Greatness? Nope!

Our problem with greatness isn’t that we aren’t capable of it, but that we have a distorted view of it. The church unwittingly perpetuates this distortion by focusing more on celebrities than on everyday folks. Greatness isn’t measured by the amount of money we give, the number of people we serve, or the books we write. Your greatness is measured by how completely you fulfill God’s mission for you.—Radically Normal, electronic edition

<idle musing>
In other words, we've bought into the American Dream. Bigger is better. Never mind that Jesus said the greatest will be the least. Or that the first shall be last. Or that we must deny ourselves. We know better! After all, we're living in the twenty-first century in "the greatest country in the world!"

The words of Amos come to mind

"You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities. Amos 3:2 NRSV

Mind you, I don't think the U.S. is a specially chosen nation, but most do so the quotation is appropriate.
</idle musing>