In Praise of Underdogs

People love underdogs.  I think they embody in human life the need for “the system” to be shaken.   They also show that with enough perseverance, grit, and talent, the lowly may rise, and the mighty may fall.

Much of the United States is just coming off the dramatic (but largely welcome) upset of the Eagles winning the Super Bowl.  It was a surprise of epic proportions, and the vast majority of the nation (sorry, New England) rejoiced with Philadelphia.  There is something that we all cherish about a disenfranchised individual or group rising to the top.

At the same time, we would be entirely ignorant of history not to recognize that some of the greatest human achievements, whether of business, science, culture, sanctity or athleticism, came from people who tended to be on the margins of life in some way.  For these men and women, meeting resistance and rejection went from being a mark of shame to a crown of glory.  In fact, the experience of adversity was what precipitated their greatest successes.

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22)

The Bible is replete with underdogs.  One may legitimately say that the Scriptures are the story of God exalting the lowly, and humbling the mighty.  Of course, the most powerful example of that is Christ himself, who, in the words of the Rev. Edward Leen, manifested the “Triumph of Failure”.  For the Christian with grit, defeat is not defeat until it is surrender: to rise again, whether by repentance or by perseverance, is how one wins the crown.  This is both a great psychological trait to possess, and a key to spiritual triumph.

Personally, I frequently wear a pin with the ancient emblem IC XC NIKA, meaning in Greek, “Jesus Christ conquers”, in between the image of the cross.  This is a reminder for me everyday that it is precisely through the Cross, through the struggles and pains of his life, that he won the victory for us all.  It serves as a reminder to me that as it was for the master, so it must be for a disciple (Matthew 10:24).

It is easy for all of us to get discouraged in the midst of our own crosses in life to want to lose hope, to curse our adversaries and fail prey to the vices of envy and cynicism.  Although I wouldn’t begrudge anyone for feeling low once in a while, it is supremely important that we arise, and continue onward.  It is important also to take comfort in the fact that everything, even our failures, are under the powerful direction of Divine Providence.

Is it not our experience that a person who gets everything without effort or sacrifice often becomes a person full of conceit and arrogance?  To quote Oscar Wilde, such people become the ultimate cynics, knowing “the cost of everything but the value of nothing.”  They lose touch with ‘regular people’.  They can become stagnant, and self-assured.  Sometimes I think God allows us to experience set-backs and failure precisely because he sees what we would become if we always met with success.

Today, if you’re experiencing discouragement or failure, whether voluntary or involuntary, today is a great day to remember that you have become part of a class of very special people in the eyes of God and of history…and the more resisted you are, the more likely it is, that if your conscience is clear and your heart true, that you are in fact not among the rejected, but among the chosen.  March on.