I was posting about the meaning of work the other day, and one of the questions that came up in that discussion was the nature of ambition. Is it a good thing to want to use our talents well, to do our best, and to go as far as we can in whatever structure of work we are in? What if it involves wanting to get ahead of others, and by implication to keep them down? What if it is muddled up with pride, or vanity, or a lust for power, or insecurity, or whatever? What if the pressures of work, and especially of an ambitious work ethic, mean that we have less time and energy to give to family, friends, good works, etc?
By coincidence, the Jesuit Final Vows that I witnessed on Saturday involved a powerful reflection on the dangers of ambition – not in the public celebration of the Mass, but in the sacristy afterwards, when the new fully-professed Jesuit takes five additional ‘simple’ vows privately. James Martin explains:
These vows show how well St. Ignatius understood human nature. First, we vow never to change anything in the Jesuit Constitutions about poverty–unless to make it “more strict.” Second, a vow never to “strive or ambition” for any dignity in the church, like becoming a bishop. Third, never to “strive or ambition” for any high office in the Jesuits. Fourth, if we find out that someone is striving for these things, we are to “communicate his name” to the Society. (A friend calls this the vow to rat out someone, but it’s another indication of how much Ignatius wanted to eliminate ambition, as far as possible, from the Jesuits.) Finally, we take a vow that, if we are somehow made bishop, we will still listen to the superior general.
It doesn’t mean, of course, that you shouldn’t be ambitious for the ‘higher gifts’ (1 Cor 12); and the Jesuit ambition, above all, is always to seek whatever is for the greater glory of God. That’s the point of renouncing worldly or ecclesiastical ambition, in these simple vows, so that you can truly be ambitious for the Lord, without getting distracted by other stuff.
The contents of “Is it wrong to be ambitious?” is definately food for thought and action even for those not called to become a priest or nun. It is easy to get carried away by ambition in this material world where hierarchal position seems to matter to many people. If one submits to the word of God which I believe can at times be a struggle I find that the desire to be ambitious is removed. When ambition gets removed it becomes easier to submit to “superior” authority that is in accordance with God’s word and above all to God’s will. To be ambitious so as to conform with God’s word in terms of word and action surely cannot be a wrong. But to remove wordly ambition which surely can be the root cause of sin comes down in my opinion to prayer and self discipline.
I have seen too many people get carried away by raw ambition at the expense of those things that really matter in life.
I think it is wrong to be ambitious.
I think it is right to have vision.
The difference between the two is for the greater Love.
My personal experience is that *worldly ambition makes you miserable. I really think it’s as simple as that
(*both the misery worldly ambition has brought me, as well as the great joy being freed of worldly ambition has brought me).
That’s not the same as saying we have to necessarily abandon the world (unless God clearly calls you to be a friar or hermit and so on), but rather to be in the world (cautiously), but not of the world, with our real ambition always to follow Christ in EVERY aspect of existence ..
“Vanity of Vanities, all is Vanity”
- What fantastic words from the Bible.
No doubt, words that inspired Shakespeare when writing Hamlet (and, in particular, for example, when Hamlet stands in the grave holding up Yorick’s skull)
No doubt, words that inspired Zurbaran when he painted Francis of Assisi holding up the skull in his hands (in the National Gallery)
No doubt, words that inspired St Francis as he stripped himself nearly naked before walking out of Assisi.
No doubt, words that inspired Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities.
No doubt, words that many people think of on their death bed.
No doubt, words that Our Lord contemplated throughout his life here on Earth.
- The Bible, the arts, common human experience, conscience – all tell us that worldly ambition is empty and meaningless.
But from where does ambition come? Is it wrong to use God’s gifts to their fullest? If one is given insight, drive (ambition) and uses it toward the “good”, how can that be wrong? If one is good, tries to do the right thing, and is “ambitious”, “worldly” and successful, how can that be wrong?
But again, for those who struggle, have ambition to do better but still come home at night and have less than can make ends meet, how is that ambition different than the ambition that succeeds? Is the poor person with ambition less than the rich person with ambition?
I think it is really that one must accept and ‘work with’ the gifts one is given by God. If one’s lot in life is a path to worldly success, then that is God’s gift.
The difficult thing, Ed, is to accept, and to not be miserable
I think ambition is about self. The Ego of self-being ‘successful’ (even if it be for the saviour of others). Ambition is the excessive drive to succeed.
Vision or insight and being and living the change or vision, feels much less about reaching an ambition and much more about a humbly living the positive change you want to see, by example. And if one happens to advance because of that goodness then so be it for the better goodness and Love of Gods creation. Which is I think what Jesus was about. But the minute ambition which usually contains a least an element of self-gain for personal reasons comes in to play, the dynamic of selfless giving changes.