Underdogs

May 5, 2009

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 16-17 and 1 Corinthians 15

Yeah, today’s reading is of course one of the biggest stories in the Bible, ever. Considering that this is Irreverent Reverence, I could probably say something unconventional about how the story of David and Goliath really shouldn’t be so inspiring.

Oh, who am I kidding? I love Rocky, I love Rudy, and I love the Karate Kid. As far as I know, this is the very first underdog story. It is of course not the last.

There must be something about living in America that just makes us want to root for the underdog. It reminds me of this old comedy sketch with Don Rickles and a few of his friends get arrested in Mexico at a bullfight. Apparently, they were rooting for the bull, which is a big no-no there. In fact, it is a jail-able offense.

Yeah, I’m guessing that they won’t haul you away in Mexico if you do that. I think we all know that most old-school comedy had a real anti-Hispanic stance.

Anyway, there is something about dramatic conflict that always creates some sort of magnetic attraction to the side that has the least chance of winning.

In a way, I can’t help but think that Christianity needs a little underdog excitement every once in a while. I heard that the numbers of Christians in the world are in the billions, while most major religions are in the millions at most.

Now, if you are a Christian, you probably think that number is a good thing. After all, don’t we want there to be more Christians? Sure we do. However, there is something about being on the winning team that creates a good feeling, but it will only last when you are winning. When you are the underdog, you are always losing, and it takes more faith to get out on the field.

Right now, about the only underdog in Christianity took place about two thousand years ago when one little man decided to sacrifice himself on the cross. Because of this, the big problem of salvation has been solved. In all honesty, any thing after that should be a walk in the park.

So the next time we face a problem in our life, we shouldn’t treat it like St. George and the Dragon. It is more like we have a sword, and we have to defeat a lizard. Yeah, we have to do some work, but Christ really has done all the heavy lifting.