The Cost of Ambition: How Striving to Be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse

by Miroslav Volf

New York Times bestselling author Miroslav Volf on why striving for superiority is at odds with the Christian faith

"[A] smart take on a world obsessed with forward motion."--Publishers Weekly

Many people believe that ambition--striving to be better than others--improves us and advances society. But what if it actually makes us worse?

In The Cost of Ambition, world-renowned theologian and award-winning author Miroslav Volf argues that striving for superiority has negative consequences in all domains of life. Instead, we should strive for excellence. Volf explores:

● what Søren Kierkegaard, John Milton, and the apostle Paul say about the cost of ambition
● how we can achieve excellence rather than strive for superiority
● how to stop being plagued by our own sense of inferiority to others
● why Christians must retrieve a humbler way of life

Volf also examines what the teachings of Jesus and the stories in Genesis say on the matter. Volf explains how striving to be better than others devalues our achievements, surroundings, and relationships by turning them into mere means to an empty goal. This pursuit, though widely accepted in modern life, is at odds with key Christian convictions.

After exposing the toxicity of ambition, Volf uses contemporary examples to guide us toward striving for excellence.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theology, Christian, Christian Living, Self Help

206 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 20, 2025

About the author

Miroslav Volf is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and the founding director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. “One of the most celebrated theologians of our time,” (Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury), Volf is a leading expert on religion and conflict. His recent books include Against the Tide: Love in a Time of Petty Dreams and Persisting Enmities, and Exclusion & Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation—winner of the 2002 Grawmeyer Award in Religion.

沃弗

Reviews

[Alfred van de Weg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een beter boek over deze thematiek heb ik nog niet gelezen. Krachtige argumentatielijnen, verrassende inzichten over dit actuele onderwerp. Een boek dat wakker schudt en tot zelfinzicht leidt. Een Nederlandse vertaling is onderweg.

[Richard Propes · Rating 5 out of 5]

By now, it's no secret that I'm a fan of world-renowned theologian and award-winning author Miroslav Volf. I discovered Volf because of my life for for Jurgen Moltmann, under whose guidance Volf received two advanced degrees.

If you know me well, you likely know that John Hiatt has long been one of my favorite musical artists. Over many years, Hiatt's music has served as a healer in my life and as a constant companion. In many ways, the same is true for the theological writing of Miroslav Volf.

With "The Cost of Ambition: How Striving to Be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse" explores why ambition is at odds with the Christian faith and why the quest for superiority has negative consequences in pretty much all areas of our lives.

Volf has long been recognized as a bridge-building theologian. I first discovered him with "End of Memory" and have devoured his writings ever since. He was a theologian to whom I reached out after a limb loss a few years ago (and he actually responded!). As it was for many, Volf's "Exclusion and Embrace" was a life-changing book.

Here, Volf writes accessibly and in a way I found somewhat convicting about how we can achieve excellence instead of striving for superiority. Furthermore, he dives into how we can end the cycle of feeling inferior to others while also pursuing a humbler way of living. He does a deep dive into how Kierkegaard, John Milton, and the apostle Paul all talk about the cost of ambition and drives hime again and again that seeking to be better than others is at odds with key Christian convictions.

Gently and with tremendous wisdom, Volf guides us toward excellence without that excellence needing to be better or the best. Time and again throughout "The Cost of Ambition," I found myself resonating with Volf's words and reflecting upon those areas of my life where the desire for superiority seems to cause me to surrender less and seek to control more.

I've never experienced a Volf writing that I didn't truly love. The same is true here. A relatively brief writing, "The Cost of Ambition" arrived at a time only weeks after my ordination as a deacon and my occasional overwhelming feeling I should "prove" myself and strive to be "best." Instead, I think Volf would say, I should strive for excellence and serve God with all my heart, mind, body, and soul surrendered to how I am to serve.

As always with Volf, perfect timing for yet another wonderful book from one of my very favorite authors.

[Peter Van Os · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend!!


Edit: decided this deserved a bit more of a review

This topic is so relevant to almost any school/work/social setting that it blows my mind how little attention it gets. Tim Keller touches on some of the same threads in the Freedom of Self Forgetfulness but Volf’s use of Kirkegaard, Milton, and Paul adds so much. Not a low-effort read but definitely approachable enough to get some valuable insight from a single reading.

A few points I particularly liked were his differentiation of striving for excellence versus superiority and his explanation of Kirkegaard’s lily metaphor.

Liked the Kirkegaard and Milton chapters the best (definitely some beneficial context from Philosopher of the Heart), the chapter on Paul felt like a bit more of a stretch.

[Jason Albertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cost of Ambition is an accessible and understated contribution to the theology of the Christian life.

I want to write like Volf when I grow up. I always appreciate how methodically he considers the questions he writes about. He makes it easy to follow his reasoning, and he weaves in the thinking of others in a way that draws on primary sources so you hear their voices too, but summarizes the context so knowledge of the primary sources isn't required to follow the argument.

What's the harm in striving for superiority over others? This book explores this question from several vantage points. Paul, Milton and Kierkegaard are the main conversation partners, but some of Volf's other long-time friends chime in (Luther, Barth, Bonhoeffer, Nietzsche, Rousseau).

In considering this question, Volf also discusses God's actions in relation to human actions, and what faith in Jesus requires us to revise in our thinking about what is truly admirable.

"The appeal to revelation, to the presence of Christ and the Spirit removing the appearance of foolishness from God’s wisdom, is ultimately an invitation to trust. The way of Christ, his and his followers’ “descent” into service, cannot be intellectually and fully secured from without. Those who approach it without the Spirit and outside the “mind of Christ” will likely be “unable to understand” it (1 Cor. 2:14). The eyes of those who embrace Christ in the power of the Spirit will be opened, and they will recognize him as the crucified Lord of glory. In the same act, they will also discover themselves as the people whose glory and true excellence is to treat each other as if the other were more important than they are themselves. To such, another kind of glory, and a lasting one, is promised as well."
p. 141

This is worth a read. Quietly, without being controversial, it has built a new wing in my understanding of Jesus' glory and human worth.

The only thing I would've wished for in this book is a bit more description of the pursuit of excellence that Volf sets up as the alternative lifestyle to the pursuit of superiority. This lack doesn't detract from the persuasiveness of his argument, but it's the one piece that would've made this work feel complete.

I received a NetGalley ARC from the publisher free of charge.

[Levi Moberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cost of Ambition: How Striving to be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse by Miroslav Volf is an excellent and readable contribution that should hopefully find an audience both among lay parishioners and professional academics. Volf’s basic premise begins with a simple claim that the striving to better ourselves for superiority over another is a moral evil. Volf begins his book by describing the difference between striving for excellence (an exercise that is devoid of value statements) and striving for superiority (in which one strives for excellence so as to be perceived better than others). Volf comes in his introduction to make the claim that the purpose of his book is not so much to just look at how striving for superiority may cause social discord or potential advancement, but rather how it creates moral evils in us. The body of the book then contains 4 self-contained chapters that each examine an academic and their writing on this topic it across several disciplines. Volf begins with Kierkegaard, specifically honing in on his piece The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air. In Volf’s reading of Kierkegaard, he notes all of the ways in which the theme of jealous comparison works in the interaction of the Lily and the Bird. This of course leads t the eventual downfall of the Lily as it succumbs to the fatal wound of jealousy. The third chapter then moves to discussing the role of superiority in Satan and Eve in Milton’s depictions of them in Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. The last two chapters of the book center in on the Apostle Paul and his writings on superiority in Romans, Philippians, and 1-2 Corinthians. His theological insight here is erudite and well-reasoned. The book then ends with a concluding chapter on the theme of superiority in the Gospels and Hebrew Scriptures and a short list of summative statements.
Volf crafts an engaging and exciting book that left me wanting more. Ultimately, I am not equipped to comment on the quality of his interpretation of Kierkegaard and Milton, but I am able to vouch for the quality of his use of Paul and the Hebrew Scriptures. As I walk away from this book, I am struck by the unadulterated call Volf leaves his reader with to imitate Christ and in kenotic fashion, divest themselves of their innate and sinful need for superiority over one another. Living in Western Capitalism, we have not only made a god to competition and strength, but also made it a necessity. I hope this book will encourage other readers to deeply consider that the call of Christ leads us to divest ourselves for the need of superiority. The need to have more. The need to accomplish more. The need to be seen as better. It all fades in the vision of Christ’s kingdom. Ultimately, The Cost of Ambition is high, according to Volf, but this well-reasoned book has left much food for thought as it brings together three unlikely conversation partners to provide a tentative way forward. I love this book.

I did receive a free ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Rylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The readers of the apostle Paul's letters will notice in Paul the habit of "naming" sin. Paul's exhortations do not stop with a generalized admonition to put abstract sins to death but particular sins: sexual immorality, greed, anger, malice, slander, filthy language and so on. As Sinclair Ferguson has remarked, Paul is not so much a part of the "name it and claim it" movement but the name it and kill it. Volf's The Cost of Ambition is an exercise in naming a sin, while by no means unique to our age, certainly exacerbated in an age of digital proflicity and attention. In sum, a helpful reflection on how sin twists the good of 'striving for excellence' into a 'striving for superiority.'

[John Minch · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, complex, well cited, critically thought reminder of Philippians 2:3-4. He acknowledged that although present through all of human history the temptation to strive for superiority, distinct from striving for excellence by virtue of the fact that excellence does not need peers to surpass, is on the rise and being lauded as a virtue since concepts of "survival of the fittest" have entered the western intellectual tradition as virtuous.

[Griffin Gooch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely thankful that Baker was willing to send me an advanced copy of this book. The Cost of Ambition may be my favorite title in Volf’s bibliography.

Full review on Substack:

https://open.substack.com/pub/griffin...

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good in explaining the differences between pursuing excellence and pursuing superiority, and in telling what the Bible says about each. However, it wasn't as helpful as I had hoped. There are a few examples and applications, but I would've liked more application, especially related to balancing ambition and contentment.

For examples of sinful pursuit of superiority, the book references how Satan and Eve are portrayed in Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained rather than referencing what the Bible says about them. It boggles my mind that a Christian author would use highly speculative, largely fictional accounts as a source, rather than the Bible.

Notes
"O Solomon, I Have Outdone You!"
Striving for excellence
• Striving to become better in some way; to be better than oneself
• Compares performance against an objective standard or personal goal
• Any comparing performance to others is for purpose of pursuing excellence (improving oneself)
• Any competition involves respect of competitors; motivates to improve oneself
• Goal: achieve some good regardless of how one compares to others

Striving for superiority
• Striving to be better than someone else
• Compares performance against others for purpose of being better than them
• Doesn't necessarily involve improvement
• Competition involves trying to outperform competitors to demonstrate superiority
• Goal: be better than someone else by a certain amount

The Worry of Comparison (Kierkegaard)
To achieve joy and contentment with yourself, focus on your humanity rather than your differences from others. Base your identity on your relationship with God, not on your achievements.

2 types of comparisons
1. Affirms other person's superiority in a certain way; one strives to be like them in that way. One is content with oneself, not envious.
2. Restless comparison with another person; one strives to be superior to them in that way. Involves self-deprecation, feeling inferior, discontentment.

It's good to desire a job in which you can imitate Christ, serve others, exercise your calling, but don't base your identity on it.

Satan's Aspiration (Milton)
We shouldn't seek our own glory, but God's (Jn 8:50). We shouldn't seek the praise of others, but of God (Job 1:8).

It's appropriate for God to seek His own glory because He created all things. All creatures owe their existence to Him. God doesn't need anything from any creature; the giving glory to God is to show His goodness to other creatures.

"Outdo One Another in Showing Honor" (Paul)
We shouldn't strive for superiority, or even to be better than others in morally admirable ways (Phil 4:5-6). We should imitate Christ's humility and recognize that we've received God's grace freely. We should strive for excellence and mutual honoring of others.

From Jesus to Genesis: On Biblical Discomfort with Striving for Superiority
When Jesus said first will be last, and last first (Mk 9:35), He didn't mean inferiority is new superiority. That wouldn't have ended disciples' argument. He meant superiority is the wrong goal.

Conclusion: Against Striving for Superiority—Twenty—Four Theses
Striving for success doesn't remove one's sense of inferiority and increase self-worth. Any superiority gained is fragile, susceptible to loss at any moment. Self-worth must be established apart all comparisons.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: Ambition diminishes us while a life of excellence with proper humility ennobles us and enriches our relationships.

It probably starts early. We start comparing ourselves to others. How athletic, or how smart, or how attractive, or thin. Then as we get older we measure superiority by our net worth, how many people are “under” us, by the powerful we have access to. We’re often taught that ambition is a good thing. Theologian Miroslav Volf argues that such striving demeans both us and the good after which we competitively strive. It is meaningless–how important will our follower counts be on our deathbeds? Not only that, our ambitions usually focus on only one aspect of our humanness, and that of others. Our efforts to be superior to others ignore both their uniqueness and our own.

Yet we must ask if there is something to these strivings. Volf proposes that instead of superiority, we strive for excellence. Instead of being perceived as superior by others, we can simply strive to be superior, whether it is noticed or not. Excellence answers to our deepest passions as well as the world’s need.

Volf develops his exploration of ambition through the writing of Kierkegaard, Milton, and the Apostle Paul. Kierkegaard celebrate human difference and the glory of our mere humanity. Then he explores Milton’s Satan, his striving of superiority over God, his resentment of the Son, and how he offered the same temptation to Eve. In contrast to Satan, God’s glory consists not in his superiority over his creatures but his seeking of their good.

Then Volf devotes two chapters to the Apostle Paul. Firstly, he notes Paul’s injunction to “outdo one another in showing honor” that reflects the new mind we have in Christ. Secondly, he considers Paul’s question: “What do you have that you did not receive?” He observes how Christ lowered himself to raise us all to glory. For what can we strive that we do not already possess in Christ?

Finally, Volf considers both the central figure of God’s story, and the beginnings of that story. He considers Jesus who did not come to “lord it over” others but to serve. Then he turns back to Israel, and her progenitor, Abraham. Neither was called because of their superiority, but simply because God intended to do good to them and through them. Lastly, Volf summarizes his argument with twenty-four theses that crystallize his critique of ambition and the ennobling character of humble excellence.

It seems that this is a book we might read during through the different seasons of life. In youth, it serves as a warning to alert one of the siren call of ambition. At mid-life, when despite our best efforts, we realize we may have been climbing the wrong ladder, it points the way to Christ’s downward path. Later in life, it reminds us of the intrinsic joy of generativity, of using all one has to bless others. And in the last years, we are reminded that it was all of grace.

Sadly, this is not the journey of some, who conclude their lives in disillusionment and bitterness. There are those who never stop grasping for superiority, with growing resentment for the younger ones who are overtaking one. That is the cost of ambition. Volf helps us ask whether the cost is worth it. And he shows us a better way.

____________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

[Scott Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Self-interested ambition seems to fuel society in the West. For instance, politicians try to achieve dominance over the opposition; sports figures try to become a "GOAT" - even when the GOATs change every year! Even religious leaders try to be "the man" (and it's usually a man) despite religion's calls for humility. In 1776, Adam Smith saw self-interested motivations as one of the strengths fueling capitalism. Today's society, by and large, admires strivers over those who take a weaker approach. Miroslav Volf, a Christian theologian with a heavy philosophical approach, asks simple questions: Is this good? And is there a better way?

He points out, particularly, how striving to be superior almost always leaves someone else feeling inferior. He instead encourages us to seek excellence over simply becoming the best. Indeed, most of the greatest sports figures who excel way beyond the competition hold this ethic. Look at how swimmer Katie Ledecky tries to shave hundredths of seconds off her time even when no one is near her. She competes with herself, not the person in the other lane. Similarly, coaches tell players to compete to be the best version of themselves instead of simply better than the other side. Is this merely coach-speak, or does this language have some relevance to all our lives?

In this short book, Volf looks at Danish theologian Sören Kierkegaard, author of Paradise Lost John Milton, the first Christian theologian St. Paul, Jesus Christ, and the corpus of the Hebrew Bible to argue for the fallacies of superiority and the innate worth of every human - including when we aren't superior. He ends with 24 theses to suggest a better attitude to take.

This book is aimed towards thought leaders and Christian church leaders. Although it's framed in religious language, its message fits in the public square among philosophical perspectives. Indeed, it's been cited in New York Times editorials, hardly a place within a Christian bubble. I'd suggest business writers should read it, too, to find philosophical support to the idea of servant leadership.

Naked ambition can tear the social fabric apart, and I fear learning of more effects every time I read the newspaper. Volf's counterattack can do something about it, and he strangely enough relies on ancient practices founded in the Christian religion, practices often forgotten by today's religious adherents. Wisely conserving the past's lessons instead of striving for naked power must continue to be a part of our public discourse, and well-articulated voices like Volf's remind us of history's insights.

[Lawrence Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Hoopla) The author does a great job clarifying the difference between striving to be a better human being (kindness, generosity) and striving to be better in a particular profession (baseball, engineer) and striving to be superior in order to look down on another person as he criticizes striving for superiority over others. The author adeptly weaves Christian scriptures, Kierkegaard’s thoughts and John Milton’s Paradise Lost to establish that striving for superiority is not tied to any type of improvement, but rather stems from the need to outdo another person, under the admiring gaze of the group. The striving for superiority needs other for a person to outdo and the presence/gaze of third-parties to witness. Striving for superiority is seeking to offload the pain of inferiority onto another. The ugly underbelly of striving for superiority may involve diminishing our opponent, when we cannot improve ourselves. It may mean deploying falsehood as a weapon, such as when we exaggerate our achievements or diminish the achievement of others. We will lie and pretend we are better than we are to appear superior to others. In that pursuit, the US has seen a pronounced amount of “truth decay”. I love that phrase.

Striving for superiority means that when we strive for superiority in the temporal dissimilarities of the world (e.g. career achievement, size of residence), we may come to believe we have become a better person than the person who has less things. The author explains how modern market economies feed this need for superiority by selling consumers on a need its product can address. He also demonstrates how depression is a malady of inadequacy.

The goal should be to strive for excellence in a culture of mutual honoring. In striving for superiority, my goal is to stand above another, but in striving for excellence my goal is to achieve some measurable good, irrespective of how I compare with others.

The author drops a number of nuggets of wisdom that will easily fit on a T-shirt:

: genuine self-worth is never competitive or competitive

: comparison brings worry

: admiration is a happy relation to superiority.

The most interesting thing I heard in the audiobook involved Kierkegaard’s thought on paganism, and how similar it sounded to feminism: paganism (and feminism) shares an emphasis in a certain dehumanization, because it has no interest in affirming the equal humanity and kinship of all humans. I will look for that theme of dehumanization in 2026 non-fiction that I read.

[Aaronmac · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the discussion of Kierkegaard, Milton, Paul and Genesis/Christ in comparing striving for excellence and striving for superiority as aims in life. I'm curious what this looks like not just from an individual life perspective but in group interactions in pluralistic or multicultural communities. From Volf's precious books on Exclusion and Embrace and Allah, what does it mean for a church/religious community to strive for excellence instead of striving for superiority? What does a church striving for excellence vs. superiority say yes and no to? What do they advocate for and refrain from?

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Being superior to someone else is a nonvalue. It is wrong to make superiority one’s goal and argue about who is the greatest. Striving to be superior to someone else is a vice.” (p. 150).

That quote sums up the point of the book but does not do it justice. Volf acknowledges that many advances come from this striving for superiority but that does not exclude the fact it also brings great harm. From Hebrew and NT texts to Milton and Kierkegaard he points out the folly of thinking we can gain superiority and that it profits us anything even if we could. This explains a great deal of the human condition, especially in our current Western culture and now I see it everywhere.

[John Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Kierkegaard chapter alone is worth the price of admission. There, Volf expounds on Kierkegaard’s concept of “mere humanity,” which is to say, each human being has the same glory, and this glory is incomparably greater than the glory of any distinction we could struggle ourselves into. He further argues that to engage in “competitive striving” is to poison and destabilize relationships with others and the self. The antidote? “Being at one with ourselves in relationship with the God in whom we have our being and before whom we live.”

[Matt Aspinall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think there was anything groundbreaking in this book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. One of my favorite quotes in the book: “Striving for superiority devalues our achievements, surroundings, and relationships by turning them into mere means to an empty goal.” I found the examples of ungodly ambition effective tools to bring home the point.

[Daniel Devries · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first two chapters are good and offer the book’s only concrete and memorable examples: Hagia Sophia, Kierkegaard’s field lily, and Toni Morrison’s Pecola. The rest is a bit of an upside-down iceberg, masterfully not striving to be superior. Okay, I’m being unkind, but for me the book quickly lost its interest—a shame, because the core idea is so appropriate for us all.

[Daniel Mcgregor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do yourself a favor and slow walk this book. Take your time with it, journal through it. If you are in any type of leadership position this will be an important book. Doubly true if you are in church leadership.

[Amanda Opelt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could be a dense read at times, but there were some hugely important takeaways along the way.

[C. McLeish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful and Profound

To a great extent, this book has set me free from the idea of striving and repositioned me to see the value of humility and how I view others.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perceptive and pointed.

[Amanda Mohan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Start and end I really liked but middle was all scripture evidences which was hard to follow for me

[Jlnelso · Rating 5 out of 5]

spot on, useful analysis of an important topic; intellectually engaging