So is it bad to be ambitious?

Having moved into an academic environment relatively late in life, it is fun to watch the faculty politics with an outsider’s eye. Most people perceive life as a professor as protected from the real world. The truth is very different. The treadmill is just the same as any career in industry – first you have to get your PhD, then a job as a professor, then tenure, then to set up your own “center”, then turn it into an institute….and so it goes until you reach your level of incompetence. Everyone outside this cycle is treated with disdain. Those inside bicker and fight for recognition. Sound familiar? Yes, I know this is a glorious generalization and that there are exceptions.

I always thought I was humble and retiring; but recently was forced to admit to myself that I am incredibly ambitious. I enjoy teaching a crowd of my peers and being considered an expert. I can’t deny that I seem to be pretty good at what I do. How can I make this consistent with scriptural principles?

The trick questions are “Who gets the glory?” and “Are you being loving?”

I thank God that I am not on the academic treadmill and that I have boss I can trust, respect and like. I am well aware that I would not have got here without some extraordinary blessings from Him. So who gets the glory? He does. What about the loving part? You will have to ask my colleagues, family and friends.

“Big whoop. Yippee for you,” you say. “My life is a disaster and success is a foreign concept.” Some wisdom I was given very early on was from my boss at the time. I irritated him by being too forward and was told “Be patient – it will all come in time.” This is true to the Bible pattern. Paul spent 14 years between conversion and starting his ministry. Abraham waited a hundred years for the son he had been promised. God does not often hurry.

Not good enough? Another piece of wisdom learned the hard way. My career is looking OK but there or other parts of my life that are a train wreck. It is likely God keeps it that way to make sure that I remember that without Him, all is vanity. I have a friend who I wish I could be like. He spent a year looking for a job, yet the stuff I struggle with he had down. It was good for us to be able to share and support each other – where he was strong, I was struggling, and vice versa. The point? We all have problems. They are different for different people. Enjoy.

Finally. 1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” When is the proper time? When He decides. What sort of exalt? That’s up to Him. Jeremiah 29:11 says (addressing Israel as they are sent into exile) “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” The conditional behind this is that if your desire is for God – you get want you want.