I looked at his motives, I looked at his labors, how he spent himself, and how he gave himself. He wanted to change the world for Christ. You are the best preacher, you’re the best of this or that. Most of the rest of us would be very happy being told you are the best. Although Stott was considered one of the greatest evangelists of his generation, he was far from satisfied with his ministerial success. Mark Labberton, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in California, has said, “The greatest gifts in John’s life were not his talents, it was actually his character.” Tim Keller, commenting on John Stott’s life, believes that we should all be inspired and challenged by Stott’s Kingdom vision and zeal for God’s Kingdom. Despite his influence and the recognition he received during his life, Stott is remembered for his humbleness and dedication in serving the Lord. In 2005, Time magazine named him as one of the “100 most influential people” in the world. The late John Stott was the longtime Rector of All Souls Church, Langham Place in London and the author of over 50 books translated into 65 languages. All of this, and more, becomes obscured and twisted when we let earthly ambition have free reign in us.īut what about Godly ambition? In considering this I was led back to a great theological hero of mine. “Do not act out of selfish ambition or conceit, but with humility think of others as being better than yourselves.” ( Philippians 2:3) Any incursion into sin is going to obscure the clarity of the work of the Holy Spirit within us: the outpouring of His love, the assuredness of God’s mercy, our new identity in Jesus and our calling.
On reflection, perhaps this should have been more obvious to me. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.’ ( Philippians 3: 8-9a).” ‘What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I like it so much better than the other variety. To paraphrase John Gray, ‘.to serve others as if it were my last day upon this earth, and my only purpose is to squeeze the very last drop of the fragrance of Jesus from within me.’ I guess this must be Godly ambition. I now discover a renewed desire to serve. I find that in accepting Jesus' invitation to lay down ‘my’ ambition there is a peace that floods my heart where there was none. “I have had an epiphany: Earthly ambition is the nemesis of Godly anointing.
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