by Jilene Scherenske
Andrew took Second Place
In most of the scriptures’ references to Andrew, he is known as Peter’s brother, implying that that is the only way people knew who he was. It was as though he was not his own man, but, rather, was known as the brother of Peter. He never made it to that inner circle of disciples who Jesus invited to witness the raising of Jairus’ daughter, or the Transfiguration. Since James and John were brothers and Andrew and Peter were brothers, and there seems to have been a closeness among the four, it seems sort of out of place that Andrew is left out of the inner circle. There is no record that this bothered Andrew. He just simply went about doing what God prompted him to do. He was more concerned for his service, for his pleasing God, than for his reputation. Even scripture leaves him in the background. For instance, when He and Peter were called into full time service Matthew tells us that Andrew was there, but the parallel account of this event in Luke 5 does not mention Andrew’s name. He seldom comes to the forefront even in scripture, yet he was certainly a part of the group, playing a quiet, unsung role. Scripture never records him as being a participant in the big debates, nor craving honor. We just see him quietly bringing people, mostly the insignificant people, to Jesus. He served God as Ephesians 6:6-7 states: “Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:”
We never hear of him preaching a great sermon and winning thousands as his brother did.His name is not mentioned in Acts (except for the list of those in the upper room prior to Pentecost) or any of the epistles.He just went about winning one soul at a time.Although we need those who will stand in the pulpit and win many souls from it, yet we need many more Andrews who will serve one on one, or teach a small Sunday school class, or faithfully serve behind the scenes in whatever way God asks.