Spiritual Ambition
The Parable of Talents (Matthew 25) in the Bible is a story about three servants who were given 5, 2, and 1 talent (talent = a sum of money) each. The servants with 5 and 2 talents doubled what was given, but the one with 1 talent hid the money and gave it back when their Master returned. The other two servants also gave back what was entrusted to them and happily presented their profits, which the Master greatly appreciated. He rewarded them with far greater blessings. But the one who did not put his talent to work and called the master hard was cast out into darkness, and the talent he had was taken and given to the one with 10 talents.
In this parable, the significance of putting God-given resources to work and multiplying them is illustrated, along with the consequence of not reaping any profits for our Master. This story is not about money, for we cannot serve both God and money simultaneously, but about reaping profits for the Kingdom of God.
In the later paragraphs of Matthew 25, the Lord explains the separation of goats and sheep. The sheep were given eternal life because they helped those in need, while the goats were cast into eternal punishment because they did not care to help others.
In Matthew 16:27, the Lord says, "For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done."
Therefore, spiritual ambition should essentially be limitless for the glory of God.
What is a spiritual ambition?
The word spiritual refers to relating to one’s spirit (or one’s self), and ambition refers to goals or desires that one strongly wants to attain. In the Christian way of life, this translates to becoming holy or Christlike one day at a time.
God has given each of us certain gifts and also asks us to ask for more gifts through the Holy Spirit to advance His Kingdom. Therefore, the desire of a Christian should be to become holy every day, steadily overcoming shortcomings, and to use his or her God-given gifts to help others. The more we experience God, the more we want to share with others the good news.
Spiritual ambition is the desire to become deeply devoted, to become more Christlike and more holy every day, to help serve people with their problems using God-given gifts, and to plant and defend the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in this world.
Basically, a desire to be like Christ and spread the word of Christ sums up spiritual ambition.
| Spiritual Ambition | ||
|---|---|---|
| Become like Christ | Preach Christ | |
| Increase in holiness | Help others | Evangelize |
| How you want to imitate Christ? | How can you use your gift to help others? | How do you plan to preach the love and wisdom of God? |
Though on a high level we all share the same goal, the way spiritual ambition works and manifests is different for all of us. We are all part of the same body of Christ but have different parts with different functions.
Here are some of the potential roles and gifts listed for believers in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4:
▶ Message of wisdom
▶ Message of knowledge
▶ Faith
▶ Gifts of healing
▶ Miraculous powers
▶ Prophecy
▶ Distinguishing between spirits
▶ Speaking in different kinds of tongues
▶ Interpretation of tongues
▶ Apostles
▶ Prophets
▶ Teachers
▶ Gifts of administration
▶ Gifts to help others
▶ Encouraging
▶ Contributing to the needs of others
▶ Leadership
▶ Showing mercy
▶ Evangelists
▶ Pastors
Ephesians 4:11–12 says, "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service."
Ephesians 4:28 says, "He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need."
I firmly believe that God has given me various gifts and has blessed my ways throughout the years. I thank you, Father. For instance, my faith is not weak, but decently strong. This does not mean I never fear, but through thick and thin I have leaned on God for rescue. Though a stutterer, my teaching and presentation skills seem to be much stronger.
I encourage anyone reading this to find your spiritual ambition, or develop one if you don’t already have one. You need to thoroughly self-reflect on your strengths and weaknesses (honestly) and figure out what gifts God has given you.
Take one personality trait of Christ and start imitating it to become more Christ-like. It could be deciding to be more prayerful, being joyful, being present and not zoning out, or simply asking in all situations, “What does God want me to do here?”. Secondly, figure out what you can do today and in the coming days to help others.
Lastly, have a plan for preaching Christ (Oh how wonderful is the love and wisdom of Christ!). It could be boldly taking a step to start God-centered conversations at work, opening up to friends about your faith, or simply writing an article like this one and sharing it with others. Let’s start small and work our way up.
May we have many blessed, fervent disciple days to come, and may God be glorified through our works!