“The great temptation is to become impressive instead of faithful.”
— Henri Nouwen
“God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.”
— A.W. Tozer
IS AMBITION WRONG?
Ever since I can remember, I’ve been wired with a certain level of intensity.
God has given me so many opportunities in my 32 years on Earth. I’ve been able to start a few companies, I got to compete on national television, I graduated from medical school, served overseas, led teams, and have sought to pursue excellence in nearly every arena God has allowed me to experience.
To be honest, there are very few things I’ve been praised for in my life more than my drive and ambition. But for much of my walk with Jesus, I’ve quietly carried a nagging internal conflict. I often find myself asking questions like:
Is ambition unholy?
Does drive disqualify me from humility?
Is it wrong to want your life to amount to some level of accomplishment?
There’s this unspoken undercurrent in Christian culture that paints all ambition with the same brush. This idea that any strong desire for impact, excellence, or success must be laced with pride and put back in it’s place. For a long time, I believed it. I believed that if I wanted to live righteously, I had to silence every spark of desire that pushed me forward. It’s been a wrestle for as long as I can remember.
It wasn’t until two years ago when I read, On the Road with Saint Augustine by James K.A. Smith, that some helpful guardrails were illuminated for me.
HOLY VS. SELFISH AMBITION
James 3:16 paints a very clear picture. It says:
“Where selfish ambition exists, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”
Paul warns against it in Philippians 2 as well with equal urgency:
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit…”
But here is where my confusion was. Paul also commends ambition elsewhere. In Romans 15:20 he says:
“I make it my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known…”
So which is it? Is the call that we put ambition to death completely, or do we fan it into flame? If you’ve spent any amount of time reading the bible, listening to sermons, or attending church, you likely know that there are times we can’t take the english words we read in the bible completely at face value.
As is true with most of the Chrisitan walk. The key doesn’t lie in the action itself, but in the motive that is behind the action.
In both James and Philippians, the Greek word for “selfish ambition” is eritheia. This is a term used in politics to describe factional rivalry, the act of putting oneself forward. In short, it’s not just ambition itself, rather it’s self-exalting ambition.
It’s the drive to dominate. The desire to be admired. Not just to win, but be seen winning.
A helpful frame that James K.A. Smith gives in the book is this. The roots of selfish ambition are domination and recognition. It’s not just wanting the crown, it’s needing everyone to see you both claim it and wear it.
So how do you know the difference? How do we do a heart level examination in our own lives? Smith suggests a helpful diagnostic question:
“What are you hoping for when you aspire to be noticed?”
That’s the heart test. That’s the soul x-ray.
AUGUSTINE'S REDEEMED AMBITION
Augustine of Hippo was one of the most brilliant and ambitious minds in church history. Before his conversion, he chased recognition relentlessly. His life’s pursuit centered around a few key pillars: fame, status, applause, and achievement.
But when he surrendered to Christ, he didn’t abandon ambition…he realigned it.
He recalibrated it toward faithfulness, not fame. Towards mission and not ego. Towards calling and not clout.
That’s the difference.
Holy ambition still burns.
It’s not lazy. It’s not passive. It doesn’t play small.
Augustine himself said: “The opposite of ambition is not humility, it is sloth, passivity, timidity, and complacency. We sometimes like to comfort ourselves by imagining that the ambitious are prideful and arrogant so that those of us who never risk, never aspire, never launch out into the deep get to wear the moralizing mantle of humility. But this imagining is often just a thin cover for a lack of courage, even laziness. Playing it safe isn’t humble."
It’s obviously not about building a personal brand or being crowned king. It’s about leveraging every ounce of your energy and gifting to exalt Christ, not self.
The Greek word for ambition used in Romans 15 and 1 Thes. 4 is philotimo. Which means to be actuated by love of honor. Paul’s call here is to make the operating system of your faith a love of honoring the Father, doing His will, and living with a whole-hearted submission to Him.
If we are honest with ourselves, many of us are ambitious because we’re still chasing recognition. The core desire of our life is that we want to be admired. We want someone to say, “You’re enough.” We want the earthly “well done” to fill the gap left by an absent father or a critical voice in our past.
But Scripture offers a better way.
We don’t need to chase the applause of man when the Father already sees us. We don’t need the earthly stage when heaven is already watching. We don’t need recognition when we’ve already been redeemed. Ambition isn’t your enemy. Misplaced ambition is.
So let your drive be discipled. Let your hunger be holy. Let your pursuit be purposeful.
A FINAL CHARGE
This week, take inventory of your ambition.
Ask yourself: What’s driving me? Why am I driven?
Is it domination? Is it Recognition? Is your ego masquerading selfish ambition as a love for the Father?
Or is the root of your drive a response to God’s grace?
A hunger to steward every gift, every breath, every opportunity for the glory of the Father and the good of the world?
The antidote to drive isn’t to become dormant, it’s to give that drive direction. Reaim your ambition. Refuse the counterfeit crown. Run your race like someone who already has the approval of Heaven.
You don’t have to extinguish the fire.
But be sure to set it on the right altar.
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