Close

How to Know God

Do you ever wonder what Christians believe? Who Jesus is, what he did and why it matters? Get answers to these questions and more.

Spiritual Growth

Take the next step in your faith journey with resources on prayer, devotionals and other tools for personal and spiritual growth.

Life & Relationships

Explore resources to help you live out your life and relationships in a way that honors God.

Bible Studies

Find resources for personal or group Bible study.

Share the Gospel

Learn to develop your skills, desire and ability to join others on their spiritual journeys and take them closer to Jesus.

Help Others Grow

Help others in their faith journey through discipleship and mentoring.

Leadership Training

Develop your leadership skills and learn how to launch a ministry wherever you are.

Video

Browse videos designed to help you grow spiritually, share your faith, and lead others well.

Language Resources

View our top Cru resources in more than 20 languages.

Quizzes & Assessments

Have some fun taking various quizzes and assessments to learn about yourself and others.

Campus

Helping students know Jesus, grow in their faith and go to the world to tell others.

City

Reflecting Jesus together for the good of the city.

Inner City

Partnering with urban churches to meet physical and spiritual needs.

Athletes

Striving to see Christ-followers on every team, in every sport and in every nation.

Families

Equipping families with practical approaches to parenting and marriage.

High School

Reaching students and faculty in middle and high school.

Military

Bringing hope and resources to military families worldwide.

Locate Cru Near You

Explore Cru's global presence and discover how you can get involved in communities worldwide.

Events

Whether you're interested in conferences or local gatherings, there's an opportunity for you. Explore upcoming events and find your place to serve and grow.

Mission Trips

Explore domestic and global mission trips with Cru—serve, grow, and make an eternal impact. Opportunities for students, families, and professionals.

Internships

Explore Cru's internship opportunities—serve globally or locally, develop your skills, and make an eternal impact. Apply today!

Careers

Explore full- and part-time ministry careers with Cru—use your skills to impact eternity. Apply today!

Volunteer

Explore volunteer opportunities with Cru and use your skills to impact lives for eternity.

International

Explore global mission opportunities with Cru—serve, grow, and make an eternal impact.

What We Do

How we seek to journey together with everyone towards a relationship with Jesus.

Donor Relations

Answers to questions on donations, financial policies, Cru’s annual report and more.

Statement of Faith

What we believe about the gospel and our call to serve every nation.

Our Leadership

Learn about Cru's global leadership team.

Cru Partnerships

When the global church comes together then powerful things can happen.

Values

Leading from values so others will walk passionately with God to grow and bear fruit.

Storylines

Showing God in action in and through His people.

Press

Access Cru's latest news releases, media contacts, and background information on our global ministries and leadership.

Contact Us

mailto:Donation.Services@cru.org

0

Redeeming Ambition Part 1: Is Wanting Greatness Wrong?

I jogged into the high school newspaper room just months before my graduation.

Clutching my cell phone, I exclaimed, “I’m going to D.C.!” I’d just received the phone call.

I had been selected to go to Washington, D.C., with a group of high school seniors from across the country, representing student journalists on the rise.

I’d worked tenaciously to get here. I wanted both to help the world and be skilled at my craft. I wanted to be among the good. Or even among the great.

But in college, something happened: The gospel started to make sense to me.

Two years after D.C., in a coffee shop I frequented, I confided to a friend, “I think my ambitions are selfish.”

I knew how hard I worked and how much I liked being the best. But now I also knew that sharing Christ’s love was the best purpose to live for.

The next year, I’d poured my energy into ministry and learning to share my faith, when I met a Christian editor who stopped me in my tracks.

After telling him about my journalistic background, I said, “But I think I’m going to be a missionary, instead.”

“Are you going to be a journalist, too?” he prodded.

“Well, I just realized a lot of my motives were very ambitious.”

“Well, what’s wrong with ambition?” he asked me.

I didn’t know what to say.

Ambition: Going after what we want

Dictionary.com defines ambition as “an earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honor, fame, or wealth, and the willingness to strive for its attainment.”

Ambition is eagerly pursuing what we want.

The Bible says much about striving and desire, but it’s not all straightforward. Some passages seem to emphasize freeing oneself from ambition (like Philippians 2:3), while others endorse endeavoring for certain goals (like Hebrews 12:1).

But there are certain ideas about ambition we can automatically eliminate as we search for the truth.

What I Know to be False About Ambition

Fallacy 1: “God exists to make our dreams come true.”

This false gospel is preached all over the world. But God is zealous for His glory, not our own.

In Isaiah 48:11, He says, “For My own sake, for My own sake, I do it, for how should My name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.”

Fallacy 2: “All ambition is bad ambition,” or “God doesn’t want me to dream.”

While not all ambition is good, the Bible entreats us toward specific ambitions. When Paul uses the Olympics as a metaphor, it affirms striving toward worthy goals.

He says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

Fallacy 3: “Certain activities – like preaching – are good ambitions, but others – like sports or business – are worldly.”

God made each of us with different talents and desires to reflect Him in different ways. Some worship God in art, others in parenting, and others preach; but all have a worthy contribution.

Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

The Truth About Ambition

Ambition is a drive toward something; there is an end goal, a prize. The truth is that everyone is ambitious; we’re all pursuing some idea of greatness.

It may not look the same. Some people are pursuing comfort. Some are pursuing fame. Some are pursuing wealth.

There is an ugly side to ambition: one that pursues an end that does not honor God. But there is also a beautiful side.

In Matthew 13:44, Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

We are ambitious creatures, sacrificing for what we believe is great. Because, as believers, we are in Christ, He is redeeming that drive.

What’s Next?

How can we tell the good and the bad ambition apart? How can we be sure our ambition is beneficial, not destructive? Learn more in Redeeming Ambition, Part 2.

For more, read Rescuing Ambition by Dave Harvey.

Since 1951, Cru has helped individuals who grapple with integrating faith into daily life by offering practical steps and community support. As a result, countless people in over 190 countries have been empowered to move from passive belief to active faith.