Ambition vs. Contentment
So here’s an interesting question to ponder – how do we balance ambition with contentment? Ambition is a good thing right? We’ve all been taught that it’s the American way for us to want to do our best, to win, to be all that we can be.
At the same time, contentment is considered a Christian virtue – a trademark of spiritual maturity. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy that we gain in godliness if we live in contentment.
1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.
Does the biblical calling to contentment conflict with being ambitious? How can we climb the corporate ladder or live out our self-imposed continuous life improvement plans (yes, I am an Enneagram 1, ha) if we live in a state of contentment.
These are great questions to consider. I’m glad that I know where to go for the answers! Scripture helps us reconcile these potential contradictions.
Ambition - Scripture clearly calls us to do our best in our work:
Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
The above passage speaks not just to our effort but also to our motives. In other words, the motivation behind are efforts are to be pleasing to God and not just to man or self-glorification. In that light, a “healthy ambition” is one where we always strive to do our best but we do so with the proper motives.
Contentment - Are we free to ambitiously work to change our circumstances – to improve our financial situation and careers, our health, our marriages, etc…?
1 Thess. 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
This passage is calling us to be thankful “in” all of our circumstances. However, there could be times where we may not necessarily be thankful “for” our circumstances. We may be thankful for them later when it is revealed how God has used those circumstances to teach us or bless us in some way but we may not be able to see that in the midst of them. This passage is telling us to “rejoice always” and be content even in the midst our circumstances.
In summary, I do believe that we are clearly free to live ambitiously and to work to change/improve our circumstances. However, we are to live in contentment as we work to change them. This makes contentment a constant in our lives and not a state that is only reached when we have achieved certain goals. God may allow us to achieve certain things for His purposes but he may also choose to change us in a way that makes those goals no longer desirable. This is why we must learn to cling harder to God that to our own goals and desires.
One truth that I have discovered in my own life is that the more we are focused on our “calling,” the easier it is to be content. Our calling is much broader than our circumstances and, since it is “Kingdom focused,” it takes the focus off of ourselves .There is a great source of contentment in finding and living out our calling.
Author and theologian Ken Boa says it well:
If you are not content with what you have, you won’t be content with what you want. Ken Boa
Stay hungry,
Big E
Matt. 5:6