How To Topple A Giant

A while back, political scientist Ivan Arreguin-Toft studied every war fought in the last 200 years between a weak opponent and a strong opponent.  In a whopping 64% of the cases the weak opponent won, if the weak opponent used an unconventional strategy; like the strategy used by the Navy SEALS to whip Obama Bin Laden.   

So too for us:  we too must use an unconventional strategy to whip our biggest foe; the 'same old, same old’ is not effective against our most challenging obstacles. For as Paul notes in Ephesians 6 – “…our struggle is not [ultimately] against flesh and blood…but against the…powers of this dark world…Therefore put on [unconventional armor] the…armor of God so…when the day of evil [and challenge comes] [and it will come, giants will come] you may be able to stand your ground…”  (Ephesians 6:12-13).

At the heart of unconventional armor and strategy is this truth:  big things seldom bring down giants; it’s the little things: simple tactics and approaches.    For example:  it’s the slight change in voice tone that stops the argument – it’s the tiny, put potent pill that dissolves the cholesterol -- it’s the little, but higher wattage bulb that that lifts the mood in a room.   

Biblically one of the best examples of the power of 'little things' is found in the story of David and Goliath; why it's the simple stone aimed at a small spot, that finally topples Goliath.  And David reached “…into his bag” – the writer of 1 Samuel 17 tells us – “and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead.  The stone sank into his forehead and [Goliath] fell face down on the ground…”  (1 Samuel 17:49).   

Amazing!  Not a big battalion of soldiers – not a big, mean assault -- but a simple, small strategy that tips things toward victory, bringing down the biggest of challenges.    

In the 1960’s Theodore Hesburgh the president of Notre Dame faced a big challenge.  Why as a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, Hersberg was tasked with bringing a diverse group of commission members to consensus around the issue of racial equality; but the commission was bitterly divided.  But then Hesburgh got a simple idea; why not get the commission to engage in something they could agree on.  And what was that:  fishing; they all loved fishing!  And so Theodore Hesburgh took the whole U.S. Civil Rights Commission fishing; to be precise he boarded them on a Notre Dame plane and took them to the Notre Dame retreat center on a lake in Wisconsin.  And with that a 'tipping point' occurred, a breakthrough happened, as the commission came to consensus – as the commission went fishing.  

What a simple, brilliant idea that tipped, that changed, a challenging situation!   We’re to do likewise; we’re to look for simple, but brilliant ideas to tip, to change, challenging situations.  For often it’s not the ‘big mean assault’ that topples giants – but the simple, well positioned stone, the simple, well positioned strategy, that makes all the difference!