students of jesus

Ambition fuels modern life. Whether the goal is wealth, fame or accomplishment, western society applauds ambition and points to example after example of those who have leveraged their desires into lives of success.

Does ambition have any place in the Kingdom of God? I think the surprising answer is yes. The perhaps not-so-surprising answer is that God treasures humility, kindness and service in the lives of his children. Kingdom ambition points us ever-lower and waits for the Father to raise us up in due time.

“What were you arguing about on the road?” Jesus asked his friends, but they did not answer him because they had been arguing over who was the greatest. Jesus sat down and spoke plainly: “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (Mark 9:33-35) Welcome again to the up side-down Kingdom, where children are the example, and the meager coins of a widow outweigh the billions of philanthropists.

In the Kingdom order, quiet lives sing beautiful songs, heard in heaven above the sounds of Gangnam style or empire states of mind. A brilliant and ambitious man named Saul submerged himself among the Gentile dogs of a Pagan empire and embraced the disdain of the religious and intellectual elites. His counsel was counted as foolishness among the philosophers of his day. Sometimes his words were amazingly simple: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your own hands.” (1 Thessalonians 4:11) We do not need a Bible commentary or to study Greek to understand these words.

And yet, the Kingdom rewards ambition: forceful men take it by force. Can you imagine turning your ambitions toward the service of others? Defining success by the change of a single life or the simple practice of listening quietly to the confused or hurting? Kingdom ambition urges us toward the praise of heaven and an effectiveness that crumbles empires from within without a shot being fired, or even an election being won.

This week the world will hold it’s breath to see who will lead the wealthiest nation in history. But in our everyday life the truth has never changed: a leader leads by serving.