Even for the non-Christian the story of David and Goliath is seared into your brain. This story is invoked for all sorts of reasons. Political and inspirational and everything in between. Lets be honest, Disney makes most of their money on variations of the David v. Goliath story. Just a little gallery to get the point

Perhaps one of the most vivid D v. G stories told in the minds of Americans is a hockey game (ironically enough, also a Disney movie):

When I was a child and read the story of David v. Goliath I was interested in David's ability to take down the giant. I was amazed that the little guy could be clever enough to beat the big guy. It is, for many reason, in part why I continue to cheer for the underdog in sports.

Upon further reflection of this story, it is clear that David won this battle but Goliath won the war.

For you see the Spirit of Goliath was in the heart of David and lives on alive and well today. David realized that he could not beat Goliath at his own game using swords and armor, so David used a sling. He found a different set of tools, but was playing the same game - violence.

This is in part why I do not follow David but the Son of David. Jesus also realized that he could not beat Goliath with swords and armor. Jesus also knows that picking up a sling or any other weapon would only ensure that the Spirit of Goliath is undefeated. When we use violence to overthrow violence the only winner in that war is violence.

We applaud David's courage to fight the Goliath. We applaud David's ability to see he could not beat Goliath is swords and armor. We applaud David's faith in God. But in doing so, are we applauding violence as solution to the problem of violence?