Ambitious service

18 November 2008 (John)

In 50 Years In The Church Of Rome, Charles Chiniquy comments that pride is the daily bread of the Catholic priest. But is it the daily bread of the Catholic priest only, or does this sickness permeate the protestant and evangelical worlds also?

We live in a culture and society that is hyper-ambitious; it’s not surprising that it easily rubs off on us and corrupts our service to God. Thomas a Kempis says:

For those are not pure and perfect desires, which are alloyed with their own special interest and advantage. (Imitation of Christ, Bk3, Ch49:2)

Yet how many of us are willing to occupy the place that Paul describes the apostles as having in the world when he says:

We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now. (I Cor 4:13)

No, what we want is to be respected, esteemed as knowledgeable or to be seen as a “mover and shaker” within Christian circles. If possible we’d really like to also draw a good salary and have a title such as ‘bishop’, ‘director’ or ‘senior pastor’. This is all so natural to us; but that’s the point, the thinking of the natural man creeps in.

Now, even as we point our index finger at professionals in the church, we should be mindful of the three fingers on our hand that point back at us. Just because we don’t hold these positions, are we immune from ambition creeping in? I doubt it. Ambition seems endemic to fallen man, flowing as it does down from the Archangel who said ‘I will be as God’ (Satan). Prayerful self-examination and deep honesty with ourselves is needed every day to keep us from this most common of traps.

But you may be wondering; well, what’s so bad about it? If it motivates people to do things for God it can’t be so awful. Hmmm, “do things for God”. Here’s where the problem starts. As soon as ambition creeps in we are no longer doing it for God but doing it for our self. For this reason we quickly close down to God’s leading, subtly replacing it with our own leading. Perhaps even worse, by entering into a worldly mindset we almost instantly lose sight of “the upside down kingdom”. The kingdom the apostles occupied where they were last in this world (but shall be first in the kingdom of God). And then there are the conflicts in the church which come through our own carnality. The troubles that arise when people start being protective of their position, their ministry, their ego. Haven’t we all seen so many examples of this. Ultimately when Christian service goes down this path, the church ends up being modeled more and more on the world. Eventually it resembles a corporation rather than Christ’s bride.

Do I have an answer? Only that we need to guard our hearts against ambition and all pride, and be content to be simple and unimportant people (yet rich towards God). Speaking of eternity, Thomas a Kempis says:

Then will it appear that he was wise in this world, who had learned for Christ to be a fool and despised (Imitation of Christ, Bk1, Ch25:5)

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