Whether in books, movies, sports, or politics, it’s often fun (for observers, at least) when the “underdog” wins. Unless you’re rooting for the favored character, team, or candidate, most people get excited when someone takes on a stronger foe and leaves with the victory.
However, there are usually reasons why this happens. Maybe the less-favored team worked harder, or the favored team got overconfident and didn’t practice enough. Maybe the struggling character in the story benefited from an unexpected turn of events. Maybe the polls didn’t ask a key part of the voting population what they thought. Or, maybe an external power stepped in to help.
Consider Paul’s comments to the church in Corinth from the following passage.
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 NIV
I think that this reminder is good news for us.
- Are you currently president, governor, or mayor? Are any of you a king or queen, or even an earl or a duke? (No? Me neither!)
- Are you a movie star, or a famous recording artist? Do you have millions of followers, maybe on Facebook or Instagram? (No? Me neither!)
- Do you own a multi-billion dollar business? Or, if you’re not the owner, are you at least the CEO? (No? Me neither!)
- How about brainpower: Are you usually the smartest person in the room? (Well, when I’m home alone, I guess that I qualify as the smartest in the room.)
I suspect that most of us are pretty “normal” by human standards. Here’s the good news: this is exactly the kind of people that God uses to “show up” the most successful worldly achievements. The simple faith of a child is enough to change a life, and – when that faith is lived out and shared – it can change the world!
God sees people who are considered by others to be unpopular, outcast, funny-looking, rejected, homeless, addicted, broke, uneducated, lost, or just not “cool” by human standards, and He offers them not only citizenship in His Kingdom, but also adoption into His royal family as children of the King, with access to Him (as our Father in Heaven) and all that He has for us.
(Now, can rich or famous people be saved? Yes, but that’s only by God’s grace. And, there’s no place for the rest of us to be arrogant about that: we are each saved by the same grace of God.)
Don’t miss verse 29 here, though: the purpose of God’s plan isn’t so that Christians can lord their salvation over those who are lost. It is not so that those who have found God’s truth can brag about what they know to those who haven’t yet heard it. No, God chose to use things that the world considers “lowly” (NIV) or “insignificant” (NASB) so that we would not think that we are somehow superior.
Trust me, when we think that we’re better than God in anything, things are heading down a bad path. Instead, let’s remember that we’re the underdog, but our victory will be a gift from God.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for April 7, 2024
References:
- The Lookout, April 7, 2024, © 2024 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – 1 Corinthians, by Richard E. Oster, Jr. © 1995 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 