Gospel Driven AmbitionSample

Proper Ambition

Over the past two days, we have been digging into the story of the Tower of Babel as a case study in improper ambition, using our work as a means of making a name for ourselves. In response to the Babylonians attempted glory-robbing, God “scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city” (Genesis 11:8). To God, the motives behind our ambition obviously matter a great deal.

But we have still yet to answer the question that started this reading plan: As Christians, is it possible to be ambitious in our work and still have our self-worth and identity firmly rooted in Jesus Christ? In other words, what does proper ambition look like as we create?

Today’s passage from Isaiah 60:1-14 provides a beautiful answer to those questions. In this passage, the prophet Isaiah is pointing us to a picture of the reversal of the events that transpired at the Tower of Babel. Rather than the people being scattered out of the city to the ends of the earth, Isaiah shows us a picture of all the nations coming back together into “the City of the Lord.” This isn’t Babel. This is a glimpse of the New Jerusalem on the New Earth. 

But here’s what’s most fascinating about this glimpse of our eternal home: While the Babylonians were scattered throughout the earth because of their desire to create to make a name for themselves, Isaiah shows us people from around the world entering the New Jerusalem with cultural artifacts in hand. The people of Tarshish bring their ships, Midian and Ephah bring their livestock, Sheba brings gold and frankincense. “The wealth of the nations,” the best creations of the nations, are being brought into the eternal city to glorify the One who called the people to create. Unlike in Babel, the people are not using their creations to glorify themselves, they are laying their creations down as an offering of worship to God.

Scripture commands us to “work...with all your heart” (Colossians 3:23). We are called to be ambitious, to work hard, and to be good stewards of the talents God has given us. But we are called to do these things not for our own glory, but to “do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). When our work is motivated by a desire to glorify God, serve others, and create something that may be considered “the wealth of the nations,” laid down as an offering to God, then we have proper ambition to create with everything we’ve got.

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