Oct
2
Sinful covetousness and godly ambition
Filed Under Ethics, Ten Commandments
Is there a difference between the two? Time did not allow me to explore this in my sermon on the 10th Commandment, which requires of us , “full contentment with our own condition.” Does this mean that a Christian should never desire to advance in a career, to move from a position of indebtedness to debt-free living, from being single to being married, to take another job, to trade in that clunker and buy a shiny new car, etc.?
In short, the answer to the question is NO. In fact, in some cases the Bible commends a godly ambition that is distinct from sinful covetousness. Here’s an example from 1 Timothy 3:1: “If a man desires the position of an overseer (i.e., bishop, elder), he desires a good work.” What is interesting is that Paul uses the same word for desire in chapter 6:10 to describe the greediness of people that drives many to stray from the faith and pierce themselves through with many sorrows!
So is ambition good or bad? Well, that depends. The desire to be rich described in chapter 6 is a recipe for ruin, while the desire in chapter 3 is a good thing. Part of the answer lies in the object of our desires and ambitions? Do we value the right things in light of the kingdom of God? The other part of the answer lies in the 1 Timothy 3 passage. Right on the heels of commending the desire to be an elder, Paul spells out qualifications. While the desire may be godly, it could also arise from envy and self-seeking. Others must be able to look at a man’s life and recognize certain character traits and giftedness that an elder must possess. An examination of his life may reveal that he wants the respect and prestige of being an elder (which is overblown anyway, trust me on this one), but he may not take godliness seriously and may not care a whit about people. In that case, his desire is more akin to covetousness than to the good desire Paul praises. C.S. Lewis once observed that when a man is in the grip of lust for a woman, the truth is that a woman is the last thing that he wants! He merely longs for a physical sensation for which a woman is a necessary apparatus. If he wanted a woman, he would also want marriage, the long walks, the house, the curtains, the landscaping, the gravy boat, etc.
Sinful covetousness differs from godly ambition by the willingness to ‘pay the price’–in other words, to walk in submission before God, which another term to describe, well, contentment. Can I trust God and submit to him even if I am not given what I desire? Sinful ambition and godly ambition give two different answers to that question.
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Philip,
Greatly enjoying your and Joe’s blogging. Can’t recall how I ran across it a month or so ago, but grateful for it.
1. Delighted to see that my iTunes rates you as clean. For some reason, you garner a label that the other podcasts to which I subscribe don’t carry (Sinclair Ferguson, Mark Dever, etc.). I don’t know why, but Apple has more confidence in your content than those other guys. Congrats!
2. Can you recall a reference for the CSL reference above? I’d like to have it.
Thanks.
Bill Marsh
Bill,
Thanks for the props. The CLEAN rating is a tag we apply on our end, according to my assistant. I guess it will be in jeopardy when I preach on Judges, Song of Songs, or portions of Hosea or Ezekiel.
The C.S. Lewis quote is from “The Four Loves” in the chapter on Eros. The full quote is ‘Sexual desire, without Eros, wants IT, the THING IN ITSELF; Eros wants the Beloved. We use a most unfortunate idiom when we say, of a lustful man prowling the streets, that he “wants a woman.” Strictly speaking, a woman is just what he does not want. He wants a pleasure for which a woman happens to be the necessary piece of apparatus. How much he cares about the woman as such may be gauged by his attitude to her five minutes after fruition (one does not keep the carton after one has smoked the cigarettes). Now Eros makes a man really want, not a woman, but one particular woman.’
Philip
Thanks for the post. The topic of ambition is one that all Christian struggle with. The internal conflict between seeking to fulfill ambition yet doing so in a manner pleasing to God is common to many Christians in the workplace. I just blogged on how to steward our ambitions in view of God’s truth. Check it out if you get a chance -
http://everysquareinch.blogspot.com/2006/10/stewarding-our-ambition.html
Grace to you