
Miroslav Volf: How Striving to Be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse
From A Pastor and a Philosopher Walk into a Bar by Randy Knie & Kyle Whitaker
November 14, 2025 · 59 min · Season 6 · Episode 2
About this episode
The episode discusses how the drive to be better than others can negatively impact society, featuring insights from theologian Miroslav Volf.
Text us your questions! Is the drive to be better than others making us worse? We talk with theologian Miroslav Volf about his book The Cost of Ambition and explore why comparison-based striving saturates our schools, churches, workplaces, and politics. Volf separates healthy aspiration from superiority-seeking and makes a compelling case for excellence without domination, rooted in agape, i.e., unconditional love that affirms people beyond performance. We dig into the Christ hymn of Philipp...
People in this episode
Hosts: Randy Knie, Kyle Whitaker
Guest: Miroslav Volf
Topics covered
- ambition
- comparison
- excellence
- agape
- theology
- performance
- society
Keywords
- ambition
- comparison
- excellence
- agape
- theology
- performance
- society
- Miroslav Volf
- The Cost of Ambition
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: The Cost of Ambition
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