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“And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Gen. 11:4).

These words reveal one of the greatest human ambitions after the days of the flood. It was thwarted by God in confounding the languages. Any motivation that works against the design of God for man must be seen in the negative. God wants what is best for man in spite of what man might pursue to the contrary. Consider three other motivations that need to be avoided due to being vain motivations.

1. Positions of Power. Power and control has been a motive for people since the garden of Eden. Satan deceived Eve into believing that she could have things that God had kept from her. Submitting to the will of God was and is the blessed life, yet people will work against it thinking that self-exaltation is greater. Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Phil. 2:3-4). Jeroboam, the son of Neat, corrupted the worship of Israel due to his motive to keep his position as king (cf. 1 Kings 12:27). Haman could not stand the sight of Mordecai and sought to destroy him and his nation (cf. Esther 3:5-6). Diotrephes is commonly sighted as a grave example of one who sought more for himself than what is authorized (cf. 3 John 9-11). Any lawful position is for serving, not to boost egos and personal agendas.

2. Perception of People. There are times when people are seekers of the approval of men to the sacrifice of what is pleasing to God. Such is illustrated in the words “What will people think and say?” The Bible is filled with illustrations where even good people stumbled. Aaron was confronted by his own brother, Moses, when he said, “What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knows the people, that they are set on mischief” (Ex. 32:21-22). King Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice” (1 Sam. 15:24). Jesus said of the scribes and Pharisees, “But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments” (Matt. 23:5). When outward appearances take precedent, true spirituality wanes.

3. Payment for Reward. Who does not know the expression “Money talks”? Nevertheless, the Bible warns, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:10). Balaam, the soothsayer (cf. Joshua 13:22) sold out for reward. Peter wrote of false teachers in his day, “Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosom, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;” (2 Peter 2:15). Jesus probed the hearts of all with the words, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37). Satan lied about the faithfulness of Job as serving God for what God gave him (cf. Job 1:9). Genuine, Biblical motives are to be sought.

Jimmy Clark