My friend Andy shared the following quote from CS Lewis yesterday:
Ambition! We must be careful what we mean by it. If it means the desire to get ahead of other people…then it is bad. If it means simply wanting to do a thing well, then it is good. It isn’t wrong for an actor to want to act his part as well as it can possibly be acted, but the wish to have his name in bigger type than the other actors is a bad one…What we call “ambition” usually means the wish to be more conspicuous or more successful than someone else. It is this competitive element in it that is bad. It is perfectly reasonable to want to dance well or to look nice. But when the dominant wish is to dance better or look nicer than others – when you begin to feel that if the others danced as well as you or looked as nice as you, that it would take all the fun out of it – then you are going wrong.
So true isn’t it? Ambition at its worst is a comparitive sin.
It’s not enough to be a strong leader. You have to be the strongest leader.
It’s not enough to be a pretty wife, you have to be the prettiest wife.
It’s not enough to climb the ladder, you have to be at the top of the ladder.
It’s not enough to be a good mom, you have to be seen as the best mom.
It’s not enough to be a good pastor, you want to be known as the best pastor.
You have to constantly see yourself as better , more deserving , and more right than everyone else.
Just dance. Don’t worry about everyone else on the floor.
