Niels Prip – Blog

While I don’t usually use movies to make Christian theological points, in this case, Boromir does seem fitting. I will take comfort in the fact that JRR Tolkien was a Christian.

While Boromir, in the Lord of the Rings, has a time of repentance at the end of his life, he was certainly enamored with the One Ring. He was extremely tempted by it and wanted to use it for good. He tried to persuade the other members of the Fellowship to use the One Ring against the dark lord. How many things of this world are we tempted to use for good?

As I read Luke 4:5-7, the devil offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and all its glory. The devil tells Jesus that it was a domain that had been handed over to him, and that he had the power to give it to whomever he wished. That is an interesting thought because Satan certainly does give it to evil men, and all throughout history you can see his trail of destruction through those evil men to whom he has given it. Yet here he offers it to Jesus, the righteous Son of God. It is offered to Jesus as a temptation. For Jesus, in a twisted way, it was a way for “all things to become subject to Jesus’ feet”! But God’s way was for Him to suffer the cross and wait for “all things to become subject under His feet”. Hebrews 2:8 “Yet at present we do not see everything subject to Him”. The mystery of the Gospel slowly unwinds! Oh that we would have the eyes of our understanding opened by Jesus!

Boromir was told by Aragorn, “you cannot wield the Ring, it only answers to the dark lord”. We currently live in a world that answers to satan, “the prince and power of the air”. He gives his power to whom he wishes! It must be so for now. 1 Corinthians 5:249-25 “…then comes the end, when He (Jesus) delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet”.  God still moves in the earth by his divine will and Providence, as it says in Daniel, “He does as He please with all the host of heaven and with man on the earth”. For now He is allowing satan a certain amount of power.

How does that apply to us? We have the same temptation facing us, to use the things of the world for good. If Jesus resisted that, should we not also resist it? There is a theology out there in the Christian world that wants to use the powers of this world to usher in the Kingdom of God. Is that even possible? Is that what God has intended for His church to pursue? We can all think of areas in this modern world that we could use for the good of the Kingdom. We could use politics and make Christian laws. We can use the entertainment and the music industry to have better Christian music and entertainment. We could have Christian businesses. All these things would make us feel good, but they are not the answer.

To quote a dear friend of mine, “It is interesting to note that Jesus did not initiate any socio-economic nor political change. He did not depose Herod, Pilate or Caesar; not even the High Priest. He did not set up social programs nor end slavery while on earth. Yet He declared, the kingdom of God has come upon you”.

Think of it, the Kingdom of God came upon the world! Politics did not matter! It did not matter who was in office! Yet we fight and devour one another over politics. It is important for us to accept the fact that God’s Kingdom is not of this world, John 18:36 tells us so! While there is a lot of good that we can do in the world, it is not dependent on anything of this world, it is dependent on the Holy Spirit. It was by the Holy Spirit that the Apostles changed the whole world! The life changing power of Jesus works in the whole world. It doesn’t matter what type of government you are under. The church grew under the most hostile government system the world had ever seen, the Roman Empire! We need to use what Jesus has made available to us, the Holy Spirit. He is greater than any denomination, greater than any political party and greater than any form of government! It is the kingdom of God. Let us not lose our distinctiveness! There is a uniqueness to Christians who are led by the Spirit, to those whose “kingdom is not of this world”..