Abstract
The Cost of Ambition is a short, highly readable, but thought-provoking and question-raising book that pinpoints and demolishes what seems to be becoming one of our society’s most widespread truisms – that striving for excellence is not only intrinsically good but also merits appropriate rewards. As the subtitle implies and as Volf discusses at length in the book, if we could limit the striving for excellence to a particular sphere of life (sport, mathematics, or maybe even theology), then it could be affirmed. It is, after all, such striving that has led to much social, scientific and cultural progress. Unfortunately, the reality is that it is almost (not absolutely, but almost) inevitably the case that becoming excellent in one sphere seduces us into thinking that we are superior to others and, of course, often it is this striving to be superior to others that is the initial spur to our striving for excellence. As Volf is well positioned to observe, some American sports cultures offer particularly egregious examples of these tendencies, but they are not alone. Volf deepens his argument through engagement with the teachings of Qohelet, Milton, Kierkegaard, Paul, Jesus, and a range of biblical texts, starting from Genesis (the critique of such striving is Hebrew before it is Christian). This is a book to read, mark, inwardly digest and then read again. A must for preachers – we all know that what Volf is saying is true, but we need all the help we can get in maintaining that truth in the face of our culture’s counter-pressures and in unmasking the ‘excellence’ that too often turns out to be sordid ambition.