When David Slings The Stone

The NBA Playoffs are once again on and basketball fans and observers are viewing the games with great interest. However; you will observe that such interest is heightened to another level whenever the underdog teams make some noise. When Golden State, Denver and Chicago won their initial games against very powerful and championship caliber opponents everybody took a second glance and the media were all over them. Eventually, as we all know, Golden State and Chicago will advance beating both last year's divisional champions while Denver just came short in their series with the Spurs.

What is with us and cheering for the underdogs?

First of all we don't cheer for the underdog all the time, whenever it is our favorite team for the ages like our alma-mater school, a team we have since we are in diapers, we don't care for the hapless team. As much as possible we want them crushed.

But make no mistake about it, as long as it is not our guys we love a good underdog story. We cheer at every basket, we cringe at every mistake and we imagine what it would feel like if they do win. They become media darlings and put heaps of praise as another David like victory unfolded.

Could this heart for the underdog been implanted within our hearts by God? First of all it is because of God that we know how to love.

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love" (1 John 4:8)

God also told us to take care for the underdogs in life.

"'The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" (Matthew 25:40)

It seems that this cheering for the underdog has much more to it than the idea of preference,. It is a natural tendency to see something amazing. It is a tendency to see justice and lift people up. The problem is that in basketball it is enough to cheer but in life the underdogs really need our hands and hearts to lift them up. not just words but deeds.

In real life are we are either cheering and lifting the underdog or we are looking out for own team... ourselves.