Handling the hunger of ambition is tricky for any leader. Knowing how to handle ambition as Jesus-followers is even trickier, like a high-end Sudoku puzzle.<\/p>\n
So let\u2019s start with a simple definition.\u00a0 I define ambition as that strong desire we have to make something or to achieve something, even when it takes great effort, focus, and determination. It\u2019s worth paying attention to that hunger you have because it\u2019s not necessarily a bad thing.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s a key part of the drive that moves you to cultivate influence.<\/p>\n
In its purest form, there\u2019s nothing wrong with ambition.\u00a0 You have it. I have it. It\u2019s one of the hallmarks of leadership. It\u2019s that desire to move something forward, to make something better. Do you feel it?\u00a0 Drink it in, because it\u2019s good.<\/p>\n
Believing that you need a position of authority to exercise your ambition is a lie. And as soon as that lie takes root, you will find yourself losing the influence you desire to cultivate and develop. Worse, failing to direct your ambition in good and healthy ways can twist it so there is no benefit to anyone.\u00a0 The distortions of our ambition can be simplified into two extremes. Like a swinging pendulum, these two manifestations are equally dangerous.<\/p>\n
Kill Ambition<\/strong><\/p>\n The first response of many leaders, especially Christian leaders, is to look for ways to kill their ambition. If you\u2019ve been taught to view ambition as a danger to spiritual growth, an impediment to being a follower of Jesus, the spiritual thing to do is to kill it. Because our hearts are naturally deceitful (see Jeremiah 17:9), we cannot trust our desires. Unconstrained ambition may just be a selfish desire. And if they aren\u2019t in a leadership role, they assume that the desire is wrong or sinful, a sign of rebellion perhaps.<\/p>\n This is where I was just a few years ago. When I became a Campus Pastor, I had a lot of ambition for our campus, for our teams, and for myself. I had grand ideas around how we would interact with new guests, what our music culture would feel like, how to bring synergy to student and children\u2019s ministry, and how to create more energy in our adult services. Right or wrong, I felt hamstrung by the structures of authority above me. Without realizing it, my ambition and vision for change had grown distorted. So I put it all on mute.\u00a0 I shut it down, thinking that the time wasn\u2019t right.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until a crucial conversation with Andy Stanley that it dawned on me that I wasn\u2019t acting wisely or responsibly.\u00a0 I was killing my ambition. And killing it is not the answer.<\/p>\n Looking back, I can see where these distorted ideas came from. I was raised in a church where ambition was outlawed in the name of piety and humility. The people were well-meaning, but the message was clear: kill the ambition before it kills you. When it came to ambition, I thought the rapper Ice Cube said it best, \u201cYou better check yo\u2019 self before you wreck yo\u2019 self.\u201d<\/p>\n Many young leaders, especially those raised in a Christian environment, are too quick to kill their ambition. But it\u2019s a step too far, a nuclear option that ends up muting any leadership gifts God has given you.\u00a0 Eradicating, abdicating, renouncing, ignoring, or killing the ambition within you is not the answer.<\/p>\n Ambition Run Wild<\/strong><\/p>\n On the flip side, instead of killing their ambitions, some leaders just let them run wild.\u00a0 They uncritically embrace them.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve all seen ambition run wild\u2014it\u2019s what those who kill their ambition were trying to avoid.\u00a0 It\u2019s the leader who only thinks about himself.\u00a0 The leader who thumbs her nose at the processes and structures and tramples over others without a care for the damage left behind.\u00a0 Some leaders won\u2019t go that far, of course.\u00a0 But instead of channeling their ambition in healthy ways, they allow frustration to take control, thinking, \u201cI\u2019ve got to be in charge and I\u2019ll get there by any means necessary.\u201d Or \u201cI\u2019ve got to be able to call the shots\u2026or I can\u2019t work here.\u201d The extreme of killing our ambition focuses on an internal solution to the problem, while the extreme of letting our ambition run wild tends to focus on an external solution.\u00a0 We look to blame others for our lack of authority, we contract a critical spirit toward those in who are in charge, and we end up sabotaging the very thing we\u2019re seeking. To quote Dr. Phil, \u201cHow\u2019s that working for ya?\u201d<\/p>\n I need to be clear on this point: leading when you\u2019re not in charge does<\/em> not<\/em> mean that you learn skills to get ahead by circumventing the authority above you. A leader wants to accomplish something, because that\u2019s what inside of him or her. But this lie can take root: \u201cI need to be in charge if I want to get anything done.\u201d\u00a0 Soon we\u2019re looking for ways to move our boss out of the way, or trying to work around him or her in an effort to promote our own agenda. Just know that if you are sensing a voice inside you telling you that your boss is the only obstacle between you and the life you\u2019ve dreamed of having, it\u2019s a distortion of your ambition. You don\u2019t need to kill your ambition, but you can\u2019t just let it run wild either.<\/p>\n Thankfully, we don\u2019t need to follow either extreme.\u00a0 There is a more Jesus-centered way that allows you to harness your ambition exactly where God has you today. His way allows us to find contentment in our circumstances and also a drive to make a better world. His way brings the fullness of truth with the fullness of grace. It\u2019s more powerful than a title and more influential than a position. It\u2019s the way God originally made you to lead.<\/p>\n Handling the hunger of ambition is tricky for any leader. Knowing how to handle ambition as Jesus-followers is even trickier, like a high-end Sudoku puzzle. So let\u2019s start with a simple definition.\u00a0 I define ambition as that strong desire we have to make something or to achieve something, even when it takes great effort, focus, … Continue reading “Handling the Hunger of Ambition”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}