I remember two things from first grade. I remember having to write (on a huge sheet of poster-board-sized lined-paper) what we wanted to do when we grew up. We had to give it a title and draw a picture of it. I wanted to join the army, and so I entitled my first essay, “Combat.” The second thing I remember is my teacher informing my parents and I that I would never be a good reader (and definitely not a voracious one). My teacher steered me wrong on both counts. I am not now, nor have I ever been in the army (for God, for country, and for me that was a very good thing), but I did become an insatiable reader. I love books. I love looking at books and buying books and reading books. Now, I have never counted my books, but we have a lot of them. And I know that because 35 years ago, when we moved into our house on Coleraine Rd., we had friends who helped us move. Sadly, the study was in the finished attic which meant that all of our boxes of books had to be carried up three flights of stairs. After all the work was done, our friends unanimously decided that they would not be available to help us move out of that house (there was a terrible case of book flu that was going around). All that to say, we love books; and I can’t wait to retire to be able to devote more time to reading them. 

But why read alone? Consider these posts an invitation to read one (or more) of the five books I am planning to read before the end of 2026. We have already discussed one of those books (Nijay Gupta’s Paul for the World, and now we are ready for book two. Please remember, however, these posts are not book reviews. I have not read these books, but I have them (hence the “Have Book” in the title) and am looking forward to having the time to read them (hence the “Will Retire”) and to have friends join me on this incredible journey.

Before we get to book two, let’s begin with a quote about reading. This one is about priorities. When a choice must be made, do what is obviously the wisest option. Hence . . .

“Wear the old coat and buy the new book.”
(Austin Phelps)

Book Two:

The Cost of Ambition: How Striving To Be Better Than Others Makes us Worse
Miroslav Volf (Brazos Press, Grand Rapids, 2025)

The Author: Years ago, I was sitting in a restaurant with my good friend, Dan Passerelli, talking about life, theology, and books when he asked me if I had ever read Miroslav Volf’s book, Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace. Not only had I not read it, I had never even heard of Miroslav Volf. I remedied that and bought a copy that very afternoon. But that is what good friends do. They recommend books to you and introduce you to authors who have things to say. As a result of that introduction, Volf and I have become good friends (book people will understand how that is true even though I have never met or even seen Volf in person). Perhaps, I can explain that by saying that his books have done something all good friends should do; namely, he made me think. And he not only makes his readers think about lofty thoughts, but he has a knack of taking things we all know and deconstructing them in a way that allows us to see what is going on behind the curtain. He did that with the concept of “forgiveness” in Free of Charge. He did that with “living a life of love” in Against the Tide. He did that again with what constitutes the “good life” in Life Worth Living. And now he is doing that in this book with “ambition.” And when I say he makes you think, be prepared to think. In The Cost of Ambition he will explore the thoughts of Søren Kierkegaard, John Milton, the apostle Paul and Jesus. All that to say, I fear that reading The Cost of Ambition may require some work (and yet, Free of Charge and Life Worth Living are both eminently readable and compelling). But that should not surprise us. Volf earned his Ph.D. at Tubingen (Germany) and serves as a professor at Yale Divinity School.


The Book’s Big Idea: The back jacket says: “Many people believe that ambition, understood as striving to be better than others, improves us as individuals and advances society. But what if the opposite is true? In The Cost of Ambition, world-renowned theologian Miroslav Volf argues that striving for superiority actually makes us worse. He unpacks the toxicity of ambition and guides us to a better goal: striving for excellence.” I like that. Growing up, doing my best was never good enough. I always wanted to be better. And I couldn’t stand it when I lost, because losing meant I was not better. Losing meant I was a nobody. And being a nobody felt like death. Had I just been happy to do my best and to strive for excellence, those days would have been a whole lot more enjoyable. Maybe that is why, when I saw this book, I was immediately drawn to it. And Volf is right, striving to be better than everyone makes everything worse.


Some Quotes from the Book:

  • “I hope to show that it is possible to break out of the self-reinforcing oscillation between the sense of inferiority and striving for superiority; wrest our self-worth from captivity to comparisons with others; and live confidently, out of a well of living water at the bedrock of our souls, undaunted by how we stack up against others. If we do, for each of us, and all of us together, a new world will dawn.’’
  • “The person striving for superiority is always outside himself, is capable of living only in the opinion of others ​and, so to speak, derives the sentiment of his own existence solely from their judgment.”
  • “A critique of striving for superiority is not the critique of striving for improvement. It’s not a critique of striving to be better. It’s a critique of striving to be better than somebody else.” 
  • “When I compare myself with myself, I can play to my strengths. I can play to what I want to be.”


A Great Editorial Review from Robert Emmons (editor-in-chief, The Journal of Positive Psychology): 

“This book does not disappoint. Miroslav Volf has always written compellingly and convincingly as he diagnoses the human condition. In The Cost of Ambition, he guides the reader through the origins of the pervasive, yet misguided, need to prove one’s superiority and the multitude of problems that such striving creates. Simultaneously humane and scholarly, psychologically astute and theologically sound, Volf suggests that deliverance from this predicament can only come from the proper recognition of the generosity of the glorious and gifting God, ultimately exchanging the enslaving and empty striving for superiority with freedom and fullness in Christ’s accomplishments for us and God’s superiority in relation to us.”


Why You Should Read this Book with Me: This book is everything I want in a book. It is profoundly biblical (it delves deeply into the Cain and Abel story, as well as wrestling with Paul’s statements on humility in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Philippians 2), intensely philosophical (Volf will spend a whole chapter discussing Kierkegaard’s essay on Jesus’ statement about the lily of the field), immensely theological (looking at Satan’s aspirations as seen in Milton’s Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained), extremely relevant and tremendously pastoral (it hits us where we live). I can’t say that Volf’s book is better than every other book that came out in 2025, but it sounds like it might be one of his best.  


If you’re not into The Cost of Ambition, what else can I recommend? Without hesitation, I would highly recommend Free of Charge. It is engaging, deeply meaningful, thoughtful and eye-opening. In my opinion, it is his best book (and he might not be able to surpass it). I also loved Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most. It was insightful and eminently readable (but you have to do the exercises in it to get the full value). I am also hoping to read his The Home of God: A Brief Story of Everything. This is an exposition of the theme of the Bible from cover-to-cover: God wants to dwell with us and make his creation his home. It also sounds spectacular (but it is 68 pages longer than The Cost of Ambition and if I am going to read five books in five months, I might need to give myself a few advantages along the way). In short, anything you read by Volf is going to be thoughtful, stimulating and worthwhile, and that is true even if all you can do is to read one chapter. This is good stuff. It will make you think and act differently. 


Last Words: Free of Charge was such a powerful book in my life that I am probably forever biased toward whatever Volf writes. This is such a powerful topic that strikes at so much wrong in me, in our culture, in our politics, in our athletics, and in our world. And I love books that dig deeply into the Bible, theology, philosophy and everyday life. This is what all theology ought to do, and Volf does it extremely well (I almost said “better than others”–looking at life through the lens of ambition and competition is, sadly, second nature to me).

One other word. You may not be able to tell a lot about a book by its cover, but you can by its spine. Gupta’s book, Paul for the World, Volf’s books, The Cost of Ambition and The Home of God, and For the Life of the World: Theology that Makes a Difference are all published by Brazos Press, and Brazos is a publishing house of extraordinary talent. It seems to publish books that are rich in biblical insight, spectacular in theological depth, culturally relevant and meaningful and engaging to read. Plus, our good friend from seminary, Robert (Bobby) Hosack, is one of their top editors. So, here’s my advice: If you see the Brazos label on a book you are holding, you can have confidence that it is going to be well worth reading. And if that book has Bobby’s name in the acknowledgements, you’ve got a home run (Bobby’s name is on page 171 of The Cost of Ambition; and as a result, I can’t wait to read it. 

Again and again, thanks for reading!