Considering Guitar and Second Fiddle

I have not played much guitar since the adoption.  Foolishly, I have kept it at home since I sometimes play at our Family Small Group.  But there just doesn’t seem to be much opportunity to play.  Can’t play when the kids are awake, and if they are asleep….

Well, last night I needed to play.  I needed some truth in my head, and that is a great time for me to ponder lyrics and try to draw near to God.  It’s been a long week, and I needed some of that time.  So I played after the kids went to bed, but before they usually drift off to sleep.  And I played this morning after they all went to Bible Study Fellowship.  Ah, if only my callouses weren’t so thin.  Then I would have played longer.  Here’s part of my “song list”:

Blessed Be Your Name, I Need Thee Every Hour (Jars of Clay version), O Worship the King (Passion verison), Here is Love, Beautiful, Scandalous Night, Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) [still learning this one], A Shield About Me, Guide Me, O Great Jehovah, Be Thou My Vision, From Depths of Woe I Raise to Thee.

Good for the soul.

In the quiet home this morning I read some more of In Christ Alone by Sinclair Ferguson.  Actually, I read some last night too.  I try to read 2 chapters a day and am moderately successful.  I finally finished Part V- A Life of Wisdom.  Great stuff in there about discernment and character.  The material I read this morning intersected with my sermon.  We focus on circumstances, but God focuses on character.  My choices flow out of my character so my choices have to be focused on how God transform my character (truth and trial).  The chapter in question was on contentment.  Character traits like this must be learned through experience, as we bring truth to bear on them.

“Christians must discover contentment the old-fashioned way: we must learn it. … It is commanded of us, but, paradoxically, it is created in us, not done by us.  It is not the product of a series of actions, but of a renewed and transformed character. … This seems a difficult principle  for Christians today to grasp.  Clear directives for Christian living are essential for us.  But, sadly, much of the heavily programmatic teaching in evangelicalism places such a premium on external doing and acheiving that character development is set at a discount.  We live in the most pragmatic society on earth (if anyone can ‘do it,’ we can).  It is painful to pride to discover that the Christian life is not rooted in what we can do, but in what we need done to us.” 

Another chapter was on encouragement or the ability to play second fiddle.  There are 2 ways to gain pastoral experience.  One is to play second fiddle to a pastor who chooses to mentor you.  One is to be a solo pastor and learn thru trial and error (aka the school of hard knocks).  Both of these have their strengths and weaknesses.  I thought I would be an Associate Pastor, but in God’s providence He sent me to the school of hard knocks.  Some of assumed I’m not seasoned as a pastor because I never played second fiddle.  Rather, like U2 I learned as I went.  Not ideal, but men worth playing second fiddle to are hard to find. 

What do I mean?  Well, talk to an Associate or Assistant Pastor.  You will find that the Senior Pastor who takes an actual interest in them as a person and seeks to nurture them is quite rare- especially in these days of Pastor-CEOs.  Joshua Harris received a great and marvelous gift when C.J. Mahaney took him under his wing and mentored him from an author/youth guy to a pastor.

The other issue in playing second fiddle is finding someone whose preaching gifts are superior to yours.  Why do I say that?  Well, I’ve sat under some guys and been uber-frustrated because I knew I could do better.  Pride?  Oh, yeah!  But if my preaching gifts were to be developed, shouldn’t I sit at the feet of a master?  If my character is to be developed, don’t I need to be mentored by a godly man?  I will be humbled in my estimation of my gifts as I sit under a skilled preacher/pastor whose example reveals how short I come to the goal.  To serve otherwise would be to put myself in a position where my pride would have too many occasions to rise up, it’d be like saying you should  kick your lust issues by watching porn- not wise pastoral advice.

So I thought … man, I wish I could have been Sinclair Ferguson’s second fiddle.  I respect him for both his preaching and his character.  If he ever called my house, and I’d know him instantly by the accent, I’d pack up my belongings and move to Columbia, SC.  He doesn’t just exegete the Scriptures with skill, but genuinely cares about people.  Trust me, that is a rare combination.  That is the type of older man (well, C.J. Mahaney would be one too) that I’d play second fiddle to.

As I went to WTS Books to grab the link, I discovered to my great delight that Ferguson’s book on Jonah, Man Overboard! The Story of Jonah is finally available here in the States.  Tim Keller references this book in a few places.  I think this is the book where Ferguson lays it out that we must make a fundamental choice: are the Scriptures about us, or about Jesus?  You can check out the first chapter.