Playing Second Fiddle

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy,

to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God

– this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1 NIV)

Next time you bite into a hamburger, I want you to think about

how your trip to the fast-food-burger-barn can become a

“spiritual act of worship.”

Yes, really.

The Apostle Paul calls us to be living sacrifices, alive in Christ –

moment-by-moment being conformed by the Holy Spirit into

]the image of Christ. Our spiritual act of worship includes grate

fully acknowledging that our heavenly Father is still on the throne

of grace and that he has the right to guide us, lead us, and prompt

us about any particular thing we do or any specific decision we

make throughout the day, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

Eugene Peterson, in The Message, paraphrases Paul’s words this

way: “So here's what I want you to do, God helping you:

Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping,

eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life –

and place it before God as an offering ….” (Romans 12:1a MSG)

In other words, your whole life becomes an act of

constant worship when you live, work, and breathe

as unto the Lord. (Colossians 3:23)

Paul’s language in Romans 12 refers to the

work required by priests to prepare the temple

for worship; he’s suggesting that the mundane

tasks of the temple are acts of worship equal to

the seemingly more spiritual moments of community worship.

Time warp into the present and think of it like this

: God can be worshiped as well when you vacuum the carpet

in the worship center as when you stand in the same

place during a worship service.

Paul continues in his letter to outline specific

and practical behaviors that can be offered to

God as acts of worship as we, living sacrifices,

move from self-centeredness to other-centeredness.

By giving up our own choices and preferences in

deference to others, we please and worship God.

Now, you may be thinking, What does this have to

do with ordering a burger and fries at the fast-food-burger-barn?

Let’s step into that answer with a confession about myself:

You could say I’m in recovery for impatience, a sin I took

my sweet time to confess before God. (Meaning God showed

patience at my impatience!) When you get honest about it,

impatience is a form of pride. It says: “I require immediate

attention (because I’m too childish to wait).” “My time is mor

important than the time of others.” “I know better than

anyone else what must be done.” “My need is urgent;

everyone else, get in the slow line.”

Yet Paul says that when we sacrifice our own choices

and preferences in deference to others – when we honor

others over ourselves – we please and worship God.

(Romans 12:1, 10) Eugene Peterson suggests Paul is saying,

“Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing

second fiddle.”(Romans 12:10 MSG)

As I read this passage, I felt the Holy Spirit’s nudging – you

know how that goes – “Hey, this passage is about you

and your impatience; now what are you going to do about it?”

My immediate answer was ... to head off to the

fast-food-burger-barn for some “comfort food.”

It was lunch time, and as I was walking into the burger barn,

I started jockeying for position, trying to get through the door

before any slow looking people got in front of me. As I grabbed

for the door, the words “Practice playing second fiddle” lit up my

French fry-deprived mind like neon sign

energized by the Holy Spirit. And in that moment,

God spoke into my thoughts: “What does it matter

in eternity if I get my Big Burger Deluxe 35 seconds

later than someone else?” I stopped and opened the

door so the people behind me could go through in front of me.

Here’s my point: Allowing others to go before me when I was in such

a rush went against my natural inclinations, but God was

telling me to sacrifice my natural tendencies, to lay

them on the altar before him so the Holy Spirit could

energize my actions. As Ian Thomas teaches, God

replaces our instincts with the Holy Spirit.

By practicing at playing second fiddle, this mundane

moment became an act of worship: “God, I have failed so

often to honor others over myself, but I want to start now.

I acknowledge you are my God, and I am submitted to you.

You are a great and gracious God, and you will take care of me,

so it does not matter when I get to the front of the line,

or if I even miss this one meal.”

This thought of worshiping God in all we do, think, and say is a

difficult truth to handle, and I am way at the back of the line in

understanding it and living it out. In fact, it seems quite impossible.

I can’t, but God can.

So what?

· Honor God in all you do – “So here's what I want you to do,

God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life –

your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life –

and place it before God as an offering ….” (Romans 12:1a MSG)

· Go with faith, not fear – As God guides you to places in your

life where you’re still not living in sacrifice (that is, being a

living sacrifice), ask him to show you what specific fear is

keeping you from the faith of your living your everyday,

ordinary life before God as an offering.

· I can’t or I won’t – When God confronts you with a natural

instinct – a portion of your life where you tend to be self-

centered instead of other-centered – ask him to show you

the difference between “I can’t change ….” and “I won’t change ….”

· Pick one behavior – Read through Romans 12:6-17 and

pick one behavior that you need to offer before God as part

of your living sacrifice. Chose an area where you are weak

but willing to submit to God’s great and gracious strength.