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Colossians 3:13 | MSG
“Be content with second place” 🥈
When I first came across Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of Colossians 3:13, it paralyzed me.
Not sure what your personality type or Enneagram number is but I LOVE competition. I love the chase, the fight, the struggle…but mostly, I want to WIN.
Not much beats that feeling of first place. To come to the end of a race and see no one else in front of you is exhilarating. To finally see the result of all your striving come to full fruition is near priceless.
There’s certainly a place for this mentality in the Kingdom of God. After all, Paul argues emphatically in 1 Cor. 9:24-27 to “…run in such a way as to get the prize.”
The only problem is…the “prize” isn’t for our own gain. The Kingdom of God isn’t built with the same physics our world operates under. In Jesus’ reality, what goes down must come up.
Luke 14:8-11 | NIV
“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
There are a million take-aways from this passage and idea, but I’d like to narrow it for a second to your role as a worship team member.
What if you’re not the one who gets scheduled for the Worship Night or Easter services? What if you’re always assigned to play rhythm guitar? What if the other singer always gets to lead your favorite song?
What if, despite your best efforts, you find yourself consistently in “second place”?
Now, I’m prepared for some to unfollow me after this, but I believe it’s important to take seriously this fundamental, critical and central virtue of Kingdom:
If you find yourself always playing second fiddle…
EMBRACE IT.
If the Bible is actually true, if Jesus actually meant what He said, if “the first are last and the last are first” then what if you really learned to be content with second place? Like, actually satisfied to be second.
What if your identity wasn’t wrapped up in being in the spotlight? What if you rejoiced in others’ gifts?
What if instead of striving for a different position, you instead decided to become the very best version of the position you’ve been given?
James 1:9 | NIV
Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position.
Listen, I understand the struggle. I want to win, I want to be first too. And God isn’t asking you to stop learning, growing or improving. Far from it. But the Kingdom catch is this—can we be truly content where we are and still refine our skill without expectation?
For the past several months, each morning I’ve been writing a “2” on my wrist. A daily reminder that God has placed me—right here, right now—exactly where He wants me. To let tomorrow and the next thing and the promotion and the breakthrough come in His timing. To celebrate when others get promoted or picked first, to rejoice in my limitations and lean into the unique things I can do and I get to do. To finally let my soul free from the corrosion of comparison and envy.
(And can I tell you a practical pastoral secret? It’s highly likely that if you’re super faithful to the place God has you now, that you’ll be elevated in due time…ok it’s not really a secret….Jesus said that 2,000 years ago [Matt. 25:21]) 🐑 🤫