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.
strong post my friend!! love the “just dance, don’t worry about everyone else on the floor”.
What a timely post…this Lewis quote may end up in a message on Sunday.
Thanks
Not to mention it’s futile. There’s always somebody better. Always.
So true Bill.
Great post to start the day, Pete!
Great post, Pete. It’s so hard sometimes not to worry about everyone else on the floor when it feels like you’re the wallflower waiting for someone to ask you to dance. But even then, you shouldn’t worry about them.
wow, I needed that! Thanks Pete!
Reading Tim Keller’s King’s Cross right now, and one of the fascinating things about it so far is the outside-in vs. the inside-out concept. Too often, we get caught up on the external things and never gain happiness. Focus on the internal things – faith, living intentionally, doing from the spirit – and the external things won’t matter as much. You can “just dance.”
Thanks for the post and thoughts!
Loved this, Pete, especially your last two lines. Thanks!!
Jeff
Thank you Jeff. You’ve been a great example of this to me.
That is great pastor pete! love it.
Great post! Man I like being the best, thanks for the reminder.
What a great post to read this morning!
What an awesome quote!
It is so easy to turn something good into something bad if our heart is not in the right place.
“Just dance, don’t worry about anyone else on the floor” Could be trouble if you are told it leads to sex…..
I definitely struggle with worrying about what others think of me or how I compare to others. Another way to describe what you are saying is asking whether or not we are trying to please God or ourselves and others.
I suppose one of the hidden blessings of being sort of an oddball, not really much like anyone else, is that you can’t effectively compare yourself to anyone else. I’m not so much competitive with others as I am with myself to be a better version of me. Some days that’s great, others not so much.
And I don’t know what qualifies as being the “best pastor”, but you’re the best Pete Wilson I know. That’s gotta count for something, right?
See your feeding my comparitive sin.
Just dance….a reasonable solution for just about everything.
What a great quote, and a very poignant response from you as well.
We live in a very competitive society, fueled by an underlying message that we’re never good enough unless we’re “the best”. Thankfully, in the end God sees that we’re all broken, and yet precious in His eyes at the same time.
Sounds like we all win there.
Have a Blessed Day!
Great post, great advice! Now Im going to put it to great use!
P – So tough to articulate these internal battles. I mean, how often would you estimate someone even considers these actions? If they considered, chances are, they would administer change. Love the post and how the knife slowly glides into the gut of the reader. With each line, a little more humanity is revealed. Cheers.