Miroslav Volf: How Striving to Be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse

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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