The Dark Side of Obedience

I made a note during some meeting a while back about an analogy someone drew regarding obedience. They used a story of a free-spirited dog who disregarded its master's counsel as it ran out into the street to chase what it wanted and was struck by a car and killed. This was supposed to serve as a none-too-subtle lesson on the hazards of living life my own way and not responding unquestioningly to the commands of the Lord...or rather, the commands of men who are set up to be his servants (including, or especially in this case, local leaders). As I understood it, being plastered by a car was meant to signify spiritual destruction.

Immediately, another canine analogy came to my mind from an artist whose music I thoroughly enjoy: Beady Belle. This analogy had not sat well with me when I first heard it in her song, "Drawback". I thought it sounded a bit too subversive and dangerously unyielding in attitude, as I had just returned from my mission, where I was notorious for being a hard-nosed, 100% obedience missionary. The lyrics are as follows:

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When somebody tied my poor dog up
I found that I was totally stuck

I trained him not to let out a yelp
That's why he didn't get any help

Nobody came to help in October
Nobody came to help in November
My dog was praiseworthy, quiet and sober
So nobody came to help in December

So he laid down now on the doorstep and died
And I'm still sitting here all tied up inside

That's the dark side of obedience
That's the dark side of obedience
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Now I believe the truth is found somewhere between these two analogies.

Isn't it interesting how we oversimplify life to draw analogies that fit our own perspective? In many cases, I think life is, indeed, simpler than we care to make it out to be. And in some cases, I think we oversimplify to defend our own narrow perspectives, especially when trying to force everyone into the same tunnel vision.