We know
a Korean pastor’s family in Daejeon for about a year now. We have also prayed with them when they were
going through a real tough time in their ministry. When the dust settled down and they were able
to breathe a sigh of relief after the situation was under control, they
presented a book to us as a sign of appreciation for standing with them in
prayer. The book was “David and Goliath”,
very biblical title by Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times bestselling author. I am not sure as how much our friends read in
English but my guess is that they really thought this was a good biblical book to
present to a pastor. As I unwrapped my
gift, the thing that caught my attention was not the main title but the
subtitle; “Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants”. I was excited to devour it right away.
Malcolm
Gladwell has made a fortune for himself by writing books that focus on the
power of human psychology and creativity.
It is not clear if Gladwell really believes in the God of David (claims
he came to faith while writing David and Goliath), but he surely believes in
the power of human imagination to succeed in this life. In David and Goliath, Gladwell picks up many
amazing stories of “underdogs” or “Davids” who went on to beat their opponents 10
times more favorite. He calls it the
advantage of disadvantages in which an underdog, a David, realizes the limits placed
upon by the might of the opponent refuses to play by the same rules that a Goliath
plays with. But the opponent knows
nothing about the rules by which the underdog approaches the battle; before too
long the victory slips out of the mighty into the hands of the weak. According to Gladwell, only 66 times out of 100, the
Goliath wins giving 34 chances for the underdog to win. Gladwell does not factor in the supernatural
element in the struggle between David and Goliath.
As a
Christian who believes in the power of God’s grace in turning my weakness into
His strength; I felt the book was retelling my very own story. How many times I have seen the divine hand
guide me through to the opposite side of defeat when my opponents had started their
victory lap. How many times I was
written off by my pastors, teachers, professors, mentors, students, and just
good friends who saw nothing worth hanging around with me. My own family wrote me off from an early age. First time my parents disowned me, I was nine
days old. The second time they did it, I
was 17. When I was 19, the first church
that I was baptized in excommunicated me for standing on what I believed. The first full time job I had as an
elementary school teacher, I was fired from it for preaching the gospel to the
students and teachers. The first
seminary I applied for and was given sure assurance for a seat in the upcoming
semester; my place was given to a “more” promising candidate than I because we both
happened to be recommended by the same pastor.
The first full time pastoral position I had under an American missionary
went so bad that I was absolutely demonized throughout my country; as
missionaries were considered to be some kind of demi-gods not to be questioned for
their motives or methods. I could go on
and on in outlining those amazing moments when I saw the divine hands coming
underneath my sinking ship to let me sail again over the raging sea.
Ministering
in Korea for the last several years has added so many new twists and turns in
this amazing journey of being an underdog.
Yesterday I had an appointment with an important person who heads a particular
organization. Having heard many flowery
things about me from some of my best friends that knew me, he was taken in for
a shock when he actually met me in person.
Few minutes into our meeting and without apology, he confessed “I cannot
understand how you, a ‘Nepali’ be pastoring an international church in English? I think you should be serving among the
Nepali laborers who come to Korea for manual work.” He could not take in the fact that a “Nepali”
can be qualified to pastor an international church. After sometime, again he blurted, “So, the
English church gave you more money than the Nepali church and you chose to be
their pastor?” Sitting in front of a man
nearly 15 years younger to my age with just about 7 years full time ministry experience
to my 27, I was amusing myself in seeing him get more confused by my answers. Since my wife was waiting in the parking lot,
I really wanted the meeting to be over soon but he kind of dragged it to last
for more than two hours. Eventually in
goodbye, he confessed that I was some kind of unique Nepali he had ever met;
whatever that may be in his mind. As I
got in the car, “how did it go?” was my wife’s question who can always tell how
it went by the look in my face. I
replied, “one more chance to humble myself; I could have allowed my flesh to
get on the way but the Lord helped me to be grounded and allow myself to be ridiculed
because I am a Nepali, not a Korean nor a white man”. It has been my wife’s habit to pray for me so
that I won’t answer the questioner in the same spirit in which I was
questioned. In Korea, your color and
nationality matters because respect is allocated according to these
elements. It is an oxymoron to say that I
am from Nepal and I pastor an International church in English! But I always have the last laugh whenever such
situations arise.
Even
though Gladwell does not bring in the God factor, he defines David and Goliath’s
case as the advantage of disadvantages.
When you are judged way below the expectation bar; like David was in the
eyes of Goliath, you have enough room to maneuver your way up with ease. However, just because one is an underdog does
not guarantee victory; in fact according to Gladwell, 66% of the time the
underdog will lose and the victory comes only to those who dare to go against
the conventional way of doing and thinking.
What Gladwell forgets in his story of David and Goliath is that there could
have been many individuals in Saul’s army who could use the slingshot probably
better than David. It is not the
slingshot that made the difference; it was David’s unswerving trust in
God. This is not the only time we see
this character trait in David; throughout his life, David displays utter dependence
in God, whether in palace or in the cave.
Therefore,
any underdog that knows the God of David and humbles himself/herself; acknowledges
his/her limitations and allows the grace of God to work in life; victory will
always be within his/her reach. The
secret is; never be offended when people mistreat you, misunderstand you,
underestimate you, ridicule you, and take advantage of you. In fact these things are so essential for the
underdog to live with utter dependence in God’s providence. And the God who gave victory to David over
Goliath also tells in choosing David “man looks at the outward appearance, but
the Lord looks at the heart” (1Sam. 16:7).
Because God looks at the heart, an underdog who depends on God’s
providence without malice or greed becomes the person of God’s own heart!
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