February, 1940
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
S3
Using the Spur of Ambition By K A R L D. HUMM EL Dallas, Texas
secular work and human responsibili ties and became idlers and gossipers. “We hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but as busybodies,” he said. Fol lowing this statement comes the exhor tation "that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.” The actions of those misguided believers had done great harm to the cause of Christ. It is blessedly true that God CAN meet our daily needs in a miraculous way, as He once did for Elijah. But this is not His ordinary way of dealing with His own, even with those that appear to be the most saintly ones. A child of God must be very clearly led of Him if he is to give up his honorable means of livelihood and step out into the realm of “simple faith.” Many well-meaning Christians have brought suffering on their families and upon themselves, to say nothing of the shame thus heaped upon the name of Christ, by willfully “stepping out on faith” when God had never directed them in this practice. God does lead some of His children in the path in which He asked George Mueller of Bristol to walk—but not all. It is honorable in the sight of God to work with one’s hands. When this is God’s will for us, let us work as unto the Lord. And if we are physically able to work, we should never be blinded by the lazy man’s cry that the nation owes
one a living. Paul exhorted and pleaded: “Be ambitious . . . that you may need help from no man.” Ambitious— to Please God In Paul’s soul there was a passion, an ambition, that overruled other long ings. “Wherefore also we are ambitious, whether at home or absent, to be well pleasing unto him” (2 Cor. 5:9, R. V. margin). Here is the ultimate aim for a true Christian. One is reminded of the perfect example of this attitude which is set before us by the Lord Jesus Himself, the One who came not to do His own will, but the Father's, and who could truthfully say, “I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). A further reason is adduced for a Christian’s having this high ambition. While the sin of the believer has been judged and put away forever by the work of Christ, there is a*judgment for the saved, a tribunal before which we must all appear, “the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). If our ambition is “to please him perfectly” (Wey-. mouth), the thought of this judgment will give us little concern. Ambitious— to Pioneer Still another ambition spurred the great apostle. On, ever onward, he pushed, constantly seeking new lands to conquer, riot for an earthly monarch, but rather that he might have precious souls for the Lord of glory. "From Je rusalem, and round about even unto Ulyricum, I have fully preached the gos pel of Christ; yea, being ambitious so to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build upon another man's foundation” (Rom. 15: 19, 20, R. V. margin). What changes would take place if more of God’s servants had this ambi tion! Often in cities in the homeland there seem to be more preachers than churches, men looking for pulpits and not finding them. At the same time, in rural areas and among the poor foreign populations in cities are multitudes who never have heard the gospel. And what shall we say of the waiting millions in China,, in India, in Africa, in South and Central America, yea even in Europe? May God give us this holy vision and make us “ambitious to preach the gos pel, not where Christ was a l r e a d y named.”
A NY man who has amounted to / \ anything—as the world meas- / \ ures greatness—has been fired by ambition. At the same time, it is sad to say, multitudes are pushed on by low, selfish motives. Ambition may serve, either a noble or a worthless purpose. Goals fo r the Christian The Apostle Paul, himself an illus tration of one motivated by a holy pas sion, wrote to believers: “Be it your ambition to live quietly, and to mind your own concerns; and to work with your own hands (as I com manded you ); that the seemly order of your lives may be manifest to those without; and that you may need help from no man” (1 Thess. 4:11, 12, Cony- beare and Howson). Evidently the Apostle had dealt ear lier with the Thessalonian believers on this subject, and in his second letter to them (3:10-14) he again referred to it. It. would appear that, as the gospel came into their lives, with its teaching on God’s provision for daily needs and the blessed hope of the Lord’s hear re turn, some of the converts gave up their [M r. Hummel, who is Secretary of the Central American Mission, is a member of the Class of 1918 at Biola. Mrs. Hummel (Guelph McQuinn) was graduated in 1919. — E ditor .]
Sim Valley, Idaho
Courtesy, Union Pacific Railroad
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