When does ambition become dangerous? - Ambition - TouchPoints

Genesis 11:4Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”

Ambition becomes wrong and dangerous when its goal is to bring glory to ourselves instead of God who gave us our talents and abilities.

Matthew 4:9“I will give it all to you,” he [Satan] said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

Ambition can become destructive if Satan uses it to lure us away from God. We can test our ambitions by asking if what we want to do will lead us closer to or farther away from God. If we are not sure, then it is leading us away from him.

Mark 10:35-45Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him . . . “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you.” . . . When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant.

Selfish ambition inevitably undermines our friendships and service to God by making our activities into petty, competitive acts.

Galatians 5:19-21When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are . . . hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

James 3:14-16If you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

Selfish ambition is dangerous because it leads to “disorder and evil of every kind.” This trouble arises from our sinful nature and can fuel not only our sinful behavior but also conflict with others. Selfish ambition cuts us off from the Holy Spirit, putting our agendas and self-gratification ahead of God’s will for us.

Mark 8:34-36Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he [Jesus] said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?”

Ambition is profoundly dangerous because it can cause us to “lose our own soul.” A great difference exists between wanting to be a part of God’s great work and wanting personal greatness through God’s work. It’s the difference between desiring to serve God and trying to use God to serve us. Ambition can fool us into striving to gain all we desire in this world at the cost of our rewards in heaven.