Everyone wants to fit in. Everyone wants to stand out. These two desires, forever-fighting, are the impetus behind the best and worst of human behavior. In today’s gospel text the disciples, like teen-age girls the world over, want to be recognized as utterly singular and unique — and as intimately part of a pack and something bigger than themselves. The problem for the disciples is that they have not been called to be a Jesus “clique.” They have been called to a new kind of fellowship — a life of followship.

Immediately before the text assigned for this week, the disciples had been bickering over “who’s the greatest?” (v.34). And you thought Muhammad Ali was the first to own that question? Jesus quashed their competitive question by comparing the most “welcomed” member of his community …