I was so inspired by the mere title of Cornell King’s very informative and timeless book, Being Number One at Being Number Two, that I decided to devote my column today to considering the issue. I believe that when the principles and practices that are expounded in this work are embraced by every individual, it will help to enhance and advance our culture in a positive way. Just imagine, if you can, the positive effect that would take place in all relationships if we would put this practice into play. I believe that it would make a profound impact on every aspect of our culture where we interact with one another. I will present and consider some areas that being number one at being number two would enhance our state and well-being.
In Marriages
I venture to say that perhaps there is no other institution or situation of human interaction where what we are considering today is more needed than in marriages. We are living in a time when legitimate heterosexual marriages are under attack and are in decline. According to the statistics, almost fifty percent of marriages that take place in America end up in divorce or legal separation. My objective today is not to teach or give you a lecture on how to have a wholesome and divorce-proof marriage.
However, it is to hopefully stimulate some thought and discussion on how better off and productive your union and family would be if both spouses (husband and wives) would mutually agree to endeavor to be number one at being number two and strive to put the needs and well-being of their companion above their own.
In Friendships
There is a Biblical statement that declares “that one who desires friendship must prove himself to be friendly” (Proverbs 18:24). Endeavoring to be number one at being number two is an essential element in developing a true and enduring friendship. True friends will hold one another in high esteem and be compassionate, empathetic, and even constructively critical when necessary. Due to the fact that they mutually regard one another better than themselves, they find it very practical being number one at being number two.
In the
Market Place
Perhaps one of the most challenging environments where it is very difficult to practice being number one at being number two is in the marketplace or place where you work. Due to the fact that it is an environment of production and skill, there is quite naturally an aura of competition that pervades the atmosphere to a lesser degree in some and a greater degree in others (depending on each person’s ambition and desire). However, in spite of this, it is still possible and practical under the circumstances to regard a fellow work peer in high esteem and be number one at being number two. For certain, most will not or cannot embrace this, but by putting others before ourselves, it is the surest and shortest path to advancement and success in any area, even in the marketplace.
In Congregational Relationships
One of the most needed places where the principle and practice of being number one at being number two is in the Christian Church.
As a Christian first and a pastor, I have observed (for nearly fifty years) how congregations have become a place of competition, contention, strife, discord, and division. Arguably, the Corinthian Church was the most charismatic and gifted church mentioned in the New Testament narrative. Nevertheless, when you read the Apostle Paul’s first letter to this charismatic congregation, you will find interspersed throughout this epistle an outcry against contention, strife, competition, discord, and division. As a matter of fact, the most well-known chapter in the entire Bible on the subject of the God’s kind of love as it contrasts the charismatic gifts is I Corinthians 13. Imagine (if you can) if these Corinthian Christians of the 1st century and every congregation today would embrace the principle and practice of being number one at being number two how it would cleanse the church from carnality and selfishness. Such an act on our part would enable and empower us to carry out both the Great Commandment and Great Commission, unabated, and triumphantly.
In Our Relationship
With God
In the previous section, the emphasis was directed toward how we can embrace the principle and practice of being number one at being number two in our dealings with one another as Christians. I will conclude today by strongly instructing and encouraging you to apply that same approach in how you relate to God – if you are a true believer. It will greatly assist you in your endeavor to give Him the preeminence in your life.
I am going to end with a statement that I have gleaned from the pen of a great man of God of yesteryear named James Hudson Taylor: “Jesus is either Lord of all or none at all”. Christian friend, in relating to the Lord, embracing the principle and practice of being number one at being number two will cause you to grow spiritually and morally exponentially.
