suggests a more nuanced way for understanding it. First, the story line from Matthew 18–20 features Jesus pressing his followers to live in a countercultural way regarding status. Greatness is subsumed to service (18:1–5; 20:25–28), and Jesus so redefines “being first” that a slave—one with no status—can be the epitome of this kind of discipleship.20 This storied context signals that true discipleship is about avoiding presumption about status and disavowing the pursuit of higher status in the kingdom