The Quiet AmbitionSample

“Walk Gracefully Toward Outsiders”

The outcome of the quiet ambition, as Paul identifies it in 1 Thessalonians 4, is to "walk gracefully.”

Walking is the preferred metaphor in the Bible for the life of faith. Enoch famously “walked with God” (Genesis 5:24). The Psalms often talk of walking; for instance, “Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth” (Psalm 86:11). And 2 Corinthians puts it straightforwardly: “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). The path through Scripture is a pedestrian crossing.

The Bible will also speak at times of “running the race” (1 Corinthians 9:24; Hebrews 12:1, etc.) and, conversely, resting in God is a common theme (Exodus 31:15; Psalm 127; etc.). Nevertheless, the most common image to describe what it means to trust in Yahweh day to day is walking.

And why should this be? Think about the nature of walking. On the one hand, it’s a means of locomotion; you are moving forward, getting ahead. And yet, on the other hand, you are in no rush or hurry. It’s simply one step at a time, one foot in front of the other. Walking is the natural pace and posture of the quiet ambition.

As with sharks and their necessary swimming, walking is the default way of being for God’s human creatures. In walking, we go forward without getting ahead of the Lord Jesus, who carried out the entirety of his ministry, as others have pointed out, at three miles an hour. By faith we thus travel at Godspeed. As Pastor Matt Canlis puts it in his moving documentary by that title, “We have to slow down to catch up with God.”

And when we walk, Paul says, we walk gracefully. "Gracefully" means not only "elegantly" but also "in a way marked by grace." The witness of Christians consists not in Herculean feats of world-changing but in the humble feet of grace-filled steps.

Now, if you're anything like me, I know what you're thinking. All too often in my "Christian walk," I look less like a ballerina and more like a toddler. I fumble and I stumble and I fall on my face. Occasional flashes of inspiring Christian virtue aside, it often ain't all that pretty.

But what makes Christian witness appealing is not its moral rectitude; rather, it’s when Christians live grace-filled, forgiveness-saturated lives—and in so doing, follow in the gentle walkway of their Lord.

Where do you need to slow down to catch up with God?

Was this Plan helpful? We adapted this Plan from The Quiet Ambition: Scripture's Surprising Antidote to Our Restless Lives by Ryan P. Tinetti. For more information, visit: https://www.ivpress.com/the-quiet-ambition