Am Not! Are Too!

Jesus heard the Apostles arguing. "What
are you fighting about?" He asked.
They were ashamed, because they'd been arguing over which one of them was the greatest.
Jesus told them, "If any of you wants to be first,
he has to be a servant to all."

"I am not!" "You are, too!"

"I am!" "You are not!"

It doesn't even matter what the subject is: Every kid has had those two arguments. Another kid says something about you; you deny it; and then the two of you go back and forth with "am nots" and "are toos" until you're both turning red.

You'd think that grownups wouldn't have those arguments, but in this week's Gospel (Mark 9:30-37), they do! The Apostles are arguing over which of them is the greatest. They all want to be Jesus' best friend, to have a guaranteed place in heaven, to have everyone think they're cool.

When you have an "am not/are too" argument, an adult often jumps in to stop you - and to point out that, most of the time, what you're arguing about is silly, anyway. In the Gospel story, Jesus is the adult who stops the Apostles' "am nots" and "are toos." 

Jesus points out that they can't argue each other into believing that one of them is the greatest; they just have to take the action that shows they're good people. They have to be servants - to be humble, work hard and be helpful to other people. 

That's a good way for a kid to get past an argument, too. You can turn red yelling, "I am so a good person!" - or you can just go and be one, and let your actions show it. Then you won't even need to say, "I am not!" or "I am, too!"

(09/17/09)