Have you ever contemplated if what you are pursuing in life is truly part of God’s plan or just Baptized Ambition? As I mentioned in How to Die, I’m grappling with some Big Questions in this Season of Life where I find myself in a state of transition. One moment what I examine communicates the need to develop a Habit of Resilience and stick with a situation, to not allow others to influence me to Abandon My Post. The next moment, what I’m studying seems to allude to living too small and not allowing God to show me what He means by an abundant life. Regardless of which end of the seesaw I happen to be on at the moment, God advocates for developing my resume as a Wrestling Coach by prompting thoughtful and reflective questions such as the one Jeff Haanen offers in Working From the Inside Out: “Was this a calling from God, or had I simply baptized my own ambition?”

Not to generalize too much, but I would opine that many of us employed in Christian higher education aren’t expecting to move into the next tax bracket any time soon. We engage in our calling because there is something Transformissional about guiding college students to find their own callings in this world. There is something deeply moving about being an instrument God can use to help someone Find Their Flame. But at the same time, as Christians, I think we can be susceptible to, as Haanen offers, Baptize our own Ambition.

To avoid being pulled into this idea of Baptized Ambition, of taking our own goals and placing a heavenly calling on them, Haanen asks some challenging questions like the one above and many others. Digging deep, Haanen asks, “Could there be a way to neither disengage from work, nor fall prey to the illusions of success, but instead live a truly, healthy, whole life?” And I think he answers in the affirmative by offering that a flourishing life is one “that integrates and heals my heart and my mind, my work and my relationships, and the world around me…My conviction is that daily work is still central to both personal meaning and public contribution, and work is a way to fulfill Jesus’ Great Commandment to love God and to love others.”

Posing another thoughtful question, Haanen asks, “What’s the recipe for such a vibrant, integrated, [flourishing] life?” And after more than a decade of research and interviews, Haanen outlines five guiding principles that “faith lived out in our working lives” is built around: “seek deep spiritual health, think theologically, embrace relationships, create good work, and serve others sacrificially.” He captures five guiding principles that I believe serve as a strong foundation to the Five Habits of a Flourishing Life. Paired together, when we cultivate healthy habits around these guiding principles, we form, what Pete Scazzero calls, a trellis. “A trellis is a structure for vines to grow on. They don’t cause the plant’s growth; they support the growth. In the same way, spiritual disciplines [including guiding principles and flourishing habits] are the trellis on which the Holy Spirit grows his fruit in our lives.” As we grow and strengthen this trellis, we move away from Baptized Ambition and towards our God-Given Space in this world.

We all have to grapple with the inner work of evaluating our motivations, our habits, and our actions, but I think Haanen captures the idea of flourishing both at work and in our overall lives when he notes, “To live out the gospel in our lives, we need all five [principles and habits]—even those principles [and habits] we’re not especially drawn to. If God’s love lives in us, he will live in our hearts, our minds, our relationships, our work, and our society.”

As I find my life Uprooted at the moment and as I bend my will to His, I pray for strength to withstand any effort by the Enemy to be pulled into this idea of Baptized Ambition. If you have any effective strategies or guiding principles to add to the ones mentioned here, please consider offering those in the comments below. They will be valued and appreciated!

References:

Haanen, J. (2023). Working from the inside out: A brief guide to inner work that transforms our outer world. IVP Books.

Scazzero, G. (2019). The emotionally healthy woman: Eight things you have to quit to change your life. Zondervan.