A Theology of Ambition: Concluding Synthesis

We conclude our very brief theology of ambition with a concluding synthesis of the material laid out so far. How, then, should we understand ambition from the texts considered?

There's a great deal to say here. We can start by pointing out the biblical ambition is never to be understood as using God to get what one wants in a worldly or secular sense. In the texts I've examined, biblical ambition emerges as an exercise in getting God maximal glory through the expansion of one's capacities. Spiritual boldness, then, should not be understood as praying for wealth, or praying for power, or praying for fame for the sake of these things. One is to be ambitious for explicitly spiritual ends. We saw this in numerous examples. Nehemiah's plan was so bold as to be almost audacious in its nature, but Nehemiah was not punished for his verve, he was richly rewarded. We saw the same process work itself out in the lives of Solomon and Jabez. These men, however, did not merely make request of God, they made request of God for explicitly spiritual ends.

Biblical ambition, then, should be gospel-focused. We should ask God for things and undertake work that furthers the work of the kingdom and the advancement of the gospel. Living in the era of the new covenant, we are to work to take spiritual dominion of the earth. This is our central motivation in life, not any other motive. Biblical ambition is assertive and aggressive in attempting to bring this present darkness under a reign of light. You and I, then, should pray toward this end. We should ask God to maximize our abilities and to sharpen our skills and expand our influence in order that the gospel would go forth, men would be saved, and God would be glorified. It is right--no, it is imperative--that we be ambitious for the kingdom, and put all our skills, abilities and proclivities to use for the good of God's name.

Spiritual boldness will involve our own personal lives, and we should not shy away from this. We should ask God to make us better Christians, holier people, more capable believers in order that we would be fully consecrated and put to use in kingdom work. We should ask God that the Spirit would do mighty things in us and embolden us and change us and shape us for the unique endeavors that God would have us to do. Businessmen should seek the betterment of their companies in order to glorify God in their work and to contribute to gospel endeavors. Teachers should seek to be the best teachers that they can be, in order that God would give them more influence with their unsaved peers. Homemakers should pray that they would perform their tasks with excellence, in order to glorify God and to be available for volunteer work and church work and mentoring of young women. We could go on and on, but I hope that you get a glimpse of how a spiritually ambitious local church can change itself and its community for the glory of God. Indeed, when a pastor models a life of godly ambition, and teaches his people to live boldly for the Lord, the congregation is set up to, like the apostles, take their own world by storm. Men will be better laborers and leaders of the home, women will follow the Proverbs 31 woman in taking dominion over their sphere, young people will be ambitious to evangelize the lost and take on a sin-crushed world. A theology of ambition, then, is no mere exercise in t-crossing and i-dotting. It is an essential part of being a Christian in a world that will gladly welcome and accomodate lazy, passive, visionless Christianity, to the detriment and death of us all.

A Theology of Ambition: Biblical Considerations, Pt. 2

Update on December 25th--Merry Christmas to all consumed readers. Enjoy the holiday!

We pick back up in our biblical consideration of ambition. On Wednesday, I'll give a concluding synthesis.

1. Gen. 1:26-28 the call to take dominion
2. 1 Chron. 4:10 Jabez's bold prayer
3. 2 Chron. 1:7-13 Solomon's ambitious prayer for wisdom
4. Nehemiah an example of godly ambition
5. Matthew 28:18-20 the call to take spiritual dominion
6. 1 Cor. 10:31 life as an exercise in biblical ambition
7. Hebrews 4:16 the invitation to pray with boldness

The story of Nehemiah is incredible. Hearing that Jerusalem and its people are in shambles, Nehemiah prays to the Lord and asks Him to bless Nehemiah as he seeks to rebuild the city and reconstitute the people. We have no indication of divine prompting of this prayer. Like so many biblical characters, Nehemiah sees a lack and prays boldly that he might be used to address it. Read chapter one of Nehemiah to get the full vision of his prayer. What transpires after the prayer is equally inspiring. To make a long and invigorating story short, Nehemiah and the Jews prevail over their enemies and in an incredibly short period of time rebuild Jerusalem. It is clear from Nehemiah's example that the Lord is richly honored by Nehemiah's faith and by his bold request. Nehemiah asks God for Jerusalem, and the Lord gives it to him.

Skipping ahead to the new creation call to dominion, Matthew 28:18-20 teaches us that Christians are to be ambitious for the spread of the gospel. Jesus Christ's final recorded words in Matthew's gospel propel His disciples away from ensconcement and ease and push them to all the ends of the earth in order that sinful men might be recreated for the kingdom through the gospel's transforming power. If you follow up the new creation call to dominion by reading the book of Acts, you will see that Christ's disciples were nothing less than zealous for the publishing abroad of the euangelion, the good news. They prayed, planned, and acted, and they didn't do so in bite-sized bits. They went out and took the world by storm with the gospel. The disciples and apostles were fearless and ambitious, and their efforts, borne out of that spirit, changed all history.

There are so many texts that cover this theme, but we cannot skip 1 Cor 10:31, where the apostle Paul instructs us to do all to the glory of God. We commonly reference this text in other discussions, but it has an important place in a biblical consideration of ambition. We don't simply rubber stamp our actions as "Christian." That's not what Paul is encouraging us to do. Paul is encouraging us to be active in finding things to do that bring glory to God even as we respect the consciences of our fellow Christians. As opposed to those who prescribe a code of respectable actions, Paul pushes the Corinthian Christians to realize that all of life is an exercise in glorifying God, and thus to act boldly toward this end. We should do the same.

The final text I'll cover deals with the matter of prayer. In Hebrews 4:16, the author exhorts us to come boldly before God and to make our spiritual requests known to Him. Many of us know this text (and other passages I've covered), but I think that we sometimes fail to construct a broader theology of ambition. We are to be bold in prayer, but we are also to be bold in all of our lives. This does not and must not preclude the steady exercise of supplication to God, but just as we are to pray boldly and courageously, so we are to live boldly and courageously. The author of Hebrews makes this very clear on the matter of prayer as he pushes away from our natural hesitations to make big requests of God and tells us that such prayer is the very prayer God desires. We can of course make selfish, worldly requests of God, and this is not right. When we pray with right motives and for spiritual ends, however, God is well pleased with us. Let us live, then, as we are called to pray: boldly, courageously, passionately.

A Theology of Ambition: Biblical Considerations, Pt. 1

I'm going to give you several different texts to think about in relation to my topic. Today and tomorrow, we do a study of biblical material. After that, we synthesize the material.

1. Gen. 1:26-28 the call to take dominion
2. 1 Chron. 4:10 Jabez's bold prayer
3. 2 Chron. 1:7-13 Solomon's ambitious prayer for wisdom
4. Nehemiah an example of godly ambition
5. Matthew 28:18-20 the call to take spiritual dominion
6. 1 Cor. 10:31 life as an exercise in biblical ambition
7. Hebrews 4:16 the invitation to pray with boldness

These texts should not and must not be understood as the only texts that speak to my topic. They are not. However, these texts when taken together give us a bare framework by which to begin to understand the Bible's view of ambition. With that said, we proceed to look at what this framework is and what it means for us as Christians. We will work quickly through these texts, and you can think of more on your own (and suggest them in the comments, if you would).

The call to take dominion over the earth in Genesis 1 is fundamentally a call to theological ambition. Those who think that ambition has little place in the Christian life find an opposite ideal in this first chapter of the Bible. From the beginning, God intended man to subdue and rule over his environment. It is clear from the lack of instruction recorded in this text that God did not spell out all the details of this dominion-taking. Rather, he left it to Adam, His vice-regent, to figure out what needed to be done and to do it. Such action necessarily includes an aggressive mindset that seeks to glorify God through action pleasing to God. The race of men, then, was not created to be passive and weak, but to be active and strong, assessing their domain, ruling over their territory, glorifying God by virtuous, godly action.

It's silly to pass up all the examples of Old Testament believers who acted ambitiously for God's renown, but time and space is limited. So we skip ahead to the much-discussed Jabez. Now, let me say a word here. Bruce Wilkinson took the whole Jabez thing a bit far, if you ask me, but I still think he had a point (one made by men like Spurgeon well before prosperity theologians). His point was this: Jabez was spiritually ambitious. Wilkinson was no genius in understanding this, but he was right. Jabez prayed that the Lord would bless him. The Lord did bless him. Jabez had a desire to glorify God through a blessed life. God answered this desire. We could take this text and run, but we should not do so. Instead, we should simply make the point that God rewarded Jabez's spiritual ambition, and leave things there. Clearly, it is no terrible thing--far from that, it is a good thing--to be spiritually ambitious before the Lord.

The story of Solomon is the same. Solomon made an incredible request of God, that he be given incredible wisdom, and God gave it to him. God was not displeased with such a bold request. The biblical picture of God is not that which many of us hold in our minds, a miserly, angry, bitter father who despises giving out blessings. No, the biblical picture of God is that He often graciously rewards the seeker and gives them the righteous desires of their heart. Solomon's desire was righteous--this is a crucial point--and thus God granted his request. The Lord does seem to be like the great leader Alexander in a story I've heard Tim Keller tell. One of Alexander's generals made a very bold request of his lord, asking him to finance an extravagant wedding ceremony for his child. Upon hearing the request, Alexander's right-hand man urged Alexander to cruelly discipline such a boorish man. Alexander demurred, and instead granted the man's request. His reasoning? The man, by his massive request, showed that he thought Alexander to be a man of massive means. Thus his plea, so far from dishonoring Alexander, actually honored Alexander in the extreme. So it is with us when we ask God for great things. A right sense of ambition, one devoted to the Lord, shows just how great we think our God to be.