Ambitious Pastors
by Mark Tidsworth, Team Leader
“Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters, since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ.” -Colossians 3:23-24, NRSV
They aren’t quite sure what to do with themselves…. those ambitious pastors and church staff persons.
This conversation rises to the surface when you coach motivated AND spiritually sensitive pastors and church staff persons. All their lives they were taught to go for it, to prepare themselves well and make the most of their gifts and graces. In other words, they are taught to be ambitious. But then they find themselves serving the church, discovering an ambivalent or even negative view of ambition when it comes to being clergy or church staff. What’s it mean to be ambitious and serve the church at the same time? Is that spiritually possible or responsible? What would Jesus do in these circumstances? Motivated and insightful clergy and church staff people want to know!
This is a complicated topic. Given the space limitations in this article, let’s look at three streams flowing into the ambition river running through many of our coaching clients and ministry partners.
Theology of Vocation
Whatever we find to do, we do it to the glory of God. This seems to be what the Apostle Paul encouraged in his letter to the Colossians noted above. Excellence in our work is a concept we preach and teach in our churches, encouraging disciples of Jesus to visualize God as our “boss,” the one ultimately receiving our gift of work. When seen this way, of course pastors should be ambitious, giving their best to their calling just like those in any other vocation.
Stewardship of self is another theological concept influencing how we see our vocations. From where I sit, it seems God gives us brains, bodies, and spirits and then commissions us to get out there and see what we can make of these gifts. Like the parable of the Ten Pounds in Luke 19, God invests in us so we can invest ourselves in service to God. We want to be found faithful, making the most of the investment God has made in us, effectively stewarding God’s good gifts.
Understanding of Humankind
When I served as a therapist, I wanted to be the best couples therapist I could possibly be. Now, serving as a coach, trainer, and consultant, I want to make the most of what I have to work with. But when serving as a pastor, I was aware of the same hesitancy regarding ambition that clergy express to us regularly. Can we be ambitious AND faithful clergy and church staff persons? It seems that church and denominational cultures discourage any overt expression of ambition. Given this, allow me to note these insights into healthy vocational functioning.
The drive toward excellence is a normal part of being a healthy human being
Motivated people in various professions and workplaces are ambitious, wanting to do the very best they can
Motivated people want benchmarks for their work so they can assess their progress
Ambition is a healthy part of being human, desiring to steward God’s gifts well
Describing the same idea with different words… ambition, the desire to achieve well, is inherent in healthy human beings.
Church Purpose Clarity
Now, this is the place where ambition is channeled toward the sacred….or not. Here is where clergy and church staff can use their ambition for great good or not. There is one spiritual truth that must be embraced first and foremost for ambition to serve God’s purposes:
It’s not about us, it’s about God’s mission.
Our calling is to be ambitious for the gospel, for the mission of God in this world. American consumerism mixed into the church says otherwise. It counsels us to turn our ambition toward the numbers, to get more bodies in the seats, more buildings on the property, and more money in the plate. American consumerism mixed with organizational development says bigger is better. When we swallow these lines then our ambition pushes us to grow the numbers, believing that’s the purpose of the church and we are winners when this happens.
Those who accept that it’s not about us pursue a different agenda: making disciples of Jesus Christ who partner with God toward transforming this world. Sometimes that results in greater numbers while other times it does not.
So, theologically faithful, personally responsible, and vocationally centered clergy and church staff are ambitious for the Way of Jesus. They discover great freedom to openly acknowledge they want to become the best ministers they can be for the sake of the gospel. They are free to call their churches to be the best expression of the body of Christ in their community they can be. They are ambitious in and for God’s kingdom, discovering great vocational satisfaction when they bring their best to bear on their life’s work.
Irenaeus, a wonderful philosopher and theologian in the second century said, “The glory of God is the human person fully alive.” Being fully alive includes healthy ambition. Perhaps it’s time to drop our ambivalence about pastoral ambition, accepting the call to excellence, making our best contributions to God’s movement here on planet earth.