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Playing Second Fiddle
Playing Second Fiddle
“Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence, and do not claim a place among great men” (Proverbs 25:6). An orchestra conductor was once asked what the hardest position was to fill. His answer: “Second fiddle.” It is not a position where one is exalted by self or by others. It serves to assist the first-chair fiddler.
Do you know any second-fiddle people?
The Bible tells us about a fellow who was content to play the role of second fiddle. His name was Andrew. He was a follower of John the Baptist, but when John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God,” off went Andrew in search of Him. There are three places where we see Andrew playing second fiddle. Here they are:
1. John 1:35-42 shows us that Andrew was so excited about finding Jesus that he ran to tell someone. That someone was his brother, Peter.
2. In the second instance, Jesus was preaching to about 5000 men along with women and children. Jesus wanted to feed them when they became hungry. Philip complained that there was no food available to feed such a crowd. Someone found a boy with five loaves and two fish. Guess who that someone was: Andrew! (John 6:5-13).
3. In the third place, some Greeks (Gentiles) came to see Jesus. We don’t know why they came, nor did His disciples know. When they asked to see Jesus, Philip didn’t know what to do. He went to Andrews and said, “These Gentiles want to see Jesus.” Andrew didn’t have to wonder what to do. He and Philip brought the matter to Jesus (John 12:20-22).
In all three episodes, Andrew did something important – he took people to meet Jesus. First, he took his brother; next, he took a young boy; finally, he took some strangers.
Do you know what is interesting about all of this? Andrew never became one of the prominent apostles. He didn’t seem to care about that. Second fiddle is OK! --Richard Dent (via Old Paths)
