Godly Ambition
2 Timothy 2:1-7
Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin spent ten years researching and writing a book on Abraham Lincoln’s White House years (Team of Rivals). She says she was surprised, through studying his life and character, to discover one quality in particular that stood out as crucial to his greatness: the depth and resolve of his ambition. Lincoln was very ambitious, in the best sense of the word.
There are two entirely different versions of ambition, of course. At its worst, ambition is directed toward a selfish, egotistical pursuit of glory, or wealth, or power--devoid of any higher aspirations or benefit to others. But Lincoln’s ambition had a very different, far nobler quality: he wanted for his life to count for all the right reasons, to leave his mark on the world for good.
During his lowest period, following the death of his fiancée, Lincoln stayed in bed for weeks, seriously contemplating suicide. He confided to a friend that the only reason he didn’t act on that thought was because he knew he hadn’t yet accomplished anything significant enough for his life even to have mattered. He wanted to accomplish something worthwhile with his gifts.
This is also, in effect, what the Apostle Paul writes to his young protege Timothy, encouraging him to leave a legacy worthy of his salvation and the gift of God’s saving love. He wants Timothy to make his own life count for God, to the greatest possible extent. (Read 2 Timothy 2:1-7)
Paul is writing this epistle from a dungeon in Rome shortly before his execution, in what is believed to be his last letter. He’s concerned here with passing the torch to Timothy, and reminding him to entrust it to others, in turn. This is, in fact, the very nature and the history of the Church, consisting of a 2000-year-old chain of disciples who live their faith devoutly and inspire others to do the same. And every one of us is meant to be a link in that chain, for our own lives to carry and pass the torch of God’s love in Christ. King David “served God’s purpose in his generation” (Acts 13:36), and the same is meant to be true of each of us.
Jackie Robinson, the great baseball player who was the first to integrate professional sports, was a devout Christian who lived by a very wise truth that is worth remembering: “The significance of a life is in its impact on the lives of others.” (Repeat.) Each of us has a unique potential to influence others for God, and to leave our mark on the world in ways that will live on beyond our own lifetimes--eventually into eternity. That’s a powerful truth for us to live by.
Paul begins by telling Timothy to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” This is the only time Paul uses that particular phrasing. But what does it really mean, to “be strong in the grace of Christ Jesus”?
First of all, what is grace? Grace is a particular quality of love, full of its kindness, mercy and blessing. It’s the gift of a perfect love we all need, in our fallen human nature: unearned, undeserved, and unexpectedly generous. It’s the purest essence of love, reflecting the heart of the lover beyond everything else. Christ died for us when we were still ungodly, sinners and God’s enemies (Romans 5:6-10). And he continues to love us while we learn what it means to “grow in grace” (2 Peter 3:18).
We’re “saved by grace” (Ephesians 2:8), by God’s perfect, compassionate love--not only at our initial conversion, but in a lifelong, deepening experience of his grace. The unshakable conviction of God’s grace as the essence of Paul’s salvation was dramatically evident throughout his life and ministry. No matter how formidable the challenges he faced, he never questioned God’s saving grace demonstrated through the life and death of Christ. In every circumstance Paul trusted confidently in God’s faithful love, kindness and mercy, always at work for good. He was intensely passionate in his belief that “nothing can ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). No power in the universe is stronger than God’s grace in Christ, or more trustworthy.
Do you remember Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”? He described it as “a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” (Many scholars believe that it might have been a form of eye disease.) “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in hardships, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Paul learned to trust fully and unconditionally in the power of God’s grace to redeem everything for good, even life’s most difficult and challenging circumstances.
A classic Christian book written in 1875 called “The Christian’s Secret to a Happy Life” offers a simple prescription for joy. The ‘secret’ is to live with a “complete dependence and perfect confidence” in the love of God. To “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” is to trust in the presence and the power of God’s faithful, saving love in Christ with complete dependence and perfect confidence.
Paul then continues: “The things you’ve heard me preach and teach in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable persons, who will also be qualified to teach others” (verse 2). He’s really saying, “just as you’ve been entrusted with godly influences in your life, be intentional about leaving your own spiritual legacy. Just as it was imparted to you, pass that blessing on.”
He’s speaking here primarily of the Christian community, sharing our faith and our faithfulness with one another in the Church as the chosen vessel of God’s greatest blessing and his instrument of salvation in the world.
And, of course, we also have opportunities to pass that blessing on through our families, our friends and acquaintances, and others. Families in particular, generally the most intimate of our relationships, are an especially vital means of transmitting the faith. Parents have the sacred honor and responsibility of raising their children in the Lord. And I shudder to think of what the world would be like if it weren’t for all the godly mothers’ and grandmothers’ faithful witness, influence and prayers on behalf of their families.
Nor can we overstate the importance of Christian fathers in setting a powerful, masculine example. In fact, it’s been shown that when both parents are regular church-attenders, their children will grow up to be faithful worshippers two-thirds of the time. But when the father doesn’t intentionally practice his faith, his children will become church-goers just one-third of the time, only half as often. That should be a sobering, motivating realization for every father. A man’s spiritual influence and example are profoundly important to his family, and his children may very well be his most significant and lasting legacy.
And finally, Paul challenges Timothy with a reminder that his godly influence will require a certain level of intentionality on his part. Someone has suggested a new beatitude to this effect: “Blessed are the committed, for they shall make a difference.” Paul uses three very practical examples of commitment and sacrifice to illustrate his point: those of a good soldier, a devoted athlete and a hard-working farmer. In each case, there is a necessary element of commitment to a higher cause beyond themselves.
As Jesus said, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Luke 9:24). There is nothing more worthy of our lives than knowing and sharing the love of God in Christ. It’s the very reason we’ve been created. There is no higher cause, and no greater good in this life. And that’s where we’ll find true joy and fulfillment, beyond our selfish interests and the world’s counterfeit promises.
C.S. Lewis has written about this: “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased” (The Weight of Glory”). We’re here to make our lives count for God, and we can only do that by putting our hearts into it. And as Paul writes, “Stand firm, my dear brothers and sisters. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, for you know that your labor in the Lord is never in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).
There are these three vital teachings in Paul’s parting words to Timothy by encouraging him to live with a godly ambition. May we also apply them to our own lives:
First, “be strong in the gift of God’s saving grace in Christ.” Trust and depend on God’s love in Christ with perfect confidence as the greatest of all possible blessings.
Secondly, just as you’ve been blessed, pass it on through your own influence and example, to impact other lives for God. We all have those unique opportunities.
Thirdly, let this amazing love, this gracious gift of God, be the greatest good and the highest cause in our lives, one worthy of our whole-hearted commitment and devotion. For our labor in the Lord is never in vain.
Amen.
