Casting crowns.

Miss California, Carrie Prejean, during the 2009 Miss USA pageant, was asked whether or not she believed all states should legalize same-sex marriage. The obvious leader for most of the pageant, she was put in a difficult situation. Now if this was a cartoon, this would be the part where a little devil Carrie and a little angel Carrie show up bickering on either of her shoulders. She knew what answer would satisfy judge Perez Hilton (asking the question), and certainly one little deviance from the Bible – the stronghold of her worldview – couldn’t hurt. She might even reason that the fib was a necessary one, to garner her crown and title, in which case she had even bigger opportunities to serve God.

"Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not"

- Jeremiah 45:5

I’ve been contemplating the difference between God-centered ambition and self-centered ambition lately. Is it wrong to do things for your own benefit? What makes something self-centered? It is possible to do something for both God and yourself? J. Oswald Sanders writes:

“No doubt, Christians must resist a certain kind of ambition and rid it from their lives. But we must also acknowledge other ambitions as noble, worthy, and honorable. [Jeremiah 45:5] provides a warning for sorting out the difference. When our ambition carries out a burning desire to be effective in the service of God – to realize God’s highest potential for our lives – we can keep [this verse] in mind and hold [it] in healthy tension.”

Seeking goals that benefit you isn’t a sin…necessarily. But where do you draw the line?

Before Carrie could answer Perez, she first had to answer a question within herself, “Do I want to honor God more, or wear that crown more?” She had to answer truthfully to honor God, because God never gives us a temptation we can’t handle (1 Cor 10:13), so there is no excuse for sin. Had she chosen to “white lie,” she would compromise her integrity and obedience to God, revealing her intentions to be self-centered.

"It is motivation that determines ambition’s character."

Ms. Prejean ended up answering truthfully, speaking against same-sex marriage, while acknowledging it as her choice among other choices. “I did not want to offend anybody,” she commented in a later interview, “but I think with that question specifically, it's not about being politically correct. For me it was being biblically correct…[winning] wasn't what God wanted for my life that night.” And God’s plan for her is being revealed as a better one.

You see sometimes God has a plan for you that's better than yours, and in obeying His word you'll find it. She’s gained more attention for that decision than she would have had she compromised and won Miss USA…which ended up going to…um…I forget.