So then we went to Romans 2 and learned some things about good and bad ambition. In fact, we said that you could also define ambition as, “ the strong desire to achieve success and obtain glory.” How many of you who were here last week said you are prone to little ambition? How many decided you are prone to selfish ambition?įinally, we talked about a very important word that is at the heart of the concept of ambition and that word is “glory.” We said that the word “glory” shows up 384 times in the NKJV! It is a very important word biblically, and it is at the heart of the topic of ambition. Next, we took a few minutes to talk about two types of people: those who are prone to selfish ambition and those who are prone to little ambition, and I asked each of you to identify with one group or the other. My definition of ambition, which combined elements from a number of different definitions, was, “ the strong desire to achieve success, usually defined as power, wealth, or fame.” However, just to give you a synopsis, we looked at various definitions of “ambition” and then wrote our own. If you weren’t able to be here last week, it is going to be hard for me to totally catch you up to speed, so I’d encourage you to check out the notes on our website. I hope you enjoyed last week’s lesson and that you’re ready to be convicted about selfish ambition! But before we do anything more, let’s begin with a word of prayer.
#DEFINE AMBITION SERIES#
Good morning! Welcome to Sunday school! I hope you’ve had a wonderful week! We are on part 2 of what looks to be a four or five-part series on ambition. James states this metaphorically as an adulterous love affair with the world, by which he means the wealth and pleasure we are tempted to believe we can find in the world without God (James 4:4–5).Ambition | Part 2: Symptoms of Selfish Ambition This wraps the two principles into an integral unit. Interestingly, the reason we don’t depend on God is because we want to serve our own pleasures rather than serving others. We fail to depend on God when we don’t even ask him for what we need. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:2–3). “You covet something and cannot obtain it so you engage in disputes and conflicts. Selfish ambition causes quarrels and fights within the Christian community, and James says the underlying cause is their failure to depend on God. Selfish Ambition Is Overcome by Submission to God (James 4:2–5)
All of these can and should be employed by Christians in the workplace. He names several elements of peacemaking: grieving for the harm we do others (James 4:9), humbling ourselves (James 4:10), refraining from slander, accusation, and judgment (James 4:11), and mercy and sincerity (James 3:17). In typical fashion, he alludes to a workplace-grain harvesting in this case-to make his point. “A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace” (James 3:18). The passage is aptly summarized by James 3:16: “For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.” James highlights a particular practice that overcomes selfish ambition: peacemaking. Selfish ambition is the opposite of serving the needs of others. Selfish Ambition Is the Impediment to Peacemaking (James 3:16–4:11)
#DEFINE AMBITION HOW TO#
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