The Rev. Sara Warfield
Scriptures: Proverbs 31:10-31 & Mark 9:30-37
This week, the English writer Zadie Smith was interviewed on one of my favorite podcasts, The Ezra Klein Show. She talked brilliantly about many, many things, and I very strongly encourage you to check it out, but what really drew my attention was how she described social media as a behavior modification system.
She said:
When you wake up in the morning and you turn to your social app, you are being instructed on what issue of the day…to be interested in. The news has always played some element in doing that, but this is total. And it’s not even, to me, the content of those thoughts. There’s a lot of emphasis put on the kind of politics expressed on these platforms to the right or to the left. To me, it’s the structure — that it’s structured in a certain way. That an argument is this long, that there are two sides to every debate, that they must be in fierce contest with each other — that is actually structuring the way you think about thought.
Social media, Smith is saying, is actually restructuring how we think such that everything is a debate rather than a discussion. That there are only two sides to every story, and that one is wrong and one is right, and that it is our task to advocate for the right against the wrong.
Now of course this antagonistic approach is older than social media. Much older. As old as humanity. It’s just, as she says, that it’s now total. Our phones are always in our pockets or at our bedsides. When we open our apps or browser, an algorithm curates content that reinforces what we already like, what we already believe, and encourages us to argue with others about it. That’s what social media is built to do.
It got me thinking about how we read the Bible—indeed, how the Bible has itself been translated. So some commentary about today’s gospel also caught my attention. D. Mark Davis, a Presbyterian minister and biblical scholar, writes about the translation of today’s gospel, particularly the part where Jesus asks the disciples what they are arguing about on the way to Capernaum.
Davis points out that the Greek word used for what Jesus calls arguing is actually closer to our English word “dialogue.” He wonders if the word “ought to be translated as implying a discussion or an argument.” Then he calls into question how the disciples respond. The translation in Mark is, “on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.” But, Davis writes,
“The content of the argument is not very well given in this verse. The [Greek phrase used] has no verb, just a pronoun and an adjective. It could be translated “Who [is the] greatest” or something like “What [is] greatness.”
“Who is the greatest?” or “What is greatness?”
Those are two very different questions. I think the difference between those questions is what Zadie Smith is talking about. I think the gulf between those questions is playing out in our Presidential election: the difference between a politics of antagonism and a politics of substance. And I think it plays out in how we read one of the other scriptures in today’s lectionary:
A capable wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
Now there are a lot of different ways to read this passage. A passage that if you were raised in a more conservative church you probably know well, especially if you’re a woman. Or if you are a born and bred Episcopalian you’ve probably heard it at more than a few funerals—for women, that is.
But all the different ways to read this passage can be sorted into two different categories: “Who is the greatest?” or “What is greatness?”
This is the standard of biblical womanhood. All women should aspire to be like this wife. Or, more generously, all women are works in progress, but we’re all working towards this.
These fall into the “Who is the greatest?” category.
Even when we say, “Wow, I really fall short of this, and I don’t know if I could ever be this kind of woman.” Or even when we say, “This passage is trash that needs to be thrown out,” we’re still treating it as the standard, the ideal—either to strive for or to resist.
So this Proverbs 31 woman is, according to some interpretations and teachings, the greatest. Or the worst. Either way, it’s an image frozen in amber, calcified, unchanging. Either a picture of perfection or utterly irredeemable. Only two sides to the story. One is wrong and one is right, and it is our task to advocate for the right against the wrong.
It’s so easy to slip into this way of thinking because, as Zadie Smith tells us, so much of our world trains us to.
But then there is the question, “What is greatness?”
I can see a lot of greatness in the Proverbs 31 woman, a lot of qualities that sound amazing.
She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
I read this as: Seeing the potential in something and then nurturing that potential.
She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple.
My interpretation: Stepping into creativity and sharing one’s creations with the world.
Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.
My interpretation: Holding oneself with confidence, looking to the future with joy.
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
My interpretation: Knowing that kindness is integral to wisdom.
These are all elements of greatness. And not just for women, but for all of us. Do any of us embody all of the qualities listed in this chapter of Proverbs all the time? I think it’s safe to say, no, we do not.
She does her husband good, and not harm, all the days of her life.
That immediately eliminates me—and anyone who will never have a husband—from ever accomplishing all these at the same time. But let’s be real: some of you folks with husbands also don’t embody this all the time.
But greatness isn’t about living up to one ideal, one standard all the time. Greatness is about becoming. Paying attention to what each moment needs and recognizing what strength or wisdom or gift you can uniquely bring to that need.
Jesus’ greatness is a lot different than Paul’s greatness. (And I know a lot of you will argue whether Paul was great, but we’ll leave that for another time.)
Harriet Tubman’s greatness is a lot different than Frederick Douglass’ greatness.
Our Senior Warden’s greatness is a lot different than our Junior Warden’s greatness, and thank God for them both, especially through our Sanctuary Resurrection.
There is no “who is the greatest,” there is only “what greatness does this situation need right now?” That question moves us from, “who is the one person who can solve all our problems?” to “What greatness do I have to bring to this particular problem?”
It’s a question I’m asking each of you when it comes to building up our Children’s Ministry. Not “Who is the greatest at working with children?” where the answer, in churches at least, is usually “parents, of course!” I’ve had many parents come up to me and say, I’m not sure how to talk to my kids about faith. And frankly, even if they did, all our parents are juggling all that it means to be working and raising children. And honestly, I’m not the greatest at talking to kids about faith. It’s just not one of my gifts. But I’ve seen some of you—yes, even childless people!—work magic with our kids.
It’s not “Who is the greatest?”, it’s “What greatness is called for in this situation?” And for our Children’s Ministry, one aspect of greatness needed is simply presence. We always need at least two adults in the room with children. It’s part of our Safe Church policies. So even if your gift isn’t working with children, just simply and quietly being in the room to assure their safety is a form of greatness.
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“Who is the greatest?” is a calcified ideal, one that traps us in the illusion that it’s all or nothing, that forces us into an antagonistic position of one way being totally right and all others being totally wrong. It fosters fights instead of discussions. It’s why we see so many greatest lists on social media. They get us going because inevitably the #1 isn’t what you think it should be, and so it’s fought out in the comments, driving up views and engagement.
When really we can just appreciate that both Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are phenomenal at basketball in different ways.
When really we can just appreciate that certain expectations, like being on time or taking your shoes off in someone’s house, are more important in some cultures and not important at all in others.
When really we can just appreciate that Episcopal churches are life-giving for some, and other churches are life-giving for others.
“Who is the greatest” can cut us off from recognizing the gifts and sometimes even the humanity of others and even ourselves.
But “What is greatness?” gets us curious about what others have to offer, what we ourselves have to offer, to a particular moment, a particular situation. It recognizes that we need all of us, because none of us embody all the gifts that are needed. None of us is the greatest, because we don’t have to be. Because we have all of us. Amen.
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