first among his fellow workers” (3 John 9).

It is hard to resist the pull of the world and the pull of our own selfish pride. “The spirituality of Nazareth… which implies littleness, love of little things and humility, is not easy in our world. We are schooled from an early age to go up the ladder of human promotion, to be outstanding, to succeed and to win prizes.”[18]

Contrary to this, our ambition should be to follow the way of Jesus by descending – rather than ascending – the ladder to serve others. We must redefine success as pleasing God rather than self by becoming more like Christ in self-giving love. Our goal must be to hear the eternal applause of heaven rather than the temporary praise of humankind.

© Richard J. Vincent, 2004