Christians sometimes get queasy when talking about ambition. It can sound too much like the pride and presumption of the Greco-Roman world that Christianity sought to displace and transform. The Romans yearned for honor, grandeur, and glory, but Christ taught us to be humble. Christians strive to be faithful, not to be successful – so the argument goes. But there are good reasons for a Christian to keep the concept of success, provided it is rightly understood. In its most virtuous form, striving for success is the refusal to squander gifts, opportunities, and resources one has received and instead to build upon those endowments toward the attainment of some noble good. This form of nobility and human grandeur fits squarely within the Christian moral life, though Christians have often had to argue for this point against their detractors.
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