{"id":6936,"date":"2018-10-16T07:11:26","date_gmt":"2018-10-16T12:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=6936"},"modified":"2018-10-09T16:09:13","modified_gmt":"2018-10-09T21:09:13","slug":"october-21-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/october-21-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"October 21, 2018–Ambition"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Hougen, Elkins Park, PA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Warm-up Question<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are your ambitions? Name three: one ambition you have for this week, one ambition you have for this year, and one ambition you dream of fulfilling in your lifetime.<\/p>\n

Ambition<\/strong><\/p>\n

All of us have ambitions: goals we are working toward, hopes for the future, dreams of success. Our ambitions can be good or evil, noble or crass. Ambition can lead to addressing the root causes of violence and building a better community. And, ambition can lead predators to boast of how many victims they\u2019ve lured into bed. Ambitions can express our best selves or something less. They can contribute to the common good or fulfill our most shameful selfish desires. I knew two families who seemed to be in competition for which would adopt the most children with special needs. I admired them greatly.<\/p>\n

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In American culture today, competition is everywhere. Ambition is defined as wanting to win, to come out on top, to be the best. Children vie for their parents\u2019 attention. Families plan everything else around youth sports schedules. Network television seems dominated by series that start with auditions and end with a winner. We each have our<\/em> teams, our<\/em> candidates, our<\/em> favorite competitors. When we aren\u2019t competing ourselves, we are cheering for those with whom we identify. When our side wins, we feel like we have won too. They are in the limelight and we bask in their glory.<\/p>\n

It is a challenge for those of us who are spiritual to align our ambitions with the values of our faith. It may be harmless to indulge in the competitive games people play, but if we are true to our faith, our focus will be elsewhere. As Christians, our ambition should be to imitate Christ who revealed the God-given potential of life in this world. This does not mean we should aspire to wearing robes and performing miracles. It means we should open our minds and hearts to becoming aware of God\u2019s presence with and within us. It means we should use our brains, muscles, and empathy to help others. It means our ambitions will include seeking and speaking the truth, offering and accepting forgiveness, peace-making, befriending the marginalized, binding up what is broken, and mending creation.<\/p>\n

Discussion Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n