Despite what you may have heard, ambition isn’t a bad word.
In the era of “servant leadership” (a good term woefully misapplied), we think anybody who wants to be a leader is suspicious. Authority is solely derived from the consent of the governed, power is bad, etc.
The ideal leader, then, is the man we have to beg and press into service, who says “Aw shucks, me? Are you sure?”
We tell men ambition is bad and then we’re baffled when we don’t have any leaders to appoint.
Not only does this approach fail to produce leaders; it’s just not biblical.