Leadership And Evil

Two thoughts:

1) I've always held that I don't mind seeing evil depicted in books/movies, as long as the text doesn't linger over the evil, and as long as it's set in a larger context that isn't amoral or nihilistic. But note how the camera lingers over this monster . . . it's kind of exciting, but I don't feel dirty watching it. I appreciate the LOTR movies, even though they're quite two-dimensional compared to the books, because they portray evil as something powerful and ugly, that needs to be battled; but they never cross the line and make evil look attractive - even when they're showing it to you. I appreciate that.

2) I just love the fact that Aragorn has the gall to ride up to the black gate, with a pitifully small army, and demand Sauron come out and be judged. And then, when this monstrous thing walks out, that Aragorn has the guts to "conclude negotiations" by just slicing the thing's head off when everyone else is discouraged and knocked off balance by the thing's bluster. My guess is that wasn't in their play book. Sometimes leadership means you do something nobody is expecting - something dangerous. Just ride up and behead the thing, even when no-one is expecting you to, when no-one else knows what to do, when everyone else is staring at the ground, frozen.

If you are a father (or a mother!) and a Christian, if you are in ministry, or in any other kind of job for Christ's sake, you are engaged in a battle against evil - spiritually. May the Lord give us those moments of risky courage, to know when to just swing for the fences and go for the knockout punch, when everyone else is back on their heels.
Dane Ortlund