Lessons of Christian Stewardship from the Life of the Steward of Gondor

by Wesley A. Fryer
26 February 2005

OVERVIEW

In a church context when the words "steward" or "stewardship" are mentioned, many people grimace-- expecting a sermon on tithing and faithful giving to quickly follow. Certainly the concepts of tithing and joyfully giving are bound up in the concept of Christian stewardship, but this metaphor extends far beyond the realm of finances. Although Jesus was much more than a steward of the King, because he was the King (God incarnate, as reformed believers understand through the holy Trinity: God, Father, and Holy Spirit)-- a strong case can be made that Jesus intended and intends for us all to live the life of the faithful and obedient steward.

I taught a series of adult Sunday school lessons in Spring 2005 and created this short webpage with this goal in mind: that as I define myself and consider my own identity, I will define myself as a steward of the King-- not a fictitious king in a book or a movie, or an earthly king or "boss" at work or elsewhere -- but the King of all creation: God himself. We all are called to be stewards of his creation and the blessings he has given us.

In sharp contrast to this ideal of the Christian steward, the character Denethor in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings offers a striking portrayal of a man who has given himself over to selfishness, pride, fear, and ultimately evil. The release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended DVD) provides a dramatic opportunity to utilize the actions, attitudes, and decisions of Denethor as portrayed by actor John Noble (and interpreted by Peter Jackson & Company) as a theological lesson on Christian stewardship.

"Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien was a Christian himself, and intentionally wove Christian themes into his writings about Middle Earth. Tolkien, in fact, led C.S. Lewis to Christ, and was a great friend of his as a fellow professor in Oxford, England, in the early twentieth century. Although we have no way to know, I think Tolkien would approve of our use of Denethor's character to study the concept of Christian stewardship. Hopefully New Line will approve of this use of their published DVD!

If you are not very familiar with the movie or book series, "Denethor" is the steward of the realm of Gondor, and is entrusted to rule the kingdom and make decisions as required to protect its people and keep everything in order until the rightful king returns to reclaim the throne. Aragorn is the heir to the throne, and does return (hence the name of the third book/movie in the trilogy), but finds that Denethor has been far from a faithful and obedient steward in the absence of the king.

VERSES

The following Bible verses relating to the themes of stewardship, obedience to God (the real King), and temptation include:

Matthew 25: 14-30 (Parable of the talents)
Luke 12:42-48 (to those to whom much is given, much is expected)
James 1: 13-15 (the origin of sin and temptation)
Genesis 3: 4-6 (Satan's lie about the fruit in the Garden of Eden, man's desire to be like God)
Phillipians 2: 5-8 (our attitude should be that of Christ: a servant of God)

DVD ILLUSTRATIONS

If you want to use this DVD collection in this way, as I did, the following detail may prove helpful and save you some time. Using a Macintosh Powerbook G4 and the built-in DVD Player software, I saved eight bookmarks at the following times on the 2 first DVDs of the extended collection, to allow fast and immediate playback of these scenes during instructional class sessions:

The following table details some ideas and lesson themes that can be highlighted by the video sequences in each of the above scenes. Scenes 1 - 5 are from DVD #1, Scenes 6 - 8 are from DVD #2.

Scene	Running Time	DVD Chapter & Title	Ideas and Themes
1	3 min 50 sec	11: Minas Tirith	Note the respective thrones: the upper white throne of the King (unoccupied), and the lower black throne of the steward (Denethor) The focus of the Steward of Gondor is predominantly on: The death of his son (Boromir) and his sorrow Not on the impending battle literally right before him On fear, worry, and spite On his own pride in the position he holds and the rights he (incorrectly) believes it affords him Key quotation: "Authority is not given you to deny the return of the King." (Gandalf)
2	2 min 24 sec	22: The Wizard's Pupil	Denethor seeks the power of the ring for himself This is a new scene added in the extended DVD, and is probably the weakest of all these scenes for making the primary points about Christian stewardship
3	2 min 21 sec	26: Allegiance to Denethor	Denethor is blind to the reality around and in front of him He is unable to see the gifts and blessings which he does still possess, which are right in front of him (his son Faramir)
4	4 min 25 sec	28: The Sacrifice of Faramir	The consequences of blind, selfish leadership become apparent Tragedy of war: senseless loss of innocent life when soldiers are directed by misguided leaders This was a major theme of Tolkien's in the battle of Pelennor Fields, having lived through WWI including the Battle of the Somme
5	1 min 31 sec	36: The Siege of Gondor	More consequences of the leadership of a misguided, selfish and virtually blind (for all practical purposes) steward Denethor can't see that his son is still alive, even though this is pointed out to him by others (Pippin) Denethor is wholly selfish / inward looking He is overwhelmed by the threats before him Denethor has to literally be struck down because of his madness (by Gandalf): but even this action does not bring him to his senses
6	1 min 32 sec	41: The Tomb of the Stewards	Denethor is oblivious to reality He is hopeless He has abdicated entirely the role of leader for the people of Gondor (his people and his rightful duty) He rushes to do the will of the evil one, apparently without regard to the existence of his own independent will which has been wholly submitted to Sauron
7	54 sec	44: Denethor's Madness	Denethor is out of touch with reality He rejects the voices of reason and assistance from those around him (Pippin) He is only able to view the world from his own selfish, prideful and consuming point of view
8	2 min 6 sec	47: The Pyre of Denethor	The ultimate consequence of Denethor's example of stewardship: self-destruction This almost leads to the destructiion of others close to him, whom Denethor actually does love Irrational anger ("you will not take my son from me") - This is what he himself is trying to accomplish through his actions on the pyre Key quotation: "Against the power that has risen in the East, there is no victory." (Denethor: This has been his operational belief all along throughout the entire film, but he says it dramatically in this final sequence.)

OTHER RESOURCES

Steward: Living as Disciples in Everyday Life (a 12 week small group study including VHS video lesson supplements)
Finding God in The Lord of the Rings by Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware (not a lot here as far as the stewardship theme and character of Denethor go, but it is a good book for identifying Biblical themes in the LOTR series)
Stewards in the Kingdom by R. Scott Rodin
Stepping Stones of the Steward by Ronald E. Vallet
Guests of God: Stewards of Divine Creation by Monika Hellwig

If you find this material useful, and/or pursue your own study of Christian stewardship along these lines, please drop me a line, I would love to hear from you. Best wishes and may God bless you!

Return to Wesley's Christian Resources

The Steward of Gondor: Denethor