I saw a cartoon recently that pictured three fish bowls in a line, each one bigger than the previous one. The first bowl contained numerous gold fish. One gold fish jumped from the first bowl into the bigger second and then into the third and largest bowl. The caption read, "When your ambition is big then your efforts should be even bigger." If you form a word cluster around the word "ambition," you will see words like drive, determination, aspiration, zeal, desire, goal, purpose, dream, and success. Ambition drives success in our world. We thrive on ambition.
Why then does ambition get a bad reputation among Christians? Why do we think it unspiritual to have ambitions? One reason, of course, is that worldly ambition is selfish. We cannot thrive spiritually if we are driven by selfish ambition. Godly ambition, however, is necessary for personal success as a Christian. Without ambition, we accomplish nothing for Christ. Spiritual ambition drives our desires and guides our determination in life. Paul writes; Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him (2 Cor. 5:9, NASB).
Paul begins with the connective "therefore" (διὸ). He is summarizing a logical conclusion which can be translated "and so" (Moule, Idiom Book, p.164). And so we aspire (φιλοτιμούμεθα) to please Him. The verb is a compound word meaning to love (φίλος) honor (τιμάω) which is close to how we use ambitious today. It can mean to devote ourselves zealously to a cause (Hughes, 2 Corinthians, p.178, fn. 54). It is a progressive present tense deponent verb indicating that we do the action continuously.
Our aspiration is true whether we are "at home" (ἐνδημοῦντες) or "absent" (ἐκδημοῦντες). We have seen these two words before in this passage (vs.6, 8). What does it mean to be at home or to be absent? Some understand it to mean whether we are at home in the body (alive on earth) or we absent from the body (naked in the intermediate state) we are to aspire to please Jesus (Hughes, 2 Corinthians, 178-179). Does this mean that we must strive in our bodiless, intermediate state after death to please Christ? Obviously, this cannot be true as Hughes quickly explains. The next verse (v.10) states that we are judged only for what we do "in the body" (σώματος).
It is better to read the phrases contextually. Whether we are at home with the Lord (v.8) or absent from the Lord (v.6) our one ambition is to please Him. If we are home with the Lord, we cannot do otherwise. We will please Him because there is no way to displease Him when we are at home with Him (Martin, 2 Corinthians, p.113). For now, we are absent from the Lord (v.6), so our one desire is to please Him now as we await His return.
The purpose of our ambition is to be pleasing to Him. The verb "to be" (εἶναι) is a purpose infinitive (Burton, Moods and Tenses, p.146). The verb means to exist or to live (BAGD, p.223). "Pleasing" (εὐάρεστοι) means to be acceptable particularly to God (Romans 12:2). Paul uses it in Titus 2:9 of slaves giving satisfaction to their masters (BAGD, p.318). Our personal ambition both now and for eternity is to bring satisfaction to Christ. We live to please Him.
An ambition to please Christ means:
- a zeal to accomplish His mission in this world
- a drive to use our gifts for His church
- a passion to invest our energy for His purpose
- a determination to be successful in His ministry
How ambitious are you? How ambitious am I?
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