William Shakespeare wrote of the dangers of naked ambition in his tragedy ‘Macbeth’. It is of little consequence that the historical Macbeth did Scotland a favour in ridding it of the dreadful Duncan and pushing through many good reforms in his seventeen-year tenure of the throne. By the way, Lady Macbeth was a cousin of BigMac called Grauch (no wonder she was so bad tempered) and both had a far better claim to the throne than did Duncan. Shakespeare claimed artistic licence, but was in fact, just trying to curry favour with the newly enthroned James I of England, who was formerly James VI of Scotland! So it would be fair to say that the bard was a mite ambitious himself and not so keen to follow his own advice. Anyhow, I digress.
The Bible writers often allude to the fact that sin compounds, by which I mean that the sinner gets caught in a downward spiral or vicious circle. Likewise there is a virtuous circle that leads to an ever better quality of life. The literary Macbeth soon comes to realise (in Act 3 scene 4) that having embarked on his journey to the throne by murdering Duncan that he is forced to ever more disgraceful acts of barbarism to cover his tracks. His wife too suffers a little personal hygiene problem that comes to unbalance her by degrees. Sin will always spoil our lives and our relationship with the living God.
It should come as no surprise to
find that the NT writers list ambition as a sin (Gal 5:20, Phil1:17 and
2:3, James 3:14-16) but it is surprising isn’t it? We all want to get on
and climb that company ladder. We all want to have a bigger and better
car, a more luxurious holiday. It’s extremely difficult to throw off this
mindset when advertisements reinforce this philosophy day in day out. One
caveat is that the Bible is criticising selfish ambition in particular,
and not the kind of ambition that resolves to keep hold of faith throughout
life for example - that is a fine ambition.
In 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 Paul lays
down the principle of staying put where the Lord calls you to faith: if
you’re a money-changer, then carry on being a money-changer until the Lord
makes it very clear that it’s time to do something else. But what happens
when you’re overlooked for a much deserved promotion? Do you shout the
odds about it? I suggest not. Like Joseph, who when in prison asked the
cup-bearer to remember him, we can make a quiet appeal but basically we
should be content with what the Lord gives. We are called to be patient
and long-suffering in all situations in which we find ourselves (James
5:7-12) not accusing God or others for any misfortune of circumstance.
If another job is advertised, then by all means apply for it but don’t
be surprised if you get short shrift. The Lord will open and shut doors
for us and we must not try to force them. Moses tried to force a door open
by murdering an Egyptian slave driver and subsequently had to learn patience
for forty years working as a shepherd in Midian.
This is a hard teaching. St. Paul tells us that he learnt to be content in all circumstances (2 Cor. 12:10) and James exhorts the humble person to rejoice in their position. God has a broader vision than us and knows what’s best for us children. So often our selfish manipulations get us into an even bigger fix than we were in before– out of the frying pan into the fire – so we should give God the benefit of the doubt and trust him to look after us. And hindsight will always show that to be the right course of action. Faith says we are prepared to be the Lord’s servant, to take up our cross daily. “My yoke is easy and my burden light,” (Mat. 11:30) says Jesus, indicating that the burden the world puts on us is far heavier – in some way it will undo us every time. The higher up the company you go the more you earn, the more you find the curse of money – that it doesn’t buy peace of mind. You become more vulnerable to redundancy and you suffer a bigger fall when it happens. You work longer hours away from loved ones and you find you're trapped by your commitments.
Happiness and Christian joy are not the same things. Our joy is the blessing of knowing that everything will work out fine in the long run, that we have a home in heaven. With an eye on that future then we can face the trials of today.