Being an Ambitious Christianনমুনা

Chill

The phrase may be a bit dated, but when my children were younger there were times when they would get quite worked up about something, and my wife or I would gently encourage them, “Let’s chill out for a minute.” Perhaps you’ve heard someone express the same idea with, “Take a chill pill,” or the one-word admonishment, “Chill!”

Maybe if Paul were writing to Christians today we would find this word in verse 11: “make it your ambition to lead a chill life.” That seems to capture well what Paul was exhorting. The word he used here is not about audible silence (that is a different Greek word); it describes something that is undisturbed, settled, not frantic.

It’s hard to live a life that is pleasing to God when we cannot be still long enough to hear His still small voice, his gentle whisper (1 Kings 9:12). He is, after all, the one who speaks when we are still (1 Samuel 3:1-10) and who does not always get our attention by getting in our faces (Isaiah 30:21).

This is so important to the life of the believer, that Paul tells us to be ambitious about chilling out. Those two words seem a bit oxymoronic. Like “jumbo shrimp,” how can one be both ambitious and chill? Is the ambition to live a quiet life bittersweet, or is it more like a deafening silence?

Well, when it comes to matters of faith, it is not a deafening silence for which Paul advocates here. Paul never challenges Christians to live so quietly that we cannot be witnesses of Christ’s redeeming work. Instead, the biblical call is to live as exemplary members of our families, churches, and society. The Gospel changes society and culture as it changes the individuals who make up society. We do not need to get all tied in knots about the next election or the perceived idiocy of whatever political party is in control.

Being ambitious about leading a chill life is not as oxymoronic as it may seem; instead, it is what it takes to live in the opposite direction of today’s culture.

May your ambition be to live an undisturbed, settled life for God’s glory!