Rescuing AmbitionJust finished Dave Harvey’s new book,  Rescuing Ambition. Ambition is a word freighted with negative connotations. It was the downfall of Satan, Adam, King Saul, Judas, and many other biblical characters. We usually put it in the same bucket with pride, lust, selfishness, etc. However, Harvey makes the point that God created us to be ambitious, but our ambition was to be for his glory. Sin twisted and perverted this noble virtue into something exceedingly ugly, selfish, and unattractive.

Selfish ambition is responsible for most church splits, many failed marriages, and human conflict. The point of Harvey’s book is that, for Christians at least, it doesn’t have to be this way. The first three chapters examine ambition through the lens of creation, fall, and redemption. Chapters four through eleven dissect how the Holy Spirit works in the life of each believer to transform our ambition from something inherently selfish and evil into a humble, unselfish, virtue that labors hard for the glory of God and the success of the local church.

I recommend this book. I wish every Christian would read it, especially aspiring leaders. Unselfish ambition is desperately needed in each local congregation. I think you will find Rescuing Ambition a great aid to that end.

Whether you have read this book or not, give us your thoughts on ambition.