Ambition Is Not the Enemy

Christians sometimes treat ambition as a vice to be crushed. Read Mark 10 carefully and you will notice that Jesus does not do that. He says whoever wants to become great among you, and then he tells them how. The wanting is assumed. The direction is corrected.

That matters for ordinary weeks, because most of us are ambitious about something. We want the project to succeed, the business to grow, the children to turn out well, the church to thrive. Suppressing that energy does not make us holy. It makes us tired and quietly resentful.

The lesson is to aim the energy at serving. Want to be great at making the people around you flourish. Want to be first in noticing who is struggling. Want the reputation of someone who does the unglamorous work well and without being asked.

Paul tells the Thessalonians to make it their ambition to lead a quiet life and work with their hands. Ambition and quietness, in the same sentence. That is the shape Jesus gives it. Keep the drive. Change the target.