Am I a pastor and an addict at work? As I have been for most of my life. As a participant of Alcoholics Anonymous, who considers himself a “recovering alcoholic”, after thirty years without a drop of drink, I consider myself a workahoose recovering until the day I arrive at paradise, he is so anchored that he is in my flesh.
Maybe you identify with that, or maybe, workahoose?Anyway, let me share with you some counsel that comes from my experience as pastor of those in my church (including me) who are wrongly ambitious.
- Did you notice what I said.
- Wrongly ambitious.
- And not “too ambitious.
- “This is because it is impossible for the Christian to be too ambitious.
- The work was created before the Fall (Genesis 2:15) and will continue in heaven (Isaiah 65:21-23).
- And then the Apostle Paul tells us that “we redeem time”?(Ephesians 5:16).
- If that’s not ambition.
- I don’t know what it is.
As Christians, we are called to be ambitious for Christ, and yet many seem ambitious only by the things of this world. How to guide them? I’ll give you five root causes behind the wrong ambition, and four ideas on how to help those who have fallen into these traps.
Let me describe a conversation at a dinner party many years ago with five CFOs from Fortune 500 companies. “I have a theory I want to prove, ” said one of them. “How many of you are firstborn of divorced parents?”All hands rose except one. ? Have you boosted your careers because you can’t deny your failure as children?All heads nod.
How many of those who have too much confidence, success, and success in their congregation are guided by insecurity and fear rather than strength?Insecurity may well push these Christians to the top of their careers, but it will seriously hinder the ability to serve Christ in their professions Insecurity can come from a broken home, abuse, an unattractive education, an in constantly struggling marriage, rebellious children or a number of other factors.
Trying to make your mark on the world can be fair and pious. Think of Moses asking God to establish the work of his hands in Psalm 90, but fighting to promote ourselves rather than God is selfishness and idolatry.
José knows that his wife had a terrible day with the children; You have thirty minutes left to give the time you usually get home; and he managed to finish everything on his to-do list. So why is he so reluctant to leave early? Is it because you don’t love your family? Is it because he can’t leave before closing time, or is it because people are going to think badly of him because he left early? Suppose the answer to all these questions is “no”. So why the reluctance? Because your self-esteem is involved in fulfilling commitments. So leaving thirty minutes early seems to negate your basic identity. Do you want to achieve things in your life? which is a good instinct. In fact, it was part of God’s plan for humanity in Genesis 1-2. But when, in search of that impact, he elevates a special calling in life (his job) above others that God has given him (his family), he becomes impatient with God’s plans. It is like King Saul, who could not expect the prophet Samuel to make an extremely important sacrifice for the Lord. Saul’s goal (defeating God’s enemies) was correct. But instead of trusting in God’s plan to make it happen, he preferred his own plan.
Similarly, a lot of wrong ambition has sought to achieve something good (impact on this world) through human wisdom rather than through God’s good plan. We become obsessed with work at the expense of other things because we are not willing to trust. that obeying God’s commandments in all our calls is the best way to achieve the eternal impact we desire. Do God’s plans often seem sinuous and ineffective?but in his wisdom he really knows what’s best.
Sometimes bad ambition has nothing to do with identity, self-realization or any existential desire, but it’s just a matter of money.
Ronaldo bought a house that was on budget, and that was before he lost his job as a regional sales manager, now that he’s found work in a different field, he feels intense pressure to force his family out of the house, which also involves dropping out of a beautiful school, years of friendship. with the neighbors and lifestyle they have learned to enjoy.
Chances are that the level of stress you feel at work will affect your family’s life, because it all seems to be a matter of money. Paul’s words come to My day to Timothy: “In fact, a great source of benefit is piety with joy. nothing for the world and we can’t get anything out of it. Having food and what to wear, are we happy? (1 Timothy 6: 6-8).
You’ve tried to convince Maria to get more involved in your small group, but professional commitments are always an obstacle; However, as you know Mary’s family life better, the reason for your interest in work becomes woefully obvious. in bad shape and your children seem to be a disgrace, but at work, she’s a hero. Research after research, does the modern American say that the biggest motivator in his workplace is recognition, rather than money, career advancement, and excellent colleagues?
What if work was the only place Where Mary felt recognized?What if work was the only place Where Mary felt she deserved to be recognized?
Javier grew up with a father who blessed the city greatly through his work as a prosecutor and Javier is determined to follow in his footsteps. However, unlike his father, Javier was not fortunate enough to have a privileged mind for law, so the only way to succeed professionally is to make work the only thing that matters in his life. Besides, are all the other Christians in your life exactly the same?or at least they seem to be. Orthopedic surgeon, trader, judge, real estate tycoon: the elders and other leaders of his church seem to realize Javier’s vision of “success”, secular and spiritual. What Javier doesn’t know is that none of these church leaders allow his work to strangle the rest of his life like him. Your problem is the lack of models. He sees few examples of people with common abilities who consider themselves “successful” in his church. And there is a window into the lives of those who have been recognized as Christian leaders.
Now, after reading these five root causes, you definitely have your own ideas on how you should guide these different members who suffer from bad ambition, but perhaps you can expand your list of possible answers. Here are four pastoral responses from my own experience and the experience of others.
This idea can be easily misunderstood. But in 21st century industrialized societies, self-knowledge and self-realization have replaced money as the main motivation for employment in our society (see root causes 1 and 2 above). This is a problem for the Christian because nowhere in the world. In the Bible, we find personal realization as motivation for work. Instead, we see that work exists primarily to put food on the table and allow us to be generous (Ephesians 4:28). By the grace of God, work can accomplish much more than that; It allows us to imagine God in Genesis 1:27, to adorn the gospel in Titus 2:10, and to bring joy in Ecclesiastes 2: 24-25, but all these motivations are also valid for all the other calls we have in life: to be husband or wife, father or mother, citizen, member of the church, evangelist, etc. The only actual job-specific motivation is financial compensation. Then help your congregation learn the wonderful satisfaction of working for money.
Are your church’s ambitious ills satisfied with your salary?Or does your satisfaction come mainly from other benefits of your work, such as status or a sense of importance?This would mistakenly help most ambitious people if they saw their salary as a greater motivation. to explain why his work was used. If they saw money as a stewardship of God, and the benefit of money is to enjoy stewardship, then money would become a wise and pious motivator in the workplace.
Of course, if they use money selfishly to try to reduce their dependence on God (see root cause 4), the opposite will happen, but if you give your people a pious view of money and teach them that it is pious to be satisfied in their wages (no matter how big), it will help uns ambitious people change the motivation in the workplace for what it is. Idolatry for those who honor God.
Useful book: Handling God? S Money, by Randy Alcorn
See also: Capitol Hill Baptist Church Sunday Adult Bible School enters five-week money course
Often, an uns ambitious attitude towards work is involved in a misconception of seeking excellence at work (see root causes 1 and 4 above). But instead of just telling people what not to do, we need to help them understand what a correct vision of excellence is. In Colossses 3:23, we are commanded to work “as for the Lord. “In other words, it doesn’t matter who your boss is on earth; Behind this man or woman is Jesus Christ, his true leader. And while his earthly chief entrusted him with work-only tasks, Jesus entrusted him with tasks related to everything in life.
A misconception of excellence optimizes life for a task: the task in the workplace. Is this how a pious desire?But once people understand that Jesus is their true boss, two things happen. First, the pursuit of excellence becomes an act of worship—a correct answer to who Christ is and what He did. Second, the search for excellence in the workplace is placed in the context of all the other tasks that Christ has entrusted, which extend far beyond the workplace. By teaching the biblical foundation of excellence, you are replacing the spurous concepts of excellence that are so prevalent in today’s workplace.
Useful Book: God in Action, by Gene Veith
See also: The Biblical Sunday School for Adults at Capitol Hill Baptist Church commits to a six-week lesson about Christians in the workplace.
Ambition? That shouldn’t be a bad word in your congregation. After all, does the Apostle Paul use the translated Greek word?Ambition? To describe his desire to preach the gospel in Romans 15:20 when he meets a member of his congregation. who is ambitious by mistake, his desire should never be to diminish his ambition, but to redirect it (see root causes 3 and 5 above). in their careers, they will find it difficult to be ambitious as Christ intended.
When you have the opportunity, highlight as examples to members of your congregation who have ambition for the kingdom of God and whose ambition for Christ has led them to success in the workplace. It also highlights members who have ambition for the kingdom of God, but who have decidedly done so. normal careers in the workplace. Both types of examples can be useful in different ways. Ignore the first category and say that there is no spiritual value that can be found in the common workplace. Neglect the second and you only communicate that they should dedicate themselves. at the service of Christ.
Most Christians will make better use of their lives for the kingdom of God if they choose only one or two churches throughout their adult life and remain there (see root causes No. 2 and 5 above). Of course, there are exceptions to that. But as a general rule, most people are no exception. The relational ministry we build in the local church is not the only thing of eternal value in this life, but it is one of the main ways we can build for eternity. It will serve the ambitious well if you announce this fact.
How can you do that? First, in general, encourage people to structure their lives so that they can have a ministry of relationships in the church. This doesn’t necessarily mean they have to participate in a handful of church programs. This means thinking about where they live, the kind of work they do, and the kind of leisure habits they develop in light of how they can invest in relationships in the church.
Second, teach the spiritual value of these things that compete with the local church for the time of the members. What is the eternal value of what I do in my work?What is the eternal value I build through my ministry to my family?value of a vacation? If your people cannot articulate the good they do in these and other spheres of life, it will be difficult for them to make wise trade-offs when such things seem to compete with the local church for their time and affection. As I mentioned earlier, God’s plans about how we can better spend our lives often seem vague and contrary to intuition, and his plan to invest heavily in the local church is an excellent example. Help your people trust God’s plan and show them what it means to do well.
A sense of reverence
Finally, pastor, remember that there is nothing special about paid Christian work that protects you from being un ambitious in your own life. In fact, because of the obvious spiritual value of what you do, as a pastor, you may even be particularly likely to do so. mis-oriented in their ambitions. Therefore, I have written this article so that everything in it applies to you and anyone else in your church.
So one last word of advice, for both you and your congregation: do your best to cultivate admiration for who God is. A sense of reverence for who God is has an impact on our lives as worshippers with eternal meaning (main cause 1). A sense of reverence for who God is helps us trust in his plans for faithfulness, even when they seem outside the standards of the world (fundamental cause 2). A sense of reverence for who God is reminds us that the comforts of This world is only transient, but the real and eternal blessing is near (fundamental cause 3). A sense of reverence about who God is gives us hope that we can serve Him even in difficult circumstances, thus avoiding the need to escape (fundamental cause 4) And the sense of reverence for whom God is opens our eyes to the courage of his most faithful servants, whether giants of history or fragile prayer warriors hidden in the last bank (fundamental cause 5).
My prayer is that you will help nurture your congregation’s ambition to serve this God and make him known throughout all the time, all the money, and all the opportunities that are available to them.