In a recent Pastors.com article entitled The Seduction of Ambition Lance Witt writes this insightful paragraph:

A healthy soul keeps us both energized and glued together. It seems to me that we are reaping the results of a generation in the church that has been too much about ambition.  And the outcome has been a spike in leaders who are coming “unglued.” I have a growing conviction that it is dangerous to equip young leaders with vision, leadership, strategy, and church growth principles without equipping them to have healthy souls.

I have to agree with his evaluation here. Unfortunately, those with a natural leadership gifting frequently assume that they already know how to have healthy souls and want to move on from “the basics” as quickly as possible. Young aspiring leaders, don’t ignore the fundamentals of solitude, prayer and Bible study! They are more important to get right than you may realize.

He continues with a charge to ministry leaders saying:

When you’ve been in ministry leadership for awhile, you learn how to cloak ambition in kingdom language. You can wrap it in God-talk and sanctify it. This is one reason why it is so important to build solitude into your life. At least for me, it is in those times of listening and quiet when God turns the spotlight of the Holy Spirit onto my ambition. But if I am moving at an insane pace and there is no room in my life for quiet, I will miss the voice of God. And, I will continue on a path of self-deception.

 May God help me, our church leaders, Life Group leaders, Impact Team leaders and all those in any leadership role to see clearly. By His grace may we not become become blind to the corrosive effects of unbridled ambition.