The Bible, J.R.R. Tolkien And The Meaning Of Lifeنموونە

The Temptation of Power

Imagine if we had a ring that would make us disappear. What would we do with it? Most of us eventually would use it to fulfill our deep dark desires. We might use invisibility to exercise power. Some of us might start out with good intentions but then before we realised it we would have slipped into justifying the bad we did. The Lord of the Rings is the story of a Ring that can offer us this power.

All of us desire power secretly. The emergence of evil is the fulfillment of our secret fantasy to be powerful. We create an illusion of all the fantastic things we could achieve if only we possessed it. Probably that is the reason some of us are disillusioned with God because he does not wield power like we would.

In Genesis 3:4-5, Satan tempts us into thinking that if we become like God we might be able to do a better job. The offer seems attractive and we accept it. The balance of power has shifted but we are too small to carry the load power offers us. We are not built for it. 

The interesting thing about power is that once we have possessed it, it begins to possess us. Gandalf says, “it is far more powerful than I ever dared to think at first, so powerful that in the end, it would utterly overcome anyone… who possessed it. It would possess him.” He goes on to say, even if we desired to do good the dark power, sooner or later would devour us. Even Frodo the most unlikely candidate to be influenced by the ring is drawn to it and struggles to destroy the ring and fulfill the purpose of his journey. 

But Jesus overcame the temptation of power with humility. When Jesus became human he wanted us to emulate him and retrace our steps back to humanity. In Philippians 2:5-8, Jesus despite being God showed us how to be human. 

First, do not regard yourself equal to God; you cannot handle it, you might end up becoming a demon instead. 

Second, empty yourself of pride and clothe yourself will humility. Jesus conquered death with humility. Influenced by Jesus, Gandhi conquered the British similarly.

Third, obedience is the key. Love does not seek happiness as its primary goal but seeks to please the object of its desire.

Power in the hands of God is safe because he is all-loving and all-good, all at the same time. When we accept this fact and trust him, all will be well with us.