We don't want to say that we are the best. That would be boasting, and a more obviously difficult assertion to prove than being first. For example, let's say a Protestant claims to be the first Christian missionary in a region. It may seem true and it may even be what people have said. We would all do well to remember that being first says nothing about quality or effectiveness.
People love stories.
I have a suspicion that's one of the reasons why Jesus told so many of them. For some reason, that wasn't their focus. And when it comes to defining and communicating our work, it shouldn't be ours. For its recipients, God's saving grace and mercy is always fresh, firsthand, and, to be sure, a first. The miracle is that it happens at all and that it happens all the time in little and big ways.