Pessimism, Realism, and the Church's Plight

Pippins in the Pulpits

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Fans of The Lord of the Rings often take issue with the changes that were made in the film adaptations, but one of those changes found in the second movie, The Two Towers, tells a powerful tale.

As Pippin and Merry, two unserious, half-sized hobbits, struggle to make much of an impact on the stories’ great conflict, Pippin confesses that maybe it’s time for them to give up the act and go back home where it’s safe:

“Maybe Treebeard’s right. We don’t belong here, Merry. It’s too big for us. What can we do in the end? We’ve got the Shire. Maybe we should go home.”

But Merry understands an important truth that Pippin has not yet realized:

“The fires of Isengard will spread. And the woods of Tuckburough and Buckland will burn. And all that was once green and good in this world will be gone. There won’t be a Shire, Pippin.”

Jeremiah dealt with Pippin prophets in his day—"They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace” (6:14). In the next chapter they tried their own version of “we’ll always have the Shire” and God was having none of it: “Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord’” (7:4).

I worry we’re facing the same problem, as any discussion about culture’s slide into hedonism and the church’s statistical decline are met with “You’re too negative. Why can’t we talk about the GOOD things in the church? Besides, the church will always be here.”

If I could gather all the pietist, anabaptist, and Lipscombite preachers, and all the older preachers in the deep south who insist the church is thriving and have their attention for one minute, I’d show them this scene.

Their messages of comfort probably feel as comforting to them as Pippin’s words did to him and as Jeremiah’s contemporaries’ words did to God’s people. But there are Merrys in the pews who know the Shire is slipping away and that the man in the pulpit is too comfortable to see it.

These are the people who have to face DEI and pronoun sensitivity training or lose their livelihoods, have to thread a needle of keeping their kid from trans influences without getting them taken away on child abuse charges, or have to fear for their family’s safety as gun shots start to ring out weekly in their once-safe neighborhood.

The Pippins in the pulpit take for granted all the gains Christendom has made. They don’t realize that the sexual perversion, the greed, the child sacrifice, the growing barbarism, the open paganism, and so many of the other ills creeping back into our culture are the default for humans all over the world.

Without Christians bringing Christ’s influence into the political and cultural world, this is what it would look like everywhere. And if we abdicate, it’s what it will look like again.

Will the church die? No. But it can be pushed backward pretty far when God’s people aren’t faithfully marching forward.

I truly don’t think they’ve grappled with just how ugly it can get. I’m fully ready to stand by my Lord should a gun be pointed in my face, and I believe many Christians are, too. But our wives and children and grandchildren will also bear the brunt of this cultural slide, and you’re truly evil if that’s something you welcome with open arms.

Think of the parents who had to watch their children starve to death under the Holodomor or the Great Leap Forward. Think of the fathers trying to hide their children to avoid the camps of the Holocaust. That all feels such a long way off, but our parents and grandparents lived through those times, and our kids and grandkids might, too.

We’ve grown up in a culture that places us in the top 1% of anyone who ever lived with regard to prosperity, safety, and insulation from brutal imagery, thanks to Christianity’s influence in our country.

I don’t think we can fathom just how bad it can get, but there are Christians throughout history and even today who can tell us.

And if you’re Satan, isn’t Pippin exactly who you want influencing Christians?

“Don’t join the fight, don’t speak up—just agree to disagree, evangelize, and everything will be fine.” It’s no coincidence that, as many churches have given up any attempt to influence the culture, the church just so happens to be growing increasingly influenced by the culture in return. It will always go one direction or another, and by convincing us that we’re pleasing God by standing down, Satan is given a clear path to march forward.

Standing safely on a stage on a Sunday to tell Christians they’ll always have the Shire, then returning home to a plentiful meal and a nice, warm bed is exactly the kind of comfort that appealed to Pippin. It’s time they realized what their members who are on the front lines are already experiencing every day: before long, there won’t be a Shire anymore.

This article is taken from my book Christ’s Co-Rulers: Understanding Christian Political Engagement, available on Amazon

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