October 14, 2009
Is it Prideful to Desire Greatness?
I couldn’t sleep, so I stayed up half the night thinking about some questions that had been bothering me. Is it really wrong to want to be great? Is it self-centered to want your life to really make an impact? Does ambition indicate a spiritual problem?
After tossing and turning for a couple of hours, I got up, made some hot tea, found my wife’s rocking chair and stared into the fireplace, mentally reviewing all the things God had been teaching me lately. One idea in particular seemed to capture my attention: what does “greatness” in God’s kingdom look like?
I had recently spent some time in Luke 22, a passage that raises this question. Near the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the disciples argued about which one of them was the greatest. Surprisingly, Jesus never rebuked them for their longing to be great. He gave them a completely new paradigm about what greatness is, but he didn’t condemn their desire. I was intrigued by that.
I also had been reading Good to Great, Jim Collin’s bestselling book about the practices of companies that are a cut above the rest. Collins and his team thoroughly researched hundreds of businesses and came up with a list of characteristics that distinguish great companies from good or mediocre ones. It has become one of the most popular business leadership books of all time. I was fascinated by the idea that such a small handful of principles can make such a huge difference in success.
As I sat up that night with these thoughts turning over in my mind, I realized that greatness is nearly everyone’s ambition in nearly every area of their lives. Corporate leaders want their companies to be great; professionals want to have great careers; men want to be great husbands and fathers; women want to be great wives and mothers; athletes want to be great competitors; scholars want to be great thinkers and researchers; artists want to create great art. Mediocrity is almost no one’s ambition.
I’ve asked a lot of people about their hopes and dreams, and I usually get unapologetic answers about their desires to be great at what they do. But when I ask believers if they want to be great Christians, they seem to be afraid to answer the question. They become unassuming and deferential, concerned that an ambition to be great in this most important aspect of life would seem arrogant. To talk about ambition in following Christ sounds like the opposite of humble spiritual maturity.
Yet what’s the alternative? Should we aspire to be mediocre Christians? Is it really prideful to want to honor God with lives of great faith and excellent work?
Even after spending three years with Jesus, the disciples didn’t’ seem to think so. They argued about which one of them was the greatest, and though Jesus had to redefine greatness for them, he didn’t tell them they were being unspiritual or arrogant because of their intense desire and ambition to be great. Instead, He laid out a clear but counterintuitive pathway that eleven of the twelve eventually fulfilled. And their greatness, as they followed that pathway turned the world upside down in less than a century.
God’s perspective. That’s the context that makes greatness a desirable quality. It’s one thing to be great in terms of financial success or popular opinion; that’s usually a self-centered, immodest ambition. But to be great in God’s kingdom? That’s a noble desire. We were designed to be great in God’s eyes. When He created humanity, He proclaimed us not just good, but “very good” (Gen 1:31). We exist for His glory. That kind of purpose isn’t served well by mediocrity or even by settling for simply being good.
No, God loves it when His people are zealous about making a difference for His kingdom. He eagerly looks over the landscape of this world to honor, empower, and strengthen those whose love and obedience bring Him pleasure. Our greatness – as He defines it – is His desire.
So if you’re ready move from good to great in God’s eyes, join us for the next couple of weeks on Living on the Edge radio. If you’d like to go through this in book format, we’re making Good to Great in God’s Eyes books 2 for the price of 1. Visit the Living on the Edge Online Store to get your copies.
Praying God’s Best… and Keep Pressin’ Ahead,
Chip
Ellen on October 14th, 2009
Hi, Chip. I try to listen to you and a handful of other ’spiritual mentors’ every day. Desiring greatness isn’t necessarily something I aspire to have; it seems more built-in, at least for me. My kids often lament I don’t seem to have a reverse gear. During the road there have been many ‘deaths’ of external things so the internal, I presume, could be refined. Is God ever finished? Is there a resting place at some point? Or are we always being challenged to go forward. I have accepted the latter, and have come to realize the only ‘great’ thing that may ever happen will be the fact I tried.