I have been a pastor for thirty-six years. I have always endeavored to be the best pastor possible and Idesire to see great results from the work I do in the ministry. I want the church I pastor to grow. I want to see people saved and lives changed forever. I want to seefamilies restored and my communitytransformed. I am called for this!

The dilemma I face becomesdistinctly obvious when Irealize that I can accomplish none of the things I desire. It is a rather odd thing that my desiresare focused on things that are beyond my abilities and out of my control.

You get the point. I am called to get out of the way so God’s grace and power can be revealed. John the Baptizer exemplifies this idea, in John 3:30, when he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease”Surely, I can get some credit and recognition for all these results. Really?

Whyare these results so important to me?

Ambition is dangerous! Ministry ambition is a misnomer. Ambition should have no place in ministry. I am not saying there should be no drive, initiative, or goals.However, I am saying, ambition willprevent us from seeing God’s will accomplished in our ministry. Why is ambition so dangerous. Ambition is commonly defined as an ardent desire for rank, fame, and power. It is self-centered and self-promoting. It stands in direct opposition to humility.Dr. Andreas Köstenberger, Research Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology and Director of the Center for Biblical Studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary says,

“Humility is a uniquely Christian virtue. In this fallen, sinful universe, with its “survival of the fittest” mentality, the prize goes usually to those who are aggressive, assertive, and pursue their own interests, even if this means stepping over others to get ahead. Considering others as more important than ourselves does not come naturally.”

Humility is the only attitude for a Christian, and especially a Christian pastor.Ministry is not about us. It is not about our talents, our personality, oureducation, our style, ourconnections, oreven our looks.Essentially,God sees our ministry and calling very differently than we want to admit, as stated in 1 Corinthians 1: 26-27 (NKJV),

“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.”

I am not all that after all. I must operate out of humility, not ambition. I must fully understand that it is dangerous for me to steal the glory (credit) that belongs to God alone.Am I willing to follow God to the least and the last, the failed and the forgotten, and the weak and wandering? Humility will allow you to follow God where ambition will not go, and that is where He wants you to be in the first place.

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:3-8, NKJV)