The Christian Ambition
Matthew 20:17-28
April 29, 2012
This morning we come across a very interesting story.
That infamous story of a mother who was willing to do anything
To make sure her boys got what they deserved.
And yet at the same time it must have been one of the most painful teaching moments that Jesus ever had to endure.
• His life was all about sacrifice, And here we are approached by someone whose life is all about gain.
• He left it all, and now He is being followed by leaches who only want to get it all.
• No sooner did He vacate the throne than these two want to jump into it.
2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”
He is without a doubt the most giving man the world has ever seen
And yet He is followed by some who appear to be the most greedy.
Jesus just gave a sermon in the earlier parts of the chapter in which He said, “So the last shall be first, and the first last.”
And instantly James and John run up to make sure they aren’t last.
It’s like the sermon went in one ear and out the other,
And that must have been extremely frustrating for Jesus.
What we see here is the presence of ambition.
Now, in our world today ambition is roundly considered a good thing.
• We equate it with drive and motivation.
• We think to lack ambition is to be lazy or apathetic.
Indeed, there is nothing wrong with being motivated,
And certainly the Bible does not promote laziness.
It is just that the focus of our ambition matters.
There are examples of good ambition in Scripture.
2 Corinthians 5:9 “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”
According to Paul a believer should be ambitious,
They should be motivated to live in a way that pleases God.
That is good ambition.
1 Thessalonians 4:9-11 “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,”
There Paul spoke of ambition that also sets out to love your brother.
And yet Scripture is also clear that ambition can be a very bad thing,
Especially if it is selfish ambition.
James 3:13-16 “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.”
James said if you have that kind of ambition that promotes self
And magnifies self and tries to please self and make self comfortable…
If you have selfish ambition did you hear what James said?
• At the very least that is “earthly”, meaning it is a worldly trait.
• Beyond that it is “natural”, meaning a desire of the flesh, not the Spirit.
• But even worse it is “demonic”, meaning it is evidence of Satan in your life.
Now pay attention to what James said.
When you set out in life to climb the ladder and make a name for yourself
That is exactly the opposite of Godliness.
That is worldly, that is selfish, that is demonic.
1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”
No wonder our world thinks ambition is a good thing.
This world lies in the power of the evil one.
We, however, are called to think biblically not worldly
And reject what is evil and cling to what is good.
And selfish ambition is definitely not good.
The tragedy is that it shows up from time to time even in church,
It most certainly did among the twelve.
But in reality, it didn’t just start here, it had been here all along.
When did it start?
Matthew 4:18-22 “Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”
And you could immediately say, “No way” you can’t call that ambition.
Those guys were following Jesus, how can you call that ambition.
You can’t, if it weren’t for future conversations.
See we wouldn’t even know why they followed Jesus,
Until that fateful day when their ambition was challenged.
Remember this day?
Matthew 16:21-24 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”
Why did Peter pull Jesus aside?
He didn’t like where Jesus was headed.
But I thought Peter was just a follower?
Obviously not, Peter was focused on his own interests.
Don’t believe me?
Remember when their ambition popped up again?
Matthew 18:1-3 “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
It sounds like they’ve embraced the suffering of Christ there doesn’t it?
Absolutely not!
And that isn’t the last time.
How about when the rich young ruler left?
Matthew 19:27 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”
Can we think of a more selfish question?
That is selfish ambition at its very core.
It is clear that these guys were following out of selfish motives.
They wanted the kingdom.
That is why even though Jesus has three times told them
About His inevitable suffering, they still have failed to get it.
• They didn’t hear it because they wouldn’t hear it.
• They had an agenda…
• They had ambition…
And this morning those ambitions reach an all-time high.
But you see it is even possible to sign up to follow Jesus
And do so for selfish reasons,
And that issue comes to a head in our text this morning.
3 things
#1 THE CHRIST’S AMBITION: SUFFERING
Matthew 20:17-19
Before we can talk about the ambition of a Christian we most certainly have to spend some time talking about the ambition of the Christ.
And with Jesus it is extremely clear.
He came to die.
We find here in these verses something that is not new information.
“As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them…”
It is likely they are in a caravan headed up to Jerusalem for Passover,
But Jesus pulls the twelve aside.
It may have even been that they thought He was pulling them aside
To go somewhere else, (for they knew it was dangerous for Him),
You remember in John 11 when Jesus had let Lazarus die
And then decided to go to him.
John 11:7-8 “Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?”
But He pulls them aside to confirm His plans.
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem;”
They all knew that this was not a wise move on Jesus’ part.
This was a dangerous move, and yet Jesus says we are going.
What is even more startling is that
He knows exactly what will happen to Him there.
This isn’t just the threat of danger, it is the certainty of death.
“the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”
Now this is the fourth time He has revealed His coming death.
But this is the first time He has mentioned His crucifixion.
He is going to die, and it won’t be by lethal injection.
He is going to die the most cruel death ever devised.
And yet He says, “we are going”.
That is ambition, but it is not selfish ambition.
It was His ambition to please the Father
And to accomplish His will.
John 12:27-28 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
That is tremendous focus.
He was going to the cross.
And when you think about His life He always had this ambition.
• Satan couldn’t deceive Him out of it.
• The Jews couldn’t discourage Him away from it.
• Peter couldn’t deter Him from it.
Jesus came for the purpose of suffering, and He was focused on it.
Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
And that was the ambition of the Christ.
It wasn’t about self-promotion
It wasn’t about climbing the ladder
It wasn’t about getting what was best for Him
The Christ’s Motivation: Suffering
#2 THE CARNAL MOTIVATION: SELF
Matthew 20:20-24
Just as it is important to get a picture of Christ’s motivation,
It is also important to get an understanding of carnal motivation,
And we get a doozy of a picture here.
After Jesus made that 4th prediction, Luke’s gospel says this:
Luke 18:34 “But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.”
One could ask what Luke meant,
But all you have to do is read these 5 verses.
• Jesus has taught them about denying themselves and following Him.
• Jesus has taught them about humbling themselves as a child.
• Jesus has taught them about becoming last so they can be first.
And it is obvious the disciples heard none of it.
Now obviously this is a selfish motivation we have
Desiring to make sure you get the seat you want in the kingdom.
But let’s take a little closer look, and let me show you
Some of the ways we recognize the presence of carnal motivation.
We then these types of ploys are present,
You can bet the motivation is selfish.
1) FLATTERY (20)
Thanks to having all four gospel accounts
We know who this woman is, it is Salome.
She is one of the women who came to the tomb,
And she is also the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus.
This makes here Jesus’ aunt and James and John His first cousins.
And yet, despite the family ties, notice what she does.
“…came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him.”
This may appear like humility, but don’t let it fool you.
It is flattery.
They were coming seeking to puff Jesus up that He might grant a request.
It was common practice for a ruler to show off his power
By granting magnificent requests.
(The motivation behind Herod offering the daughter of Herodias
anything she wanted up to half his kingdom)
Salome is doing the same here,
By bowing and recognizing His ability to grant great requests.
Mark actually reveals her question.
Mark 10:35 “James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.”
You can feel their flattery as they seek to get what they want.
When flattery is present carnal ambition is close behind.
2) MANIPULATION (21)
I already told you that this was Jesus’ aunt.
How shrewd to send a woman to Jesus, and His aunt none the less.
They are really working on the sympathy of Jesus.
It is manipulative thinking He won’t have the heart
To turn down this dear old woman.
And notice the request:
“Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.”
In short, she came flattering and manipulating asking for the right
For her boys to be the 2nd in command.
• It wasn’t for the glory of Jesus,
• It wasn’t for the good of the kingdom,
• It was for the good of Salome, James, and John.
There is flattery, there is manipulation, and there is selfish ambition.
3) ARROGANCE (22)
Now there is arrogance for you.
It’s bad enough they thought themselves worthy
Of being second in command in the kingdom, but notice this arrogance.
Jesus says, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”
WHAT CUP WAS THAT?
The cup of suffering.
Matthew 26:39 “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Remember the ambition of Christ was that of suffering,
And it is His suffering that earned Him glory.
Philippians 2:8-11 “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
The only way to get the glory Christ is going to get
Is to leave heaven, live sinless and die a cruel death on the cross
To atone for the sins of man.
And Jesus asks these men, are you able to do this?
AND NOTICE THE ARROGANT ANSWER.
“We are able”
WOW!
• Were they sinless? No.
• Would they even endure suffering? No (they fled in the garden)
But the point is they thought they deserved it,
They thought they were worthy of it.
And when you find arrogance like that, you often find selfish ambition.
Selfish ambition is the natural response of the arrogant,
They feel they deserve a higher place with more recognition.
JUST LIKE SATAN
4) COVETOUSNESS (23)
Now Jesus’ answer is obvious, and it falls right in line
With what He just taught about the workers in the vineyard.
• The position to the right and left of Christ is not up for auction.
• Nor is there a competition to see who earns it.
WHO IS IT FOR?
“those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.”
God knows who He wants there, and He will create those seats for them.
(Again it is not works, it is grace)
Now here is James and John, being so discontented
With their portion, they wanted someone else’s.
That again is selfish ambition.
It is to value self too high and others too low,
To the point that you think you deserve their place
And you are willing to flatter and manipulate to get that position.
That is carnal ambition.
And we see it everywhere in our world.
It’s easy to spot in the corporate ladder of America where people cut each other’s throats in order to ascend to higher positions.
But we also see it in churches.
(And perhaps preachers are the worst)
Matthew 23:6 “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues”
3 John 9 “I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.”
It’s apparent that Diotrephes descendants are still around today.
Always thinking they deserve a bigger church…
Always wanting someone else’s ministry…
And I would be lying if I said I never thought that way in my life. I’ve had those thoughts and God has been quick to put me back in my place.
On one occasion He called me Balaam.
(you know the prophet for hire, who loved the wages of unrighteousness)
I certainly do not have the right to look up some ladder
Or search out some bigger church, that is selfish ambition.
And James said that is evidence of demonic influence.
But you understand it.
And it is drastically different from that of Jesus.
That is what James and John had.
But don’t be too hard just on them, notice who else has it.
The rest of the disciples.
See here is a 5th indicator of selfish ambition
5) JEALOUSY (24)
They weren’t upset because these men offended Christ,
They were upset because James and John thought of it first.
These men wanted that position and it aggravated them
That James and John would ask for it first.
Jealousy is also an indicator of ambition.
Just because a person stays in a low position
Doesn’t mean he isn’t ambitious,
It only means he lacks opportunity to climb the ladder.
I could stay in Spur the rest of my life and still be selfishly ambitious,
It would just indicate that I never got an opportunity.
But if I am continually jealous of pastor’s with large churches,
Wishing I had what they had, that is still selfish ambition.
Listen to what James said:
James 3:13-16 “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.”
Jealousy is just as bad.
And when those two are present “there is disorder and every evil thing.”
The Christ’s Ambition: Suffering The Carnal Ambition: Self
#3 THE CHRISTIAN AMBITION: SUBMISSION
Matthew 20:25-28
And you will notice that Jesus first reveals to them
That their ambition is not godly, but worldly.
(25) “But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.”
That is exactly what James and John wanted.
They wanted authority.
They wanted to be able to boss people around.
And they didn’t learn that from studying God’s word,
They learned that from following the pattern of the world.
Then comes Jesus’ correction.
(26-28) “It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Now notice what He said.
• If you want to be “great” then be what? A “servant”
• If you want to “first” then be what? A “slave”
See the lower you become the higher you ascend.
The greatest are those who serve, and the absolute greatest
Are those who completely relinquish all rights in order to do so.
And this is the Christian Ambition.
Not to ascend to some level of control over someone else,
But to purposely descend to a level of service to someone else.
WHY IS THAT THE CHRISTIAN AMBITION?
Because that was Jesus’ ambition.
“just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
That is what a Christian seeks.
AND THAT IS SO OFTEN NOT THE WAY IT IS IN THE CHURCH.
I’ve had the luxury of being a member of 5 different churches in my life,
And I can tell you it is discouraging how far off we can be in this.
• I’ve seen people literally start fights and bring division in the church simply because they wanted to be on the finance committee, and wouldn’t serve on any other committee.
• I’ve seen men get mad and leave the church because they were never “promoted to the office of deacon”
(Which is a farce, the word deacon means “servant”
And to be a deacon the right way you certainly don’t get promoted into to it.)
Every time a person becomes a deacon they ought to go home and say,
“I got demoted today, they made me a deacon”.
But I’ve seen men fight to become one
And then walk around with their nose in the air.
• I’ve seen pastor’s leave because they didn’t get enough money or because they weren’t treated with enough respect.
• I’ve seen women fight over the chance to sing special music and pitch a fit if they weren’t selected enough.
• And more times than I can count I’ve heard people complain about what a pathetic job someone else in the church is doing. No matter if it is preaching or singing or teaching or cleaning.
And it is foreign to Christianity as Jesus desired it.
• He wanted Christians to fight to serve.
• He wanted Christians to delight in little or no recognition.
• He wanted Christians to promote others and recognize them.
• He wanted Christians to seek out the low places not the high ones.
Luke 14:10-11 “But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Why do you think Jesus washed the disciples feet and then said:
John 13:12-17 “So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”
It is not the high and mighty that are great, it is the servant.
And the Christian’s ambition is not to gain authority over someone But rather to put themselves under someone else’s authority.
Those are the greatest, those are the first.
Most of the time today the servants stay in the shadows,
But it won’t be that way in heaven.
In heaven the Pam Goodall’s will be great.
Won’t ever preach or sing a special or play an instrument, but she’ll clean your house when you are sick and paint a room if you’ll pick the color.
In heaven the Joe Fincher’s will be great.
Won’t ever preach a sermon or put his name in the bulletin, but will mow your grass if you need it, or wipe down tables if they are dirty, or help you do any other project you have.
In heaven the Rita Harris’s will be great.
Can’t make her get on the stage or let herself be seen, but she’ll work beside you on any project and will pray for you without ceasing and will support you in whatever you do.
And I’m sure I embarrassed them royally because they all hate recognition.
And then there is the flip side.
• The person sitting in here who was hoping like crazy I would call their name…
• The person who gets upset because they didn’t get recognized…
That is the difference between being great and wanting greatness.
The disciples missed it completely and we do too most of the time.
To want recognition and respect and authority and honor and clout,
That is “earthly, natural, demonic”
But to forsake all that and purposely seek the lowest of spots
Without recognition if only you will be able to serve someone else,
That is Christ-like.
“demonic” or Christ-like?
It is revealed by the focus of your ambition.
Learn to make it your ambition to be like Christ and not like this world.
Matthew 20:16 “So the last shall be first, and the first last.”
