Mike Taylor

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Tag: Ambition

  • Can I Be Ambitious and Still Follow God’s Will?

    We all have things we want to accomplish. We all have ambition.

    Ambition is simply the tension between where we want to get and where we’re currently at.

    Whether we realize it or not, our worldviews, our beliefs, and our actions all flow from our ambitions. 

    And God is okay with that.

    In fact, he ordains and blesses ambition.

    From the beginning of time, God created an ideal for mankind.

    He said he put mankind on the earth to watch over it and to keep it – to serve it and protect it. 

    Being in God’s presence drove ambition in its purest form.

    It was only when our ambition drifted away from God’s ambition for us that things got out of order.

    There are essentially two types of ambition: 

    • Selfish ambition
    • Selfless ambition

    Selfish ambition primarily helps us but can also benefit others.

    Selfless ambition primarily helps others but can also benefit us.

    The determining factor between selfish and selfless ambition is submission.

    Submission is what keeps ambition in check.

    God desires for his people to prosper.

    Deuteronomy 30:8-9 says, “You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands […] Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands”. 

    This promise of prosperity is repeated over and over again throughout Scripture. 

    One of my favorite examples of the promise of prosperity is in Leviticus chapter 26. 

    God is telling the Israelites that if they will obey Him then He will make them exceedingly and abundantly comfortable and successful. 

    He says things like, “you will eat all the food you want” and “I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers”. 

    It’s very difficult to read through the entire Bible and maintain the belief that God is not on a very direct mission to fulfill our ambitions and bless others through us.

    But the beautiful thing is, every good thing God gives to us is only available through submission to Him. 

    And therein lies the great dichotomy of submission and ambition. 

    Our truest and purest ambitions are only fulfilled when we give them up and trust them to God. 

    Submission to God is trusting Him, rather than ourselves, to fulfill our desires.

    Submission, then, isn’t choosing something less than what we want because someone else said so; it’s choosing to allow God to fulfill our God-centered ambitions for both ourselves and for others.

    Ambition is not something to be feared. 

    Ambition in submission to God is an expression of faith. 

    Whenever we shy away from ambition, we’re playing it safe.

    We either don’t believe we have what it takes or we can’t trust God for it.

    So we put on a mask of fear and call it contentment.

    Fighting the fight of faith involves pressing into ambition while maintaining submission to God. 

    This is the call on all our lives, not just some. 

    Many people live in fear because they misunderstand contentment. 

    When Paul writes, “godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6), he’s teaching Timothy to find all he needs in God alone regardless of circumstances.

    He’s teaching him to lack nothing (Psalm 23).

    When you lack nothing, ambition becomes a way for your blessings to become other people’s blessings. (Genesis 12:2)

    Paul repeatedly encouraged Timothy to use his gifts while also not getting caught up in needing acceptance or worldly wealth.

    This is a perfect picture of ambition under submission.

    Just before the verse where Paul talks about contentment, he says this to Timothy:

    “…devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you…” (1 Timothy 4:13-14). 

    He’s telling him to step into his gifts instead of shying away from them.

    In the first chapter of Paul’s second letter to Timothy, Paul tells him, “…fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:6-7). 

    We love quoting that verse, but the fear that Paul was specifically targeting was the fear of using ambition for God’s glory.

    Fear leads us to shrink into the shadows and call it contentment.

    God calls us to step out of our comfort zone to use the gifts and talents as an expression of faith. 

    And in that process we grow closer to God. Because it requires cultivating ambition and giving it to God through submission.

  • Is Personal Ambition Dangerous?

    Our culture puts a hyperfocus on ambition and individual success. 

    We’re becoming more and more okay with sacrificing on the altar of self-improvement.

    Personal growth and achievement aren’t inherently unhealthy. But as a society, we’ve taken ambition entirely too far.

    True progress always requires yielding for others, not advancing past them.

    When you’re driving down the road and you approach a red light, you stop. 

    You do that so people coming from other directions can get ahead of you on the road you’re on.

    Even though you’re allowing those people to go in front of you, you’ve decided that it’s best for society for us to yield to them. 

    To stop our progress for theirs.

    Is it frustrating? Absolutely. Especially when you have to be somewhere. 

    But imagine if every driver prioritized their progress over others. 

    Imagine the chaos that would ensue if everyone started doing what seemed best to them to get to their destination the quickest.

    There would be people driving in the grass, driving off the road, and crashing at red lights.

    Now compare that to the current state of society:

    Does it seem as if maybe we started adopting that mindset a bit too much in our culture? 

    We’re in a chaotic environment that’s largely caused by an unhealthy amount of selfish ambition.

    Ambition has always been, and is still today, best utilized with a healthy amount of submission to others. 

    We were created to serve, and we’re most fulfilled when we’re serving. 

    An 80-year Harvard study found that the number one key to happiness is found in giving your time and energy to others through relationships. 

    Deep down we all know it. That’s why we’re drawn to help one another even when we have nothing to gain.

    If service is where you’ll be most fulfilled, then serving others is what will keep your ambition in check.

    This service-first mindset is what keeps relationships healthy and families whole. 

    When you put aside what you want in order to do what’s best for the whole, you actually end up getting what you want – fulfillment and happiness.

    It’s another one of those weird Jesus paradoxes. 

    But we’ve lost sight of that truth in our culture. 

    It should come as no surprise that both self-centeredness and mental health issues have been on the rise at the same time. 

    We’ve lost our sense of community.

    And we’ve found that the lack of connection leaves us empty, no matter how much we achieve or attain.

    So here’s my bet:

    If we filter ambition through the lens of submission to others through service, I’m willing to bet that mental and emotional traffic jams will start to clear up.