This clip from Tolkien's LOTR Fellowship of the Ring has long been a favorite of mine. If you are familiar with Tolkien's stories you will probably understand. But those who have not read The Hobbit or the LOTR trilogy (or seen the movie versions) may wonder what I am about to be driving at.
This scene, and the opening scenes of LOTR The Return of the King (Smeagol's transformation) show the depths of the effect that the "ring of power" has on the people it touches. Jackson hints at this from the very opening scene of The Fellowship movie when we hear Galadriel give a brief narration of the forging of the ring. For whatever reason, everyone who comes into contact with the ring is ill effected (we assume because it a source of evil power and corruption). The longer the contact...the greater the effect of the ring (the very essence of understanding Frodo's character progression in the 3 books/movies...remember the phrase when speaking of Gollum.. "I have to, because I have to believe that I can come back" from the effect of the ring).
The scene above shows that even Biblo, docile, not given to fighting or dissension, Bilbo is not immune from the effect of the ring...he moves from docile to volatile at the mere sight of it!!
Power is like that in our lives. It almost always has an adverse affect. Regardless of whether the power is real or perceived...it changes the way we approach life.
Nowhere is this more true than in the pew of the average church. Power, whether perceived or real can be a dangerous thing. When power is in balance there will be little problems...when it shifts things are going to change (remember...some people only PERCEIVE to have the power...but for them the actions are real all the same).
I recently heard a "leadership expert" (fill in your own definition of that term here_________) use a phrase the at first caught me off guard but then rang true with my experience... "the sheep bite!"
Having grown up in farming country I've been, at one time or another, around nearly every farm animal that you can mention...and some have NASTY dispositions..and they bite. Perhaps the only farm animal who has a decent reputation are sheep. The tend to be docile, they herd well, and they are not difficult to keep because they don't appear to be the sharpest animal in the barnyard.
Perhaps that is why the Bible pictures Jesus as a shepherd and those who follow him as sheep? (hey wait a minute..I resemble that remark!!) I think, like most animals, if they are treated well they will treat us well...but there are exceptions...when they are ill treated they become ill tempered...even docile animals can be driven to violence when there is a perceived power shift in their lives.
So it is in the church...too often "the sheep bite!" People can move from docile to volatile in a very short period of time if they perceive a shift in their existence that they don't like. Unlike Bilbo in the clip above...they won't apologize for lashing out (because they think that they are right and justified in doing so)...but the CAUSE is the same, and that is what I'd like to leave you with.
What causes sheep to bite or Bilblo to lash out...the lingering effect of sin and evil in our fallen world. When good has been diminished it changes people (to the core) and that is why God used such strong measures to deal with it by sending Jesus to the cross. Only the cross can change people at the core--we cannot do that ourselves...it is NOT in our nature! And once we have accepted God's gift it is a long and arduous process to becoming something other than what we were...so there are probably reasons why sheep bite! I'm not excusing it...heaven knows I've been bitten more than a few times...but I've also bitten people. I rather think that I like blessing people better than biting people. The hard part is blessing the people who bite you...but it is what we must do to be like Jesus.
I believe help me in my unbelief.
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