The Gospel and the Risk of Ambition

I finished reading Rescuing Ambition today, and I am thankful for how God used this book to stir some things in my heart over the past several months. In particular, today I re-read pages 182 - 188, and quote them below.

If you want to glorify God through godly ambition, prepare for difficulties. . . . Difficulties strip down and violate our comforts, keeping us rooted in what really matters. . . . I think we as Westerners could use a big dose of faith that comes from the risk of dangerous gospel assignments. But in looking for the big risk, we can also overlook the little risks, and the faith that comes from accepting them. Sometimes the ministry we walk right past each Sunday or the neighbors we wave to at a distance are the very risks where gospel ambitions lays claim to us. . . .

Piper has this to say:

Find the hard stuff, get satisfied in Jesus, find him sufficiently motivating, and enjoy the fellowship of his sufferings. Have you ever heard anybody say, "While walking on the primrose path of sunshine I discovered the deepest and most lasting fellowship with Jesus"? Never. . . . Always and without exception - and I have never heard anybody gainsay this - human beings say, "I met him most, I went deepest with him, I enjoyed him, I saw more of him on my dark road, on my hard road." And so why would we not embrace commanded hard roads like evangelism or anything that will stress you?

That's in-your-face biblical logic for us all. Nothing mortifies the craving for comfort more quickly than embracing a hard road. . . . Let me ask you: what Spirit-constrained risk is God calling you to take? . . .

Gospel ambitions can be audacious because they stake out some unorthodox assumptions. Paul is saying, "Even though I have gifts and responsibilities, I'm not too strategic or important to be uprooted for the sake of the gospel." As he spoke to the Ephesian elders, he made it clear that he prized the gospel above his reputation. That's why he didn't shrink back from declaring "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27).

Paul also talks about how he prizes the gospel even more than friendships. What makes this especially poignant is that it obviously wasn't easy for him. Paul was deeply relational. He wasn't just circulating through the body of Christ unaccountable, unattached. The Ephesian elders were his buddies, his mates. He'd lived with them and served them with tears. As Paul's ship sails away, you can imagine the elders saying, "The gospel just took the best we've got." That's pretty audacious. But God understands. He sent out his best as well, in the person of Jesus Christ. . . .

Risk is nothing to be ignored. It must be accounted for and acknowledged. But while you spend some time studying the reality of all the risks staring your ambition square in the eyes, don't lose sight of the most important thing. Risk for risk's sake is reckless. God isn't calling you to that. But he's calling you to great risk for the gospel. So strive for a faith where the gospel looms largest in your vision. Strive for joy that find its greatest fulfillment in the expansion of the gospel. . . .

From time to time opportunities for extraordinary risk come to our lives. Are you prepared to see those opportunities and respond to them with godly ambition? But don't wait for the extraordinary - the Christian life is inherently risky every day, if we care to take it seriously. It will risk our comfort, our agendas, our downtime, our nest eggs, and our reputations, in big ways and small.

Whatever that risk is, are you resolved to pursue Christ? Do you prize the glorious truth of his righteous life, his death in our place, and his resurrection and return? Are you determined to, like Christ, pursue downward mobility?

This refreshes my vision for embracing a hard and humbling road for the sake of the gospel. I want to place myself where I know God has called me to work out my salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12) and proclaim the glorious hope of the gospel to those around me through my actions, words, and heart attitude. And by the grace of God, I want to not only place myself where I know I will be required to grow but also fully embrace and engage with his work in me.

The gospel focus of ambition steadies my soul as I look at the risk of ambition in the present and future. God is unchanging, and He will not lose me or stop pursuing me. The gospel is unstoppable, and I cannot mess up badly enough to ruin its purposes. My call is clear: to pursue Christ in each season and each day. My God is bigger than any other very real risk or uncertainty. My salvation is sealed, and I have a hope and future with Christ. Let me rejoice in the God of my salvation even today!

Faith in Uncertainty

This evening I read the following in Rescuing Ambition:

Ambition rescues us from misplaced security. . . . So God began a divine routine: he would give Paul direction but withhold the outcome. If Paul had a bumper sticker, it would read, "Going, not knowing." . . . He gives Paul enough answers to stir his ambition but never enough to mute his faith. . . . God constrains Paul to go but withholds what will happen. Paul has an ambition and is going forward, but he doesn't foresee the outcome. His only certainty is that it's risky. . . . (pp. 176-177).

The Christian life is a kind of mysterious suspense, where we're acting on godly ambition without knowing the result. Like Paul, we're "going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen." . . . Risks and uncertainty are daily reminders of how much greater God is than we are. We take risks; God does not. God is not "going" (because he's already there), nor is he "not knowing" (since he knows all things). God is all-powerful, controlling all things. Amazing, isn't it? . . .

When God "constrains" us by his Spirit to do something, he doesn't fill in all the blanks. We must trust him, just like Paul trusted him. Risk exists because we can't control events and we don't know what's going to happen. In other words, when we don't know the future, we find out whom we really trust.

We're called not to control the future, but to trust God for it.

Do you feel called in a direction but are uncertain about what will happen? God's design in that is to drive you to dependence upon him. Have you noticed how your desperation for God increases with the uncertainty in your life? The new job, the new child, that new ministry - all of a sudden we're desperate for God. We're starved, needy, ravished by a hunger to hear. God delights to put us in this position because it postures us to depend on him and to exercise faith toward him. It's part of how he rescues us from misplaced security.

Risk always leads us to experience God in a deeper way. This is by design. Risk rescues us from misplaced security by anchoring us in the eternal (pp. 179-180).

Uncertainty. It seems to be all around me, and I'm afraid it is more often paralyzing me instead of building faithful dependance. "I believe; help my unbelief!"(Mark 9:24).

Today it came to one of it's climaxes in the uncertainty of the weather. Last week I was shaken by a couple bad winter driving experiences. My body has been in pain for nearly a week, and taking muscle relaxers, exercising, and stretching have not overcome my back and neck pain. So when faced with "if-y" weather conditions this morning, I failed a test of faith. Anxiety and anger gripped me. I resented the uncertainty that seemed to be plaguing my life in multiple directions.

God worked on me, as he is faithful to do. I came to see I was not trusting him. And later in the day he revealed that I not only wasn't trusting him, but I was saying he is not good. Not worthy of trust and not good. How dare he not give me the peace I want and "need" by removing all uncertainty? I was charging God. He led me to repentance and sweetly showed me that the peace I seek cannot be found in receiving all the answers I want. Rather, knowing him and knowing he is good is enough. Even in pain and uncertainty, my Father is good. And he is good to me.

There are some things I can be certain of, and those are more than enough to comfort, bring joy, and provoke faith-filled perseverance. My Savior lives, my God loves, and He knows what He is doing. I can trust him. Why? Because he is good. And that's all I need know.

The Focus of Faith

And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears

And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears

Get over your hill and see what you find there,

With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair

c. Mumford and Sons

Dave Harvey, in Rescuing Ambition:

As we cooperate with God's work, what delights us is no longer indulged ambition, or even ambitions for God, but God himself (p. 79).

What's the focus of faith? (p.83) . . . Faith starts with God and fixes on God. . . . The focus of true faith is not hills to be taken, battles to be won, or trials to be endured. The focus of true faith is God - and not just God in the abstract, theological sense. It's the God who's made known in the person of Jesus Christ. (p. 85) . . . Drawing near to God is a life of intimate fellowship with a Person, a life of overwhelming wonder that puts everything else into perspective. . . .

Paradoxically, when faith focuses on its main objective - drawing near to God - we don't become religiously obsessed or "too heavenly minded to be any earthly good." We actually get perspective, and we can deal with the complexities and curveballs of life in a balanced way. . . . 'With God's help, I realized that the only thing I could count on was God himself.' (p. 86-87)

How precious to know, and find continually to be true, that the only thing or person I can count on is God himself. And how steadying to know that whatever comes to pass, God is my rock, my foundation, my anchor, my all in all. Men and rulers will fail, even "good" Christian ones; I will never find one who does not. But my Lord abides forever, steadfast and true. There is no one higher than he. There is therefore nothing more worthy of my focus, joy, and pursuit than he. All else falls into place beneath him, and the joy of knowing God is the source of my joy in every lesser thing. Knowing God grants perspective on, and indeed is the fulfillment of, every ambition or desire.

Knowing You

All I once held dear, built my life upon

All this world reveres, and wars to own

All I once thought gain, I have counted loss

Spent and worthless now, compared to this

Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you

There is no greater thing

You're my all, you're the best

You're my joy, my righteousness

And I love you, Lord

Now my heart's desire is to know you more

To be found in you, and known as yours

To possess by faith what I could not earn

All surpassing gift of righteousness

Oh to know the power of your risen life

And to know you in your suffering

To become like you in your death my Lord

So with You to live, and never die

Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you

There is no greater thing

You're my all, you're the best

You're my joy, my righteousness

And I love you, Lord

by Graham Kendrick

c. 1993 Make Way Music

photo: St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany 2007

Motivation for Living

When we're only scraping by, we work for shelter, heat, and a good cheesesteak. But if we're a multimillionaire, we work for pleasure. With all financial needs resolved, work isn't something we have to do, but something we get to do.

It's the same with our ambitions. As the great theologian B.B. Warfield said, "The one antithesis of all the ages is that between the rival fromulae: Do this and live, and Live and do this; Do and be saved, and be saved and do." In Christ we live - therefore we do, and do gladly. . . .

Much as I'd like to, I'll probably never shoot close to par in my life again. More importantly, there are many other things I want to do and should do that will never get done. And there are things I'll do that I may regret. But I don't struggle with fear or guilt over that, and I certainly know better than to try to atone for my failure - on the golf course or anywhere else.

My confidence is in the completed round of another - the Perfect Man, Jesus Christ, my Savior. Like J. Gresham Machen, I know my hope is in his perfect obedience, both for this life of spotty performance and the next life of eternal glory (emphasis added).

-Dave Harvey, Rescuing Ambition, pages 60-61

Ambition Restored

Earlier this summer I bought a copy of Dave Harvey's book called Rescuing Ambition. I've only read the first two chapters. But I think it has served me in a unique way, by just bringing up the topic.
God has used the book to restore ambition in me. It's been really interesting. All of a "sudden" (the past month) God keeps bringing up old ambitions that ring true in my heart, desires that I thought had died away a while ago. And my new favorite question to ask my friends, whether one-on-one or in a small group, is "what are some hopes, dreams, desires, and ambitions that you have?" These conversations have been so wonderful! You should try it out. When held in the right perspective, it's incredibly faith building to allow your anticipation to grow for God glorifying ambitions. And I especially enjoy the window it gives into my friends' lives and hearts.

I do not think of myself as an ambitious person. Thoughtful maybe. Cautious, yes. Ambitious? ehh, not so much. That would better describe someone like my brother, or my pastors, or my entrepreneurial and creative friends, or even my big-picture parents who are always up for a new project. But not me. At least that's how I was allowing myself to think, without even realizing that's how I was thinking. But God's been proving me wrong, by reminding me of several interests and desires that I had thought were snuffed out for whatever reasons. And here's the kicker, He's the one who has brought them back into my view. And by doing that so clearly, He's given me anticipation for how He may someday choose to draw them out. My joy is not dependent on seeing any of these blossom or come to full bloom - it is only in God and his relationship to me because of the cross. And because I am secure in his hold of me in the gospel, I am free to have a curiosity and anticipation for what he may bring about without allowing those very things to replace him and become idols in my life. Sweet!
God has used this to help me fight the ho-hum view that my existence in this life is second-rate and the only thing I have to look forward to is heaven (a bit dramatic, but sometimes that is the reality of how I live). This is not true. I have so much to anticipate in meeting my Savior face to face and living in the place he has prepared for me with the fellowship of the Body, free from the struggle of sin and free from suffering - but I also am able to get to know him in the here and now, experience his presence, see him work, and grow in love for him right NOW. He has given me his Word; He has given me his Spirit; He has placed me in his Church; He has given me all I need for life and godliness (verse).

This reminds me of a quote from Paul Tripp that I used on my first post in this blog:

But the Bible never presents our life on earth as a meaningless time of waiting for the good stuff that comes later. The biblical model of waiting is not simply about what you will get at the end of your wait, but about who you will become as you wait. God has promised you real, abundant life in the here and now. We have a Father. We have a home. We are rich. We struggle a great deal, but we can expect much as well.

So, what are some of your ambitions? Have you given that any thought lately? Have you asked anybody else what their ambitions are? I hope that God may use these thoughts to build your faith like he has mine.

photo: Linda and me; early 2008