Spiritual Ambition

Calling — "A Man of a Different Spirit"

Therefore, we also make it our ambition to be pleasing to the Lord.  2 Corinthians 5:9

The explorer of Antarctica, James Cook, once said, “I ... had ambition not only to go farther than any man had ever been before, but as far as it was possible for man to go.”

He was a man of ambition.  As Christians, we must be men and women of ambition as well.  Whereas, Captain Cook was ambitious for himself, we must be ambitious for God!  God is worthy of nothing less from us. Thee are many stories of men and women who because of an insatiable desire accomplished great things.  I am not aware of any person, who desired very little and yet accomplished anything great.

Often, as believers we have not thought it right to pursue “great things”.  We tend to think that this reeks of pride and arrogance.  And to be candid, this has and does happen in the Name of Jesus to our shame.  Someone has said, “there is no room for pride in ministry.”  Amen. Yet, I think we can pendulum swing to the far extreme in the other direction and develop a false sense of humility.  This actually can easily become an excuse for us to stay in our comfort zone and become complacent. 

Humility is not opposed to greatness. Humility is a recognition that I am not here to seek great things form myself (Jeremiah 45:5).  Humility is a recognition that if I am going to be involved in something great (like the Great Commission) I must live in a daily dependence upon the Lord and in supportive community with His people.  

Jesus never said it is wrong to desire to be great.  On the contrary, He said, “whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant and whoever wishes to be first shall be your slave, (Matthew 20:26-27).  Jesus also said, “whoever keeps and teaches His commandments shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven, (Matthew 5:19).  Jesus never put down anyone for desiring to be great.  He redefines what greatness is and He transforms our desires for greatness.

It is not wrong to desire.  Buddhism teaches that desire is the source of suffering.  Therefore, the goal of Buddhism is to remove or extinguish desire so there can be harmony.  Christianity teaches that although our desires have done bad or even mad, it is through the transforming power of Jesus Christ that our desires are transformed.  Jesus renews our mind and purifies our desires. For example:  “He who hungers and thirsts for righteousness shall be satisfied, (Matthew 5:6).  “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart”, (Psalm 37:4).  “For it is God who is at work in you , both to give you the desire and the ability to work for His good pleasure”, (Philippians 2:13).  

What do you need then to leave your mark on this world for His glory?  In a word, focus.  If you are careful, you can inscribe your name on a piece of wood by using a magnifying glass as you focus the sun’s rays.  Otherwise, the sun will beat down on the wood all day long and never leave a mark.  Even so, if we are to leave the mark of the Gospel in this world, we must focus our lives around three aspects of spiritual ambition.

Spiritual ambition is made up of vision, passion and action.  If you have vision but no passion or action all you have is a fantasy.  If you have passion without a clear vision and action, then you have passion out of control.  This would be like water pouring out of a fire hydrant without the hose or the fireman to direct the water.  Action with no vision and no passion is legalistic or meaningless activity.  It is mere duty obligation which won’t last long.  But when all three are working in concert with each other then you turn ordinary events into something that is atomic.  This is spiritual ambition.

God called Caleb, “a man of a different spirit”.  He was a man of ambition (vision, passion and action).  Caleb’s vision was founded upon God’s promise given to him through Moses when he was forty years old.  At eighty-five Caleb is as passionate about the vision God had given him forty-five years earlier, (Joshua 14:10-12).

This was Caleb’s vision.  It burned in his heart for more than forty years!  Caleb made God’s promise his life vision.  Caleb made God promise his passion.  Caleb acted in faith on God’s promise.  It became reality.  

What was different about Caleb from all of the others?  He followed God fully because he was a man of spiritual ambition — a man of vision; a man of passion; a man of action.  

May God raise up many men and women today with a Caleb spirit!  

doug