Means and ends

J.D. Hatfield writes cuttingly about person ambition masquerading as service to God:

Too often Christianity or Christian principles are “sold” as the key to getting ahead in life. It is taught that following God’s plan for your life is the way to get the edge you need to be successful. We tell unbelievers that they need to add God to their lives in order to truly shine. We sell weak or make-believe believers the idea that they need to do this or that “scripturally based” plan for prosperity in order to get on with their faith walk.

Of course it is given a Christian veneer such as “being successful will help you to be a better witness” or “better able to help others”. Friends, you cannot baptize self-indulgence into sanctity by starting off a sentence or book with “it is not about you”. It may appease you conscience to think that you want to be successful so that you can glorify God, but in that case your conscience is seared, not cleared. You cannot want improvement for yourself first so that you can then serve God “better”; that is just covering up your own desire for comfort. It isn’t wrong to want comfort and relief, but you are called firstly to serve God no matter what, thanking Him for any and every opportunity you get, despite hardship.

Amen. Christians, I strongly recommend reading J.D.'s whole article.