June 2026-Subtle Idols - Ambition
"We surpass the furthest distance humans have ever travelled from planet earth. We do so in honouring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration. To the next generation, make sure this record is not long-lived".
Those were the words of one of the Artemis astronauts upon returning to earth having broken the Apollo 13 record. It was a poignant encouragement for the next generation to keep pushing the boundaries of space exploration. A plea not to settle for the status quo but to keep pushing the boundaries. Not to consolidate but to keep expanding their horizons. Not to waste time but to make the most of every minute. There’s something in me that’s loves that sense of ambition.
Ambition is fundamentally a good thing because it’s a God thing. We can see something of it in what God said to Adam in the Garden of Eden. Adam was given the task of working it and taking care of it. Implicit is the call to labour to see creation flourish for the glory of God.
However, like all things, Genesis 3 turned that ambition disastrously inward. Mankind’s ambitions are now instinctively centred on our own glory and advancement rather than the Lord’s. As time has passed nothing has changed. While the image of God remains, the human heart stays tainted with sin. The Towel of Babel mindset comes instinctively to all of us. We want to make a name for ourselves.
Let the Lord Name our Ambitions
I always love how Jesus interacts with the Rich Young ruler1. He saw the idol in the Young Man’s heart of money and he called it out. Quite literally Jesus put his finger right on the money. Deep down the Young Man’s ambition was for his own glory despite his religious pretence. No-one else saw it. How could they? Jesus did.
I’ve so often found the Lord challenge my ambitions through his Word. In particular, he’s challenged me in my decision making process. I’m so accustomed to thinking about how decisions will impact me and my immediate family. Decisions such as job opportunities, financial commitments and daily patterns of life. House extensions, holidays, savings accounts and school catchments. As disciples we can often disguise worldly ambitions with Christian jargon. However, would the Lord who knows me and loves me say the same thing to me as he did the Rich Young ruler?
Let the Lord Claim our Ambitions
A friend of mine once told me to keep Romans 12:1-2 never far from my mind when making decisions. Keep asking the Lord to renew your mind as you continually keep laying things before him. It would appear that the Lord is way more concerned about the development of my Christ like character when it comes to how we make decisions.
What might be impact on my church family? What about my witness in the community? What about any potential open doors and gospel opportunities that could be explored? In what ways am I sacrificing for the Kingdom of God or is it all very safe and risk free? Ultimately these searching questions are for my good. I know through experience that the Lord’s way is much more eternally satisfying.
Perhaps is our non-believing friends and family can rationally explain the decisions we make then we aren’t being other worldly enough. There’s wonder to be had in trusting the Lord and stepping out obediently and sacrificially into the unknown.
The late John Stott was once asked what his greatest ambition was. There were any number of way he could have answered that question. He was a successful academic, possessing wonderful preaching gifts with a strategic global ministry. “To be more like Jesus” he responded. How beautiful an answer. That would seem to be the very essence of godly ambition.
Perhaps the words of the Artemis astronaut have more to teach us than we might initially think. If I had one regret as I look back on my 20’s it’s that I was too reserved when it came to my Kingdom ambitions. Particularly at University there were gospel conversations I wish I’d been bolder in and decisions I wish I’d been more radically obedient with.
So here’s my plea to the next generation. Trust the Lord wholeheartedly. Speak freely. Give sacrificially. Dream bodly. Live obediently. As John Piper once said ‘Risk is Right’. Who knows what you might see the Lord do.
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1 Matthew 19:16-22
