16

A Shrewd Hobbit

The four New Testament Gospels contain dozens of parables spoken by Jesus Christ. (A parable is a short story that teaches a practical or moral lesson.)

Many, such as the good Samaritan and the prodigal son, are famous for their ethical and spiritual impact throughout the world. Famous or not, most of these stories are easy to tell, easy to understand, and easy to apply.

There is one, however, that has baffled readers since it was first recorded. It’s called the parable of the shrewd manager:

There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, “What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.”

The manager said to himself, “What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg—I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.”

So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?”

“Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,” he replied.

The manager told him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.”

Then he asked the second, “And how much do you owe?”

“A thousand bushels of wheat,” he replied.

He told him, “Take your bill and make it eight hundred.”

The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.

Luke 16:1–8

It’s not hard to see why people have responded to this passage with confusion. After all, it seems to condone dishonesty—not the kind of teachings we usually associate with Jesus.

Looking more closely, however, it’s clear Jesus was not recommending negative behaviors. He explains the point immediately thereafter (vv. 8–9):

The people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

This is a story about astuteness, not deception.

Jesus was advocating that believers observe how cleverly nonbelievers use their money in order to invest in and advance their agendas. He wanted His followers to use money as a tool to advance His agenda in the world.

In other words, He wanted His followers to invest worldly resources in order to produce a spiritual return.

Believe it or not, we need to understand that principle in order to understand Bilbo Baggins’s actions in chapter 15 of The Hobbit.

A Sound Investment

This chapter’s main action centers on Bilbo’s surprisingly covert operation into the combined camp of the elves and men. Before getting there, however, we need to explore the motivation for his mission.

Things get started when Roäc returns and informs Thorin that his cousin Dain and more than five hundred dwarves from the Iron Hills are two days from the Lonely Mountain. Thorin is happy about the news, because he feels that reinforcements will force the hands of Bard and Thranduil the elf. Bilbo is not happy about the news, as it means he probably will remain a long time under the mountain with nothing to eat but elven bread.

Side note: Roäc once again gives Thorin wise advice, this time much more bluntly. He reminds Thorin that even five hundred grim allies are not enough to break the siege; even if they were, everyone still would be without food and supplies for the winter. He declares that the gold will be the king’s death—even with Smaug out of the picture.

Thorin doesn’t listen. Still wallowing in the deep folly of his corruption and greed, he refuses to consider the possibility that he’s acting foolishly.

A BIG DECISION

Having witnessed this conversation, Bilbo sees what is about to happen. Either a battle will break with dwarves on one side, elves and men on the other, or the two armies will remain at a stalemate through the winter, lacking food and supplies. Either way, the result is bitterness, bloodshed, and death.

In that moment, he makes a big decision—one that will affect everyone in and around the mountain. And he wastes no time carrying it out: Later that night, he leaves the fortress within the Lonely Mountain and makes his way into the camp of the elves and men.

There he tells Bard and Thranduil about the dwarves being only two days’ march from their camp. More, he presents Bard with the Arkenstone and encourages him to use it as leverage for striking a bargain with Thorin.

These are bold moves—staggering moves, really, considering all that we’ve seen from the hobbit throughout the story. Bilbo’s actions reveal facets of his character we haven’t seen before.

And so we’re presented with serious questions: Is Bilbo acting wisely or foolishly? Is this a good development or something more sinister? Can we be proud of his actions, or should we be worried—even ashamed?

In light of what’s happened since Thorin and the dwarves took hold of the treasure, we have to wonder whether Bilbo has become addled by riches as well. Even worse, do his acts signify a return to his “old self”? Is he betraying his friends to recapture his hobbit-hole comfort and security at any cost?

Fortunately, we don’t have to wait long to answer these questions.

A GOOD DECISION

Bard and Thranduil are stunned, understandably, when Bilbo presents them with the stone. The Elvenking recovers first and recommends that Bilbo remain with the elves in his camp. He knows dwarves, generally speaking, and is sure Thorin won’t look upon the hobbit’s actions with kindness.

Bilbo refuses. He doesn’t want to abandon his friends after all they’ve been through together. Oh, and he promised to wake Bombur at midnight.

Just like that, we have our answers to the motives behind his actions.

He has not been addled or changed by his proximity to the treasure. Rather, he is grounded to the point where he worries about keeping his word to Bombur even amid everything that’s happening around him.

Nor is Bilbo open to betraying his friends to escape the mountain and return to the soothing convenience of Bag End. Instead, he willingly returns to the cold, cheerless tunnels—to Thorin’s grim mood and eating nothing but cram day after day. And he does so through the same simple goodness and depth of character that has served him so well through his adventures.

Any possible remaining doubts about his actions are erased by a sudden appearance from Gandalf while Bilbo is making his way from the camp. The wizard claps the hobbit on the back and repeats his words from back at the start: “There is always more about you than anyone expects!”[1]

Leadership Lessons From Bilbo Baggins

That raises another interesting question: If Bilbo’s bold actions weren’t a demonstration of cunning or betrayal, what were they? What new quality has he achieved that enabled him to form and execute such a daring plan?

The answer is leadership.

Recently we have seen Bard and Thranduil display virtues associated with effective leadership. By contrast, we’ve also seen the examples of Thorin and the Master of Esgaroth. Now it’s Bilbo’s turn to teach us a few things.

TRUE LEADERS TAKE ACTION

Bilbo has demonstrated many honorable qualities—courage, wisdom, compassion, and common sense, to name a few. But one attribute we have not much seen from the hobbit is assertiveness. That changes now.

We know that Bilbo had been hanging on to the Arkenstone for several days, and that the beginnings of a plan had been forming in his mind. But when Roäc delivers the news of Dain’s coming, Bilbo grasps what’s about to happen and acts quickly. He doesn’t hesitate or vacillate between decisions—he takes action that very night in order to make a play for peace.

We also see Bilbo’s newfound assertiveness when he is confronted by the watchmen of the elves. The hobbit has always been fond of elves, and early on in his journey he treated them with a kind of reverence. But when the chips are down, he conveys in no uncertain terms that he must speak with Bard and the Elvenking and that they must take him to the center of the camp.

This mix of gentleness and boldness reflects the leadership of several biblical characters, including the apostle John. Through his letters, John regularly offered encouragement and wisdom to the different churches under his care. At times, however, he used sharper words to make a deeper impact.

This portion of his third epistle is a good example:

I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us.

3 John 9–10

Equally impressive is that Bilbo acted even though it wasn’t necessary for him to do so. It would have been tempting to leave the weightier matters in the hands of “experts”—Thorin and Bard and the other leaders of their people.

By doing what he knew was right, Bilbo avoided any sins of omission:

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

James 4:17

TRUE LEADERS HAVE A MORAL COMPASS

Make no mistake about it: these decisions Bilbo makes carry with them a great deal of risk. Had he erred in his judgment, the consequences could have been disastrous for elves, men, dwarves—and especially himself.

The reason Bilbo is able to make a solid plan of action—and then stay firm in his decision—is that he possesses a reliable moral compass. He knows the difference between right and wrong.

This ability to choose right is an essential component of leadership.

When Solomon was about to ascend to Israel’s throne, God appeared in a dream and said: “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” (1 Kings 3:5).

Here’s what Solomon asked for:

Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?

1 Kings 3:7–9

Solomon asked for the ability to discern so that he could make the tough choices as a leader. We often refer to this ability as wisdom, but it all starts with possessing a moral compass—knowing the difference between right and wrong, and having the strength of character to choose what’s right.

Unfortunately for Solomon (and the people of Israel), he lost his moral compass after many years as king. He built a harem and filled it with literally hundreds of wives. He acquired thousands of horses and accumulated great piles of wealth. All of these were in direct disobedience to what, in Deuteronomy, God had commanded of His kings.

Fortunately for Bilbo (and the other inhabitants of Middle-earth), his compass never wavers. Even after all his life-threatening and life-changing adventures, Bilbo retains his wise and compassionate understanding of right and wrong. He gains even more of the character strength necessary to choose right over wrong—and it serves him very well.

The Golden Scale

Speaking of wisdom, take a moment to consider these words of Jesus:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19–21

“Treasure” is a dominant force in The Hobbit’s final chapters. Smaug’s hoard is the biggest motivating factor behind the maneuvers and machinations taking place between people groups—dwarves, elves, men, and even goblins.

In recent chapters we’ve seen the dwarves be measured on the “golden scale” of Smaug’s treasure—and found wanting. Their lust for wealth led them down a path of foolishness, cruelty, and poor choices. In the next chapter we’ll see Bard and Thranduil take their turns on that scale. They won’t fare as well as we’d expect, given their past demonstrations of wisdom and compassion.

It almost seems we should reconfigure Jesus’ words: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures in Middle-earth, where dwarves hoard, where men and elves make war, and where dragons break in and plunder.”

In all the hubbub surrounding the tremendous fortune within the bowels of the Lonely Mountain, it’s easy to overlook Bilbo’s willingness to surrender the Arkenstone. But that would be a mistake. In the face of entire armies fighting and scrabbling and clawing to clutch the treasure, Bilbo’s readiness to give it away is one of the more significant events in the entire story.

Make no mistake: Bilbo wants the Arkenstone; he’s loath to give it up. The gem captivated him the moment he first set eyes on it; he wants to keep it so badly that he’s risked Thorin’s wrath by hiding it away for several days.

But what makes Bilbo so special is that, even more than he desires the stone, he desires peace. He’s willing to let go of one of the world’s most magnificent treasures so that lives will be spared and relationships mended.

Remember also that the Arkenstone represents his entire share. Think about it: All the miles traveled, all the meals missed, all the danger overcome have been compressed into one glittering jewel. And Bilbo gives it away.

Truly, the hobbit is storing up treasures not on earth but in heaven. Truly, his heart is in the right place.

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Matthew 6:24

Several times Bilbo has proven himself an Agent of Providence—a representative of Ilúvatar, the divine Creator. And he proves it again by giving away the Arkenstone and demonstrating that the treasure is not his master.

Indeed, the characters least interested in the treasure—Gandalf, Bilbo, the eagles—are Agents of Providence. They all serve God instead of money.

Literary Corner: The Arkenstone

Before moving to the Battle of Five Armies, I need to highlight another example of Tolkien’s proficiency with foreshadowing. Bilbo’s willingness to give up the Arkenstone for the greater good foreshadows one of the most important moments of his future.

Bilbo took the envelope, but just as he was about to set it by the clock, his hand jerked back, and the packet fell on the floor. Before he could pick it up, the wizard stooped and seized it and set it in its place. A spasm of anger passed swiftly over the hobbit’s face again. Suddenly it gave way to a look of relief and a laugh.

“Well, that’s that,” he said. “Now I’m off!”[2]

If you’ve read The Lord of the Rings, you know “the envelope” contained the One Ring. In all the history of Middle-earth, Bilbo is one of only two beings to ever willingly surrender the One Ring. (The other is Samwise Gamgee, who returned the ring to Frodo after bearing it for a brief time.)

Just like Bilbo’s present ability to give up the Arkenstone saved numerous lives, his future ability to walk away from the power of the Ruling Ring would pave the way for a bright future within Middle-earth.

We can’t say for sure whether the two incidents are related. We can’t be certain that willingness to relinquish the Arkenstone eventually helped Bilbo let go of the most powerful object in the world. But it certainly didn’t hurt.

In either case, both instances prove that Bilbo Baggins’s strength of character far exceeds his physical stature.