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Rescuing Ambition

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Have you ever been described as "ambitious"? If so, was it intended as a compliment or a criticism? Is ambition a trait that Christians ought to desire?

Ambition is certainly a topic not often addressed by Christian authors and pastors (Dave Harvey is both). As the book reminds us, this is a word that frequently has a negative connotation for Christians... but should it be that way? The author thinks not.

The problem, Harvey says, is that we have failed to separate "ambition" from "selfish ambition". Ambition, like many other things that drive us (money, sex, etc), is not inherently bad, but it is very prone to being twisted toward selfish, sinful uses. Ambition, simply defined, is merely "a quest for glory". As this book contends, then, we were created for ambition, because we were created to be glory-seekers! The problem is not that we seek glory, but that we so often seek our own glory, rather than seeking God's glory.

The goal of Rescuing Ambition is to do just that: to rescue this God-given drive to pursue His glory from our own vain attempts to glorify ourselves. The world certainly does not make this easy, as our entire culture is geared toward glorifying -- being ambitious for -- things other than God. Unfortunately, Christians tend to react in one of two ways: We either conform to this worldy culture of selfish ambition, or we seek to crush ambition itself. This results in either pride or passivity.

So Harvey takes readers on a journey through Scripture, and through the personal experiences of many ambitious and godly Christians, to give a holistic concept of godly ambition that is attainable (and in fact commanded) for every Christian. The book moves from the conceptual to the specific, showing us exactly why God created ambition, how it was corrupted, and what we must do to rescue it -- both for ourselves and for others.

The path toward ambition's rescue is not an easy one. It requires the courage to take risks, and will inevitably result in some spectacular failures. When we are ambitious for God's glory, our ambition will lead us out of our comfort zones and into the muck and mire of a broken world, building relationships with broken people. However, this ambition, rightly understood, brings with it the promise of several rewards, both earthly and eternal. In fact, "Godly ambition has reward in mind at all times."

The secret to rescuing ambition lies in it's paradoxical path. To become great, we must become small. To live, we must die. To be first, we must be last. This is the opposite of what the world thinks ambition should look like, but it is what the Bible tells us is the key to our eternal joy. When we surrender our pursuit of our own desires, and instead devote ourselves to exalting Christ, we place our futures safely in the hands of the One whose desire is not only perfect, but is for our own well-being!

The result of this kind of ambition is a supernatural contentment in every circumstance. Sometimes we will receive earthly blessings, other times we will face earthly hardships. Take a look, for instance, at this passage from Hebrews 11, the "Hall of Faith":

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-- who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated-- of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. ~ Hebrews 11:32-38

The passage goes on to say that NONE of these -- neither the ones who "became mighty" nor the ones who were "destitute and afflicted" -- received their promised reward in this life, but ALL received the inheritance of "something better", which God made available through Jesus Christ. Like these faithful saints of old, and like the apostle Paul, we must learn contentment in every situation. Whether God brings us low, or brings us abundance, we must rely on God's strength to keep our contentment (and our ambition) rooted in the eternal promises of God, rather than on the things this world offers us (Philippians 4:11-13).

Lastly, Harvey's book shows us that our ambition must be directed toward and expressed through the Church. We are not only to seek God's glory on our own, but to work together with Christ's body to magnify the Lord corporately and cooperatively. God has ordained that we are to pursue Him as part of a community of believers. We must be as committed to Christians as we are to Christ himself, serving and worshiping together within a local church body. We must also perpetuate this godly ambition in the Church by "paying it forward". Our ambition for God's glory must extend beyond our own lives as we grab hold of the Church's mandate to disciple and train leaders, raising up future generations to follow and pursue God.

Rescuing Ambition is a much-needed book for Christians today, and for myself specifically. It has been one of the most personally helpful and edifying books I've read in a long time, and I commend it to you wholeheartedly!

"And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel" ~ Paul, in Romans 15:20

Ambition is rarely considered a virtue for Christians. Historically, it's carried with it connotations of seeking after personal glory and fame; of desiring for my own greatness, rather than God's. But Dave Harvey wants to change our understanding of ambition and show us that being ambitious doesn't necessarily mean being selfish. That's why he wrote Rescuing Ambition.

Ambition Defined
In this book, Harvey walks readers through a biblical understanding of ambition, beginning with our creation. "We love glory," he writes (p. 21). "We were created to look for it and to love it when we find it." It's why we love rock stars, actors, authors, athletes. It's why we want to be those things. There's glory there, even if it's fleeting.

And God doesn't condemn seeking after glory--in fact, says Harvey, he commends it. But the glory we're to seek after is His. It's Christ. Christ is "the radiance of the glory of God" (Heb. 1:3), and therefore the object of godly pursuit. To seek after glory is to seek after Christ and the things he pursues.

This is to be our ambition.

Ambition Distorted
As Harvey continues, he shows us how our ambitions have been corrupted by sin as we've "exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things" (Rom. 1:23). Thus, naturally our ambitions turn in on ourselves, where we seek to make ourselves great. However, Harvey says, the opposite occurs. We actually make ourselves smaller by trying to make ourselves great. Worse, we place ourselves under God's wrath. He writes:

"Deeply embedded in my sinful flesh is a desire to install myself as lord over all. I want my name worshiped, my glory exalted, and my fame talked about long after I'm dead. But by pursuing selfish ambition, we fall short, tragically short of the greatness and glory of God. . . . The bad news . . . is this: my quest for my own greatness leads me to a dangerous place. In our hyped-up pursuit of self-glory we place ourselves in the path of the wrath of God. So we're in desperate need of rescue. We need to be freed from wrath against imperfection--and we need to be rescued from ourselves." (pp. 46-47)

Ambition Redirected
Fortunately, God has made a way for our ambition to not only be rescued, but redirected through faith in Jesus Christ. What I appreciate in this book is that Harvey doesn't try to be overly clever or sneaky in his presentation of the problem and its solution. The problem is we've sinned against God, pursuing our own glory instead of His. The solution is Christ's atoning death on the cross.

It's the gospel.

When God saves sinners, He does it for His glory; and imperfect sinners are given Christ's perfect righteousness. And He saves us, not so that we can go about doing whatever we want, but to pursue the good works we were created for, "which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10). Harvey writes,

"Walking in good works begins with aspiring to good works, being ambitious for them. Dreaming and doing things for God is the evidence, the effect, and the expectation of genuine faith. We already have all the approval we need. . . . [L]et us never leave this solid footing: God's approval comes from the perfect obedience of the Perfect Man." (p. 62)

And so God redirects our ambitions--He redirects them to glorify Him and delight us. This is probably the most challenging thing about our ambitions: Who or what lies at their end? Harvey asks, "Are your goals built around that job you've got to have, the weight you've got to lose, that position in the church with your name on it? Or are your dreams increasingly built around God and his life-shaping activity in you?" (p. 79)

These are challenging questions that force me to look at what I pursue. Do I write because I want people to praise my ability? Do I preach because I want people to be impressed with how well I speak?

Or do I do these things because I enjoy God and find my delight in Him? Does that drive me to pursue godly ambition?

Ambition Redeemed
As God rescues and redirects our ambitions, we have to understand that there's a cost. We might fail. We might never see our ambitions fulfilled. But our ambitions are to have one goal in mind: serving our Savior. This is where we're to find our contentment: not in the accomplishment, but in Him who has redeemed us and created us for these works.

In other words, godly ambitions are humble ambitions. To pursue godly ambitions means that we can forsake our comfort and well-being because Christ is sufficient. So it doesn't matter if we fail. It doesn't matter if we don't' see our plans play out. Jesus is enough.

The last several chapters of Rescuing Ambition hit this point over and over again, and I am grateful for it. It's too easy for me to get caught up in seeing things through to the very end.

To take "finishing well" as completing the task at hand.

But Harvey reminds us that "finishing well" actually means preparing the next generation to finish the work we begin. In sharing his own story of stepping down as the senior pastor of his church, to follow the leading of a younger man, Harvey models this for us. This is what our ambitions should be about. "True success means we will turn things over to the younger generation in such a way that enables them to run stronger and faster, with us cheering them all the way." (p. 210)

That, to me, seems like godly ambition. It's the kind that I want to pursue.

How about you?

Read this book and see how God might use it to rescue your ambitions.

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A complimentary copy of this book was provided for review purposes by the publisher

Recently a young man asked me about the place of professional ambition in the Christian life. He had real questions like "Is it OK for me to fire someone because their poor performance hinders my company's ability to make more money (ie Is firing an act of greed?)", "Is it OK to proactively pursue a promotion at work, or is this selfish behavior?", "Is it OK to dream about being the CEO?" I did my best to bumble through some answers. When I saw this book I wasted no time getting it.

The book proved to be a great read, but didn't answer all of the questions. A lot of what Harvey says about ambition is connected to his own personal ambition for ministry, for the Gospel and for the Church. The book is valuable and insightful because of his pastoral experiences. But, the book also lacks something. Since the author is a vocational minister, it lacks specific guidance about ambition in the secular workplace. I applaud the author for writing this book. The Faith and Work genre is sorely lacking good, meaningful material. If you are struggling with personal ambition, this book is a great place to start. But, there is plenty more to say on this topic. Perhaps Crossway Press will consider offering a companion to this book written by a CEO.

After 40 or 50 pages, I stopped reading this book. The manner of writing was simply too juvenile, and the content failed to engage me. I suppose it seemed very clear to me in light of Colossians 3:23 ("Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men") that we should strive to be ambitious and serve God in our work to the best of our abilities. So when the book did not provide exciting new insights into the topic of ambition and was not written at a level that garnered my respect, I moved on to something more fulfilling. Sorry for the very negative review, but I had high hopes for this one.

I'm just part way through this book but have already found it a book worth reading. I did a quick browse of the reviews here. I noted that some commented that since the author was a pastor his viewpoint comes from someone involved in the ministry while another reviewer noted that it doesn't quite address ambition in the workplace. I believe it does address the issue of ambition regardless of whether you are in the ministry or in secular work because it talks about what type of ambition is appropriate in life (and therefore what is not), for those of us who call ourselves Christians. If you think you don't have any personal ambitions, this book makes you rethink the issue and helps you to realize you actually do have ambitions whether you realize it or not. This is a book that can be of help to every believer regardless of their profession or their ambitions (including those who are retired).

"Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere." (James 3:13-17)

In Christian circles today, you might hear people say with disdain about another person, "Boy, is he ambitious." Ambition is categorized with sins like pride, jealousy, and lust. People who are ambitious can feed this comparison by being ruthless and cold-hearted.

But Scripture doesn't command against ambition; it commands against selfish ambition. In the passage above (James 3:13-17), James juxtaposes selfish ambition with wisdom. If one wants to be wise, they must not have selfish ambition, jealousy, pride or falsehood, but rather purity, peacefulness, gentleness, etc.

I recently read Dave Harvey's book "Rescuing Ambition," to help me to think about the ambition that's in my heart, and to try to clarify my motivations behind my emotions. Harvey has a very clear style of writing, and his outline is very clear.

He spends the first part of the book defining ambition:

*We are wired for glory. We are wired to seek glory.
*We chase what we love - we are natural pursuers.
*We turn this pursuit of glory on ourselves, often with disastrous results (cf. Dennis Kucinich).
*We grow small trying to become great.

If we're spending all of our time trying to be great, that's a bad thing, right? If we want to turn this around, how do we "redeem" our ambition? How do we generate godly ambition? Or, as C.J. Mahaney put it, how do we practice humble ambition?

Harvey offers a few ways that godly ambition can be cultivated, and it starts with being a Christian. Christ led a sinless life so that he could transfer (or apply) his goodness to us. It's through his perfect life that he could rescue the motive, the obedience, and the joy of ambition.

The last few chapters of the book deal with how ambition is different in Christ than apart from Christ. Harvey deals with several different areas:

*Ambition's Agenda - "We're called to become what God has declared us to be... walking in a manner worthy of the calling to which we've been called means I have a new ambition. Instead of gunning for my own glory or comfort, I'm ambitious for a changed life." (p. 67).

*Ambition's Confidence - "Godly ambition finds its focus through faith. It battles unbelief with faith. It leans on faith when circumstances scream otherwise. And ambition is confident in the ultimate reward." (p. 97)

*Ambition's Path - Harvey outlines five paradoxes of ambition. My favorite is Paradox Four: It's Really Something to Be Nothing: "The career path of the Christian looks different than for others. We should not be hungry for our own name or unrestrained in our self-promotion... If God submitted his great majesty to the call of servanthood, we can submit our musical talents, our teaching desires, our motivational skills to the call of servanthood as well." (p. 105).

*Ambition's Contentment - If ambition defines me, it will never fulfill me. This chapter resonated with me because I've been thinking a lot lately about contentment. "On its face, contentment seems at odds with ambition, doesn't it? But for us to be rescued from selfish ambition, the warm colors of godly contentment must be mixed with the bright colors of godly ambition." (p. 119).

If you've ever struggled with the paradox of godliness and ambition, this is a MUST READ book.

Having read Dave Harvey's previous book, the excellent When Sinners Say I Do: Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage, I was excited to see that he had another book coming out. If When Sinners Say I Do was about how the Gospel impacts and changes our marriages, then his new book, Rescuing Ambition, similarly presents a vision for how the Gospel transforms and uses our ambition for God's glory. I was excited to read this book, and it did not disappoint!

So what is this book about, and why should you read it? Harvey answers those questions like this: "Why read this book? Read it to make connections between what you want and what you do...between your present opportunities and your future hopes...between your life and God's glory. These connections rescue us from fruitlessness, pointlessness, purposelessness, and the haunting grey twilight of wasted time and lost opportunities. They remind us that a big God uses small people to steer the course of history--people like you and me. To understand ambition, we must understand that each of us lives on a quest for glory. Where we find it determines the success of our quest." (pp. 15).

In the opening chapter, Harvey begins to unpack these connections by describing how all of us long to chase after glory. This is in our nature, and it is the way that God has designed us. And He designed us to find our glory in Him. "We were created to be ambitious for God's glory and to take action in pursuit of it." (pp. 32). But in our fallen, sinful states, we have rejected seeking His glory and instead seek our own. In the next chapter, he unpacks what our sin does to our ambition. "Ultimately, sin moves self to the center of our desires and dreams. Rather than promoting God's order and glory, we become relentless self-promoters. It's a condition that shrinks the soul." (pp. 37).

The remainder of this book unpacks the ways that Christ's saving work can and should change the focus, character, and goals of our ambition. He covers very real struggles that we have such as what happens when our dreams - even our dreams for Him, are frustrated or fail completely. (I love the title of that chapter - "Ambitious Failure: Where is God When Our Dreams Lead to Defeats?") He also talks about the struggle between godly ambition, which is never fully satisfied and contentment, which enables us to be content in Christ, even as we still strive for things that He has called us to. Harvey writes, "Selfish ambition is a motivating desire to do things for selfish glory. Godly ambition is a motivating desire to do things for God's glory. Contentment is what happens when godly ambition triumphs over selfish ambition. Where there is godly ambition, we can be at peace whatever comes our way." (pp. 123). In other words, even in our striving to serve God and accomplish His purposes and goals, we can be satisfied when those goals or purposes are thwarted or delayed, because we know that God is still controlling our circumstances and is using even our failures for Him to further develop our character and dependence upon Him.

My favorite chapter, is one near the end of the book called, "Ambitious for the Church: Ambition Finds Expression in a Surprising Place". He makes a strong case that if we are to have godly ambition that seeks Christ's goals, then we should love what He loves, treasure what He treasures - that is, His church. He also gives some clear focus on what ambition for the church should look like. "Just adding our names to a church's membership roster isn't sufficient. A holy ambition for the church finds delight in building it. Joining is the entrance to the freeway, not the rest stop. When the Lord said, `I will build my church,' it wasn't just flowery prose. Jesus was announcing an extraordinary ambition--to remain devoted to his church and our endurance in it. His ambition must inspire our action. Being added to a church should mean that we're serving, sacrificing, sharing, connecting...living in a way that augments the strength and health of the church." (pp. 163).

Rescuing Ambition is a great, and I would argue a very unique book. If we are called to live all of our lives for His glory (1 Cor. 10:31) and to have our minds transformed (Rom. 12:1-2), then we need to have a biblical basis for and understanding of our ambitions. I would highly recommend this for people (especially men) who are workaholics, those who struggle with fear and indecisiveness, and all those who want to take a look at their lives and see if they are really living lives that matter. Jesus has given His people, His church, many great gifts and talents and resources. This book will help each of us to assess how we are using those gifts, why we should use them for Him, and how the Gospel helps us "rescue" our ambitions from our selfishness, and use it for the building of God's Kingdom! By the way, Dave Harvey is a gifted and enjoyable writer. He uses very vivid illustrations, many at his own expense where he describes his failures and how they illustrate his points. You will enjoy this book, as well as be helped and challenged by it. Pick one up today!

This book seemed like it just got better and better as it progressed. There is wonderful theology here, and the author is careful to minimize his opinion and maximize Scripture. Highly recommended.

How does one evaluate ambition in God's work? Can we mistake an ambition that is self-gratifying for an ambition that is above all God-glorifying? That is just the goal of Dave Harvey's book.

His book relates to church planters as he is involved in church planting under the Sovereign Grace Ministries. C. J. Mahaney, another leader in this church planting ministry states about the author, Dave Harvey. "He had a holy drive to advance the gospel through church planting" (9).

In eleven chapters, Harvey moves from "Ambition Conceived" to "Ambition Paid Forward."

In his book he explains that there is a "holy ambition" and states "Godly ambition is gospel ambition. We dream because God rescued our corrupted, selfish ambitions and gave us the capacity to desire, dream, and work for his glory" (210).

If you have ever wondered what the difference was between selfish ambition (even in church planting) and holy ambition, this book will be of help to you.

I am reading through this book now....and I can't stop!!! It's so enjoyable to read, and yet so convicting. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for intelligent and Biblical answers to questions concerning the topic of "ambition."