A Holy Ambition

There is a famous saying attributed to American monk and writer Thomas Merton that says, “People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.” Success itself is not sinful. God wants you to succeed. The question is have you allowed him to define that success?

We move into Genesis 11 today, which covers the story of the tower of Babel. The people who built the city and the tower were climbing a ladder of success. The trouble is the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall. Join me as we read this story and talk about its implications for us today.

Genesis 11:1–9 NASB95

Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

Last week we talked about God’s covenant with Noah. This covenant relationship was irrevocable. God will always fulfill his promises. This covenant is still in effect today. The covenant has expectations if the relationship is to be enjoyed. The people of Babel did not follow commands. There was a price to be paid. Today we are going to make sense out of this story and understand how we can implement its teaching into our own lives.

Ambition is not sinful, but self-centered pride is.

At this time, the whole earth had one language. So the narrative of Genesis has jumped back in time a little bit. Genesis 10 gives us a genealogy of the descendants of Noah where they are grouped by language. Genesis 11 tells us how that happened. But here is the whole human race was still of one language and lived in one place. They set out to build a tower and a city that was a testimony to their ambition. They wanted to make a name for themselves. Their motive for building the tower was self-serving.

The problem is not the tower or the city. The problem is the motive behind building it. In covenant relationships, there is no room for boasting in oneself. Noah did nothing to define the terms of the covenant with God. God stated the terms, and Noah responded with trust and obedience. Noah trusted God was going to flood the earth and he responded with obedience in building the ark. Noah is famous not because he made a name for himself, but because God chose to use him in a mighty way.

How much do you care about your reputation? How much do you care about how much people pay attention to you? Do you seek to make a name for yourself in your sphere of influence? There is a fine line between making a name for yourself and God choosing to give you a platform.

Kenneth Copeland is regarded as America’s riches pastor. His net worth is estimated to be as little as $450 million and upwards to $750 million. He is known for an international ministry centered around the prosperity gospel, which argues that God wants you to be healthy and wealthy, and at the center of that is “sowing a seed” which means giving monetarily to the ministry with a false hope that God is going to return that blessing multiple times over. It’s slick, it’s effective, and it is wrong. My suspicion is if Kenneth Copeland and others like him lost all their wealth today, they wouldn’t have Job’s response:

Job 1:21 NASB95

He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

We are not here to make a name for ourselves. God may choose to give us a platform, but it is ours to steward, not to seek self-glorification.

Instead, our responsibility in this new covenant is to represent our Father and our new family identity. Just as it was Adam’s responsibility to represent God to the rest of creation, it is our responsibility to represent God to the world around us. This is a holy ambition, and the killer of self-centered pride. The problem was not the tower or the city. It was about the motive behind its construction, and it wasn’t about God.

I listened to a talk from John Maxwell, a world-renowned leadership expert, who said, “I want people who know me, but they do not know God, to want to know God because they know me.” That is a holy ambition.

God’s faithfulness will prevail.

The construction of the city and tower is in defiance to God’s covenant decree. Remember back in chapter 9, God reissued the command to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. Multiply they did, but fill the earth they did not. God intended them to spread out and it was that very thing they were trying to prevent. If you look back at chapter 4, you will see that they didn’t want to be dispersed. Unity in this effort was to keep everyone together. So, God stepped in and confused their language. They could no longer understand one another.

God has a plan and a purpose for your life. The path of transformation is paved with obedience to his commands. God does not force you to do his will, but he might allow your current circumstances to become so difficult, you’ll abandon the pursuit. I will always remember the call to ministry. I had just come to faith about year prior to sensing God’s call on my life. I resisted. I felt I had no business doing what God wanted me to do. I ran from it for about a year while I pursued a degree in computer science. I stated my first class on computer operating systems. I was excited. I was eager to dig in. I would sit at my desk, open up my textbook, and suddenly feel like I was going to be sick. I couldn’t study. I was miserable. That’s when God showed up a second time and let me know this wasn’t going away until I chose to follow where he was leading. Aren’t you glad I made the choice?

God’s purpose for you is far greater than the job you have or had, the place you live, or the activities you enjoy. God’s purpose for you is to use whatever platform you have to lead others to Christ. What would God have you do? It should terrify you a bit. But that’s on purpose. A holy ambition trains you to trust him, because without him, you can do nothing. Trust him. He will never fail you.

“I want people who know me, but they do not know God, to want to know God because they know me.” God’s faithfulness in this holy ambition will always prevail. But he may make it very uncomfortable where you are to move you where he wants you to be.

Rest in the identity Christ gave you.

The preceding chapter provides a genealogical record of the descendants of Noah. In chapter ten, phrases like “in their language, in their clans, in their nations” appear several times. Chapter eleven tells the story of how chapter ten happened. All of the nations in chapter 10 come from chapter 11. When God confused languages, people naturally gathered around others they could communicate with. As this took place, they began taking on new identities. Nations are forming, yet they all share a common ancestry. The diversity of people groups we see today began here.

I’m grateful to have been born and raised in one of the greatest countries on earth. America is a great place to live and call home regardless of what the media says. Even with all our issues, I am proud to be an American. I get the opportunity to live in the land of the free. Being an American is part of my identity.

I often say that becoming a Christian is a transfer of citizenship. We have always had a dual citizenship. We are a citizen of whatever country we are born into, but we are also citizens of the kingdom of darkness. When we come to faith in Christ, the Bible says we are adopted into God’s family, thereby transferring citizenship from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God. We receive a new identity. I am a son of God (don’t get that confused with the Son of God). So I am also proud to be God’s son. I am unapologetically Christian. It has shaped my identity over the last 20 years and continues to shape my thoughts and actions. It has brought me in to a deep walk with God.

I have found rest in the identity God has given me. I am no longer concerned with making a name for myself. Christian music artist Francesca Battistelli has a song called He Knows my Name. In the chorus it says, “I don’t need my name in lights. I’m famous in my Father’s eyes. Make no mistake, He knows my name. I’m not living for applause. I’m already so adored. It’s all His stage. He knows my name.” I find rest in my identity because the most famous entity in the universe knows my name and chooses to draw near to me. The people of Babel wanted to make a name for themselves. I don’t have to worry about that because I am resting in the identity Christ has given me.

Embracing that identity fuels holy ambition. Since I am not living for myself, I can live for him. I am given a new mission, a new passion, a new direction that glorifies God. I’m not here to make a name for myself. I am here to help people find forever family through Christ-centered relationships. That is a holy ambition.

Since becoming a Christian involves taking on a new identity, let your identity fuel a holy ambition. What is God calling you to do? How does he want to reshape your work? Your relationships?

“I want people who know me, but they do not know God, to want to know God because they know me.” That is a holy ambition. Very much the opposite of Genesis 11, we are to reorient our lives to glorify God, not ourselves. When we live under the new identity we have in Christ, we find rest.