Second Fiddle

Second Fiddle

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

Romans 12:9, THE MESSAGE

Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Philippians 2:4

The whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Galatians 5:14

In an orchestra, the first-chair violinist—the most prominent and high-profile member of the orchestra—leads out by playing the main melody. While there are other violinists in the string section, they are not as honored as the lead violinist. This is where we get the expression “playing second fiddle.”

If you play second fiddle to someone else, it means that the other person is in a stronger position or is seen as more important than you. And most of us don’t like feeling that way. We are all born with the inner drive to be seen as important and the desire to be honored. We love to be served rather than to serve others. We feel jealous when someone else gets more attention or more praise than we do. We are usually scoping out situations to figure out how we can get the best seat or the biggest slice, not looking for ways to play second fiddle.

When we allow other people to get their needs or desires met while ours go unmet, when we give someone else preferred treatment while we are ignored, when we put the focus on another’s achievements or hardships while we stay in the shadows . . . that’s what it means to die to ourselves. It is a sure sign that the Holy Spirit is meeting our need for significance in the deepest places of our souls. Only then will we be content with playing second fiddle.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

Paul says to practice playing second fiddle. How can we do that?

Have you ever observed someone who showed contentedness and grace in playing second fiddle?

What are the good things about playing second fiddle?