March 27, 2011 … One More Enemy of Humility: Selfish Ambition

Passage of the Day: Matthew 20: 20 - 22 - [see underlined] 20 Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of Him. 21"What is it you want?" he asked. She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in Your kingdom." 22 "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" …"We can," they answered. My Journal for Today: The “Power Play” of James and John with their mother, which we revealed yesterday is an example of yet another enemy of Christlike humility for the human heart which is desperately wicked (as we know of from Jer. 17: 9). Salome, the mother of her “sons of thunder,” was using nothing but selfish ambition, edging for position with the One they perceived as their Messiah; and this is an interaction with Christ, from which we should learn about our own discipleship. First, this maneuver, using relationships for an insider edge, showed how impulsive and immature in their faith these first cousins of Jesus were at the time of this incident. At this stage, as Disciples, these two really didn’t have a clue about what it takes to be a leader in God’s kingdom; and that is surrender and suffering, which are both behavioral outgrowths of humility. It also reveals their pridefulness, which is just the opposite of what they would later learn it would take to become the leaders they ultimately became in God’s kingdom (i.e., humility and meekness). Had they known all of that, I’m sure they would have put the brakes on their mom intervening on their behalf and they would have trusted their Lord to help them become the servant-leader disciples they would become by following their Messiah in surrender. We now know from history and the New Testament, that James and John learned these lessons of life. James, whom we know from historical accounts, was also known of as “James, the Greater” and was the first martyred Apostle [44 AD], who was one of the prime movers in leading the peoples of Spain to the Gospel. His brother John, of course, much later penned his “Revelation” from exile on Patmos (probably some time between 68 – 95AD). But at this stage of their discipleship, as we see these biological brothers in today’s passage, both of these men needed a lot more seasoning as believers and followers of Christ to come to the place where they could become leaders in God’s kingdom. And we should take heart, or at least take pause, from this lesson in discipleship. We should be asking ourselves if we’ve grown in the faith to be in full surrender to God’s Spirit and our Lord. Are we humble and meek of attitude as charged by God through Paul in Phil. 2: 5? Are we ready to be used for God’s kingdom as followers of Christ as He commanded in Luke 9: 23? Are we ready to be an intentional servant first and an anointed leader thereafter, if God has such leadership in His plan as He most certainly did for James and John? I’ll leave that inventory for you; and I’m doing it even as I type this. But it is uplifting for me to know that two such impetuous and impulsively selfish characters such as the “sons of thunder” could become dynamically used for God’s glory when they chose and developed humility and meekness in their character. It points me in the direction of total surrender so that I might move from a focus on self to one focused on the Savior. I’m not there yet; but I pray that that is my direction. My Prayer Today: Prepare me, Lord, for what lies ahead in Your plan/purpose for me. Amen

2010 – November 28 – Raising Our Ambitions Lower

Study from God’s Word… On his second missionary journey, Paul writes two letters to the church of Greek converts in Thessalonica, where he had visited on his way to Corinth during this journey. Reading today through the 1st Letter to the Thessalonians … Passage for Reflection: 1st Thessalonians 4: 11-12, in the context of Paul’s letter to Greek Christians on how to live a life more pleasing to God … NIV 1 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. …
9 Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

My Journal for Today: If you’re a new convert or a relatively immature believer (spiritually), reading through Paul’s letter to relatively new Christians in Thessalonica is a good read for direction in sanctification. Well, actually it’s a good study for mature Christians too; … as a check-up to see if one is living the Christian life the way it should be lived to please God.

Today’s highlight passages pose an interesting lesson for those of us Christians who, today, live in a world which honors assertive, if not aggressive, ambition. And Dr. Smith’s devotional title for today is an interesting one: Raising Our Ambition Lower. And what the Apostle Paul was teaching in 1Thes 4: 11-12, and Dr. Smith is reinforcing with his title, is that Christians in any pagan or assertively non-Christian culture need to avoid getting caught up in the magnetic draw of the world to “climb the ladder” of worldly success by being ambitious to get ahead.

But Paul is not trying to get Christians (that’s us, as well as the Thessalonians) to not be ambitious. No, he’s just trying to get the focus of our ambition on what is pleasing to God and not necessarily to mankind … or even more so to self. Whereas Satan, the world, and most certainly our own flesh would have us being ambitious to climb over others, God’s ambition would be for us to help others who need support. It’s the message Jesus continually taught while on earth … that the last will be first and the first will be last.

So, Dr. Smith is asking us to evaluate where, and to what, we direct our ambitions. Is our drive to please others or live according to God’s way of living? Is our motivated purpose to be ahead in the world or ahead in God’s kingdom by serving others? Are we compulsively driven to stand and help others rise to God’s standards; or are we ambitious to climb on top of others on the way up the human ladder of worldly success?

Well, I used to be driven to be seen by others and to get feedback from others as to my professional prowess. Now, my driven ambitions are to know my God as intimately as possible and to follow His lead as closely as possible. I guess I’m in that later-life mode as a Christian to become what Paul was writing about to the Thessalonians. So, I pray we’re all “raising our ambitions lower” to honor and glorify God.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to make less of myself so that You may be elevated in the eyes of all who see You in me. Amen