Don't be such a Boromir

In the movie “The Fellowship of the Ring,” a fascinating scenario plays out in multiple scenes. The titular ring is a magic item that gives its owner control over the whole world. It was made by the ultimate bad guy, a dark entity called Sauron. The ring itself embodies his quest for domination.

The question arises several times, though, about whether a good, heroic character might be able to use the ring in a better way than Sauron. Maybe this person could become a benevolent dictator, for everyone’s benefit.

The fascinating thing is that this temptation becomes a stiff test of character for our heroes, and the truly good ones (Gandalf, Galadriel, and Aragorn) understand that the ring would corrupt them. Even though they would begin their rule of all things with good intentions, at the end, they would become carbon copies of Sauron.

Another member of the fellowship, Boromir, yields to the temptation and this leads to his destruction. This man was a mighty warrior, a protector of his people. At his best, he was a true leader and worthy of the glory he received from his grateful nation. However, from his first encounter with the ring, he saw it as a gift from the heavenly powers, given as a weapon for use in saving his kingdom from their evil enemies. He didn’t snap out of its hypnotic allure until it was too late.

My contention is that American evangelicalism is dominated now (and has been for a solid generation) by a Boromir theory of political involvement. What I mean is that, when faced with bad government doing bad things, their first instinct is to cast about looking for a better person to take the reins and steer this whole enterprise in a better direction. The injustices and humiliations they deal with under a rotten administration: well, we’ll just see who’s crying after the next election. They have to grit their teeth and bare with it all now; and, they can’t wait to make the other side do that in a couple years.

Boromir evangelicals need to snap out of it, like their namesake did. Wake up to the realization that this executive, coercive, imperialistic, rule by force is the issue. It turns all of its well-meaning wielders into Saurons.

For a modern example of this degenerative process, look no further than the Tea Party caucus from several elections ago. Fresh-faced congresspersons showed up for their first day at work, heady from their strong victories at the polls, ready to use the ring for good, and they disappeared immediately, swallowed whole by a system they had vowed to master and pilot.

Remember, none of them suffered any violence. That’s not how they disappeared. They were absorbed. They became the system, as if overnight. The ring controls the prospective wielder, not the other way around.

Our God and his Christ are already over all the nations. See Psalm 2 for starters. Jesus intends to abolish all human rule and authority, not wield it for righteousness. The kingdom grows like a plant, from the bottom up. It is not imposed from the top down. Let this understanding guide your political involvement.

Gordan Runyan is the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Tucumcari. Contact him at:

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