ABEng.Com FCG Blog
Monday, December 3, 2007
Blind Ambition
This passage is taken from the book "God Came Near" by Max Lucado.
BLIND AMBITION
Their dream was a tower. A tower that would be taller than anyone had ever dreamed. A tower would punch through the clouds and scratch the heavens. And what was the purpose of the tower? To glorify God? No. To try to find God? No. To call people to look upward to God? Try again. To provide a heavenly haven of prayer? Still wrong.
The purpose of the work caused its eventual abortion. The method was right. The plan was effective. But the motive was wrong. Dead wrong. Read these minutes from the "Tower Planning Committee Meeting" and see what I mean: "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in theheavens, and [watch out] let us make a name for ourselves." (Gen 11:4)
Why was the tower being built? Selfishness. Pure, 100% selfishness. The bricks were made of inflated egos and the mortar was made of pride. Men were giving sweat and blood for a pillar. Why? So that somebody's name could be remembered.
We make heroes out of people who are ambitious. We hold them up as models for our kids and put their pictures on the covers of our magazines.And rightly so. This world would be in sad shape without people who dream of touching the heavens. Ambition is that grit in the soul which creates disenchantment with the ordinary and puts the dare into dreams.
But left unchecked it becomes an insatiable addiction to power and prestige; a roaring hunger for achievement that devours people as alion devours an animal, leaving behind only the skeletal remains ofrelationships.The classic examples of nearsighted tower builders come to mind quickly. You'll recognize them, perhaps too well.
The husband who feeds his career with twelve-hour days, flightschedules, and apologies for being gone so much. "But it's just amatter of time, and I'll get my feet on the ground."
The social-conscious mother of three who never misses a chance toserve on a committee or attend a luncheon. "It's all for a good cause," she fools herself.
"I'll only need to do it this once," justifies the salesman as he lies about his product. Anything to get to the top of the tower.
BLIND AMBITION
Their dream was a tower. A tower that would be taller than anyone had ever dreamed. A tower would punch through the clouds and scratch the heavens. And what was the purpose of the tower? To glorify God? No. To try to find God? No. To call people to look upward to God? Try again. To provide a heavenly haven of prayer? Still wrong.
The purpose of the work caused its eventual abortion. The method was right. The plan was effective. But the motive was wrong. Dead wrong. Read these minutes from the "Tower Planning Committee Meeting" and see what I mean: "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in theheavens, and [watch out] let us make a name for ourselves." (Gen 11:4)
Why was the tower being built? Selfishness. Pure, 100% selfishness. The bricks were made of inflated egos and the mortar was made of pride. Men were giving sweat and blood for a pillar. Why? So that somebody's name could be remembered.
We have a name for that: blind ambition. Success at all cost. Becoming a legend in one's own time. Climbing the ladder to the top. King of the mountain. Top of the heap. "I did it my way."
We make heroes out of people who are ambitious. We hold them up as models for our kids and put their pictures on the covers of our magazines.And rightly so. This world would be in sad shape without people who dream of touching the heavens. Ambition is that grit in the soul which creates disenchantment with the ordinary and puts the dare into dreams.
But left unchecked it becomes an insatiable addiction to power and prestige; a roaring hunger for achievement that devours people as alion devours an animal, leaving behind only the skeletal remains ofrelationships.The classic examples of nearsighted tower builders come to mind quickly. You'll recognize them, perhaps too well.
The husband who feeds his career with twelve-hour days, flightschedules, and apologies for being gone so much. "But it's just amatter of time, and I'll get my feet on the ground."
The social-conscious mother of three who never misses a chance toserve on a committee or attend a luncheon. "It's all for a good cause," she fools herself.
"I'll only need to do it this once," justifies the salesman as he lies about his product. Anything to get to the top of the tower.
Blind ambition. Distorted values. The result? Rootless lives bouncing like tumbleweeds through ghost towns. Abandoned dreams. Crumbling homes. Windswept futures. All with one thing in common: a half-finished tower that stands as a stirring epitaph to those who follow. God won't tolerate it. He didn't then and He won't now. He took the"Climb to Heaven Campaign" into His hands. With one sweep He painted the tower gray with confusion and sent workers babbling in all directions. He took man's greatest achievement and blew it into the winds like a child blows a dandelion.
