Tag: books

The Good and Faithful Hobbit 

By Ken Yates on May 05, 2026 10:00 am

I, Pastor Scott, received this blog on Tuesday form one of the “Grace” sites I subscribe. I am sharing not, just, because I’m a big fan of The Trilogy, but also because the article makes a great point!

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, the fate of the world rests on a ring. Forged by the Dark Lord Sauron, the Ring of Power corrupts all who possess it. It needs to be destroyed. Someone has to carry the Ring into the heart of enemy territory and destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom. 

The unlikely ring bearer is Frodo Baggins, a small hobbit from the Shire. As the story unfolds, the burden of the Ring grows heavier. It weakens his body. It clouds his mind. It isolates him from his companions. By the time he reaches the aptly named Mount Doom, he is staggering under the weight of the ring. 

But Frodo is not alone. He has Samwise Gamgee with him. 

Sam is Frodo’s gardener. He was not chosen to bear the ring. He is not given the “important” role. He begins the story as a servant, packing supplies, cooking meals, and worrying about potatoes. If you were assembling a team to save the world, Sam would not be your obvious pick. Yet anyone who knows the story knows this: Frodo would never have made it to Mount Doom without Sam. When Frodo collapses, Sam carries him. When Frodo despairs, Sam speaks hope. When the path disappears, Sam keeps walking. Sam fights when necessary, but more often than not, he simply serves.  

What was Tolkien’s inspiration for Samwise? He revealed it in an interview. Tolkien served as a second lieutenant in World War I, enduring the brutal conditions of trench warfare. In those trenches, he encountered a class of soldiers known as batmen. In the British army, a batman was an enlisted man assigned as a personal servant to an officer. His tasks were unglamorous: prepare meals, clean uniforms, maintain equipment, carry extra gear, make tea, run messages. In the mud of the trenches, they shaved their officers, washed their clothes, and set up their quarters.  

These batmen lived and served under shellfire, in the cold, with the rats, and experienced exhaustion. Their daily work often consisted of what seemed insignificant: cooking, cleaning, carrying. Tolkien saw them up close. And he never forgot them. 

In a 1956 letter, he wrote: 

“My Sam Gamgee is indeed a reflection of the English soldier, of the privates and batmen I knew in the 1914 War, and recognized as so far superior to myself.”

That sentence speaks to the profound impact these men had on Tolkien. “So far superior to myself.” Tolkien was the officer. By rank and education, he stood above them. Yet he believed the quiet endurance and loyalty of those ordinary soldiers surpassed his own. Tolkien understood something that war teaches quickly: Leaders cannot lead if no one serves. Commanders cannot function without someone to clean, cook, carry, and sustain. Armies do not move on speeches; they move on meals prepared in the mud.  

The great moments of history are built on unnoticed faithfulness. It is human nature to love the climactic scene, such as Frodo at Mount Doom. In the Bible, we are inspired by David facing Goliath. We love the dramatic language of spiritual warfare and the heroes listed in Hebrews 11. We gravitate toward the epic, the visible, the extraordinary. But most of the believer’s life is not lived at Mount Doom. 

It is lived in kitchens, laundry rooms, offices, and hospital waiting rooms. In these places, there are daily, repetitive acts of service that no one applauds: cooking a meal for a weary family member; showing up to work with integrity when no one notices; preparing Sunday school lessons; cleaning a church building; praying for someone who will never know you did; raising children in quiet consistency; serving aging parents; answering emails; paying bills; folding clothes.

In Luke 19, when the Lord describes His return and the evaluation of His servants, the praise He gives is striking: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Not “good and famous.” Not “good and influential.” Not “good and impressive.”  

Faithful. 

Faithful implies repetition. Showing up day after day and doing what was entrusted to you without needing recognition. It is not a single dramatic act. It is a word that describes a life lived consistently, like Samwise and the batmen who inspired him.  

The kingdom to come will not measure greatness the way this world does. It will not be impressed with numbers or noise. What will matter is whether we were faithful with what we were given, whether in great trials or small tasks. The steady obedience in the mundane may count for more than the single act of visible bravery. 

Frodo reached Mount Doom because Sam kept walking. 

Armies held their lines because unnamed soldiers known as batmen kept serving. 

And believers finish well, not because every day is epic, but because, in the quiet and the ordinary, they remain faithful. 

The post The Good and Faithful Hobbit  appeared first on Grace Evangelical Society.

Heroic Hobbyists

In 2018, an event made international news. A soccer team of twelve boys and their coach became trapped inside the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand. The team had gone to explore the cave. But the monsoon rains came and sealed off their exit, pushing them miles inside a twisting, waterlogged cave system. For over two weeks, rescuers fought to find the boys and bring them to safety. Thai Navy SEALs, international volunteers, engineers, medical teams, and elite cave divers from around the world came to help. Happily, all thirteen were saved.

I recently learned some interesting facts about this story that I didn’t know in 2018. Two of the rescuers, Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, were British natives. Stanton, a retired firefighter, and Volanthen, a tech engineer, were cave diving hobbyists. They weren’t in the military, but they ultimately became the heroes of the story because of their unique set of skills.

There are three prominent cave diving methods, each with its own techniques and culture. Mexican cave divers specialize in clear, spacious caves and are experts in long-distance navigation. Floridian cave diving focuses on deep cave formations with fast-flowing water. It produces divers who excel in technical planning, teamwork, and dealing with strong currents. The last one method is British cave diving, with which Stanton and Volanthen were familiar. 

British caves are known for low visibility, narrow passages, and muddy floors. They require solo diving due to tight spaces. British divers excel in dark, cramped caves where they swim alone and can do so without panicking. 

All three methods are impressive forms of diving. But it was the British caves that most closely resembled the Thai cave structure, making Stanton and Volanthen uniquely qualified to rescue the boys.

What looked terrifying to most of the world was familiar to them. And when the time came, the entire rescue operation—SEALs, engineers, doctors, and global volunteers— turned to these two British hobbyists to lead the way, not because they were better, but because their experience fit the mission.

When I heard this, I was reminded of some Biblical principles. The Thai Navy SEALs, the engineers, the logisticians, the volunteers—everyone worked together for one goal: to save the boys. No one fought for control. No one insisted that their way was best simply because of rank or title. They did not say it had to be done by their method of cave diving.

Of course, the church is meant to operate in the same way. It also illustrates the point that expertise doesn’t make you qualified for everything. The SEALs were extraordinary, brave, disciplined, and highly trained. The Mexican divers were experts in their field, as were the Floridians, but they weren’t specialists in this area. And the moment they recognized it, they deferred to the British divers.

In the church, wisdom acts in the same way: by submitting to the people whose gifts fit the moment. James reminds us that the “poor” are often rich in faith. Often, it is not the impressive, the loud, or the most obvious by human standards who are best qualified to meet a particular need. Sometimes, the ones God uses are unassuming amateurs who become heroes. There will be times when the guy who has a seminary degree should give way to somebody who doesn’t.

January 27, 2026 by Ken Yates, Grace Evangelical Society

Filling in for me, Pastor Scott – both because the article makes a great point and because I’m out sick this week. 😦