Mark 9:30-37
The Indian writer
Awdhesh Singh posted an interesting opinion piece online a couple of years ago.
He begins with a story:
A
man saw an elephant tied with a tiny rope to its legs. And this elephant didn’t
make any attempt to break free even though it could. The man asked a trainer
why the elephant, who is so powerful, doesn’t attempt to break away. The
trainer explained: “When they were very young and much smaller, we used the
same size of rope to tie them and, at that age, it was enough to hold them. As
they grew up, they were conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They
believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
Awdhesh Singh
goes on to say:
This
is precisely the case of all civilized human beings.
When
you are a small child and you start going to school, you are told to score
better marks than your classmates. You are awarded and appreciated when you are
better than others and punished and reminded when you perform poorer. You are
gradually conditioned by your parents, teachers, and society to be better than
others to get their approval. Soon your mind is so conditioned that you start
believing that:
●
Getting high
marks is better than getting low marks
●
Having more
girlfriends/boyfriends is better than having less or none
●
Earning more
money is better than earning less
●
Living in a
bigger house is better than living in a smaller house
●
Driving a bigger
car is better than driving a smaller car
●
Having more
friends is better than having fewer friends
Soon
this habit of comparison goes so deep into your mind that you don’t even try to
challenge it or break it, even though you find all the comparisons not only meaningless but actually the source of all
your misery. Only a truly enlightened person . . . can break this spell
woven around them. Most ordinary people
are so tied to their habit of comparison that they refuse to get freedom from
it and even pass on this habit to the next generation.
Indeed. Human
nature hasn’t changed much over the ages. Life in first century Galilee was
certainly very different from life in 21st century America, but Mark’s Gospel
describes a scene that could have happened an hour ago right out in the
gathering area. Despite everything that Jesus has taught them and modeled for
them, the disciples still don’t get it: they are comparing themselves to each
other and trying to determine who is the greatest. Is this giving them joy?
Nope: they’re arguing about it. The discussion is no doubt fueling anxiety and
insecurity. And shame: when Jesus asks them about it, they can’t even admit to
it. They are trapped in a mindset that produces misery, but they either don’t
want to escape it or don’t know how.
I talk to lots of
people, and I can testify that lots of people still compare themselves to
others. And social media does not help us here: people compare their jobs,
their children, their homes, their vacations, the dinners they cook, the
clothes they buy — pretty much anything and everything. I am struck by how
often this comes up in my conversations with parishioners and others, and how
unhappy it often makes them. So many people are like that elephant: they’re
tied up, and they don’t know how to break free — they don’t even realize that
they can break free.
In this Gospel,
Jesus, a truly enlightened person, says that if we want to be first of all,
then we must be last of all. But we need to be careful in how we hear his
metaphorical language. He is not suggesting that we replace the race to the top
with an equally competitive race to the bottom. You know: “I’ll be the humblest
person ever, a lot more humble than my friends, and that way I’ll really be the
greatest!” Such thinking obviously misses the point. Jesus is not replacing one
race with another: he’s calling us to drop out of the race altogether. In last
week’s Gospel, Jesus urged us to take up our own cross and follow him. He told
us if we want to save our lives, we must lose our lives. He clearly does not
mean we have to literally be crucified like he was. No: when he tells us to
take up our cross, he means stuff like not comparing ourselves to others.
Giving that up would be a real death that leads to new and better life. It’s no
accident that this scene today follows right after Jesus tells his followers to
take up their cross and follow him.
Now, I have been
formed by this culture as much as anyone. I know personally how insidious and
detrimental the comparison game can be. I also know there is a way out, and
that we actually don’t have to play the game. Wise people have taught me and
shown me that Jesus speaks the absolute truth here. I love being a priest, for
example. I’m sure there are better preachers than I am and better rectors. I’m
sure there are priests who have gifts I do not have. And I’m sure it doesn’t
matter. What matters is that I be myself and use the gifts I do have with love
and faith. And that’s true for all of us. Each one of you is a unique
combination of talents, personality, and experiences: no one can do you like
you can. No one. What matters is not how you compare to others — such
comparisons are ultimately meaningless — but how you be yourself. Only when we
are truly being ourselves, being real, that the Holy Spirit can flow through us
to bless others and fill us with joy and peace as we do so. Jesus did not teach
and die and rise again so that we could be “more than or less than” anyone
else: God did not pour the Holy Spirit into us so that we could live in
comparative hell. Christ came to give us abundant life, and we should not
settle for anything less. Jesus says, You
shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free (John 8:32). Here’s
the truth: it doesn’t matter how you compare to others. And comparing yourself
will never lead to joy or peace. Cut the rope and take the first steps toward
freedom. The greatest people in the Kingdom of God are the ones who have
stopped comparing themselves to others at all. Their greatness lies in the
sheer happiness of being fully themselves in communion with God. That’s where
our greatness will lie as well.
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