Judges 9:8 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.
There once was a kingdom of trees who wanted to anoint a king over them. So, they went to the olive tree and said, “Hey, why don’t you be our king?” The olive tree said, “I’m too busy doing good things to reign over you. Right now I’m making olives and by those olives much good is done.” So, they went to the fig tree and said, “Be our king.” The fig tree said, “I’m too busy being fruitful to reign over you.” Then they went to the vine and said, “Reign over us.” The vine said, “I’m too busy producing fruit to be promoted over the kingdom of trees.” Finally, they went to the bramble, the scrub brush, the thorn tree, and said, “Reign over us.” The bramble was happy to do so.
This story was a parable given by a man named Jotham. Jotham’s dad was Gideon, by whom God had given a great victory over the enemies of Israel, the Midianites. Gideon had many wives and more than seventy sons. He also had a concubine who bore him a son named Abimelech. So, Abimelech was the son of a hero father and an overlooked mother, a concubine without the full rights of a wife. The whole situation was sordid and unhealthy.
Abimelech wanted to be important. So, he walked over some people, killed seventy of his brothers, hired vain and light people to follow him, and became the king of the region. That is why the previous parable was told. Jotham is telling this story. While this is a parable, it is based on a true story. You can learn something from this: the kind of ambition that animates you determines whether you cultivate or destroy.
Now unless you are a do-nothing instead of a fruitful tree, you probably have some ambition. Ambition comes in one of two general flavors. It comes in the flavor of “I want power” or it comes in the flavor of “I want to be productive.” It is either “I just want to be somebody” or “I want to be a help and accomplish something.” The kind of ambition you have determines whether you cultivate or destroy.
There are three things that could have been driving Abimelech and animated the kind of ambition he had. The first would be a complex. His dad was a hero and he probably felt that he could never be as great as his dad. His mom, on the other hand, was a concubine. She was overlooked and treated with contempt. Perhaps he wanted to do better than that. In either case, a lot of people have a complex in life. They want to do great things so they can have rank, fame, or power, not so they can help others. That kind of ambition can be destructive. It does not build or cultivate but destroys.
A second motivation can be competition. Abimelech had seventy brother. He ended up killing them. If you are from a large family and you’ve ever been at the table at dinner time, you understand competition. You’ve got to get your food while you can. Perhaps that is where Abimelech was. He wanted to manipulate others and kill because he wanted power instead of being productive and serving other people.
The third motivation that may animate one’s ambition is a calling. Now Gideon was a mighty man of valor because God saw that in him, not because he was a man with native courage. Gideon was not aspiring to be ruler over everyone. In fact, when the Israelites asked him to be king over them, he declined. Gideon was a man who was called by God, by example led a nation, and was used by God to provide victory.
Today, you probably have some ambition. It is natural for us to want to be remembered and to be somebody. That is not completely wrong, but it is like fire; it can be used to warm and to help or it can be used to eat up and to destroy. Are you seeking for power or are you seeking to be productive? Are you seeking to rule people or are you seeking to serve them and lead by example? The kind of ambition that animates you determines whether you cultivate or destroy.