The Cost of Ambition

with Miroslav Volf

Sean McDowell — November 25, 2025

While God has made us to be ambitious, there can be a deep spiritual cost for striving to be better than others. Miroslav Volf is one of the leading public theologians. In this episode, based on his book "," Dr. Volf explains how the teachings of Jesus and Paul offer a means for how we can aim for excellence without being plagued by our own sense of inferiority.

Miroslav Volf is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and is the founder and director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. He was educated in his native Croatia, the United States, and Germany, earning doctoral and post-doctoral degrees (with highest honors) from the University of Tübingen, Germany. He has written or edited more than 20 books, over 100 scholarly articles, and his work has been featured in the Washington Post, Christianity Today, Christian Century, Sojourners, and several other outlets, including NPR's Speaking of Faith (now On Being with Krista Tippett) and Public Television’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.

Episode Transcript

Transcript coming soon.

Sean McDowell

Sean McDowell (Ph.D.) is an associate professor in the Christian Apologetics program at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He is a gifted communicator with a passion for equipping the Church, and in particular young people, to make the case for the Christian faith. Sean travels throughout the United States and abroad, speaking at camps, churches, schools, universities, and conferences. He is the co-host for the Think Biblically podcast, and he has authored or edited over twenty books, including and . Sean hosts one of the leading apologetics blogs at , and he hosts some great conversations on his . Sean and his wife, Stephanie, have three children and live in San Juan Capistrano, CA.

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