The Battle Beyond Comfort: What Bilbo Baggins Teaches Us About Evangelism

evangelism evil missionary

In my opinion, the best depiction of the battle between good and evil (outside of scripture) begins like this:

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”

The beginning of The Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings saga as a whole, introduces us to our new friend Bilbo Baggins. We come upon him, as does the wizard Gandalf, basking in a beautiful day, looking forward to his next meal, and smoking his beloved pipe. His ability to enjoy that beautiful day, and the comfort he bases his entire life around, is disrupted by Gandalf’s invitation for him to go on an adventure.

“‘Very pretty!’ said Gandalf. ‘But I have no time to blow smoke-rings this morning. I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone.’ ‘I should think so - in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can't think what anybody sees in them,’...He (Bilbo) had decided that he was not quite his sort and wanted him to go away. But the old man did not move. He stood leaning on his stick and gazing at the hobbit without saying anything, till Bilbo got quite uncomfortable and even a little cross.”

We learn that to Bilbo, anything that takes him away from the comfort of his home and the lifestyle that all Hobbits love and cherish is not only foolish, but he is also skeptical of anyone who suggests otherwise. It ran counter to the Hobbit worldview to do anything that might be disruptive or uncomfortable.

We should see ourselves in Bilbo Baggins.

If I were to rewrite the above opening to make it applicable for the world we live in, it would look like this:

“In a building in a town, there was a church. Not a nasty, unwelcoming church, nor a boring church with no programs or community: this was an American church…and that means comfort.”

American Christians are more like Bilbo than we are like Gandalf. We prefer to sit basking in the life and culture we have built, which is based too much on comfort and luxury. We neglect not only the adventure we are called to but also the command to be about more than comfort.

Our churches being welcoming, well-programmed, and comfortable is not undesirable, but it cannot be all they are because it is not who we are. At the core of the Gospel and the salvation we have received, there is something great to be proclaimed. But we must realize what else exists in this world beyond our welcoming, fun, comfortable churches—darkness and evil. Suppose we do not come to the realization that we are called to greater things, even battle. In that case, we will be like poor Bilbo—waiting for the wise prophets to realize we are not the kind of Christian who can be bothered with such things, ignoring them until they move along and find someone else.

Baggins, Tooks, and Our True Selves

Bilbo’s awakening came when, like us, his truer self was touched by the necessity of the adventure before him. Later in the story, he heard tales from places he had never been and of creatures that sounded intimidating. When he heard those bolder than him (Gandalf and the Dwarves) strategizing about how to overcome the seemingly insurmountable obstacles before them, another side of him came to the forefront. The boldness of his ancestors (the Tooks), something he didn’t realize he had inside of him, began to overcome him.

“Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, hear the pine trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking stick.”

There is something within each of us, as followers of Christ, that should beckon us toward the difficulty and discomfort of striving against the darkness in this world. It is a deposit made in each of us from our spiritual ancestors, from Jesus himself. Ultimately, it is awakened in us by the Holy Spirit. It is the willingness to put down the comforts afforded to us—our “walking sticks”—and pick up a sword.

Abandonment to Battle and Adventure

But where are the adventures and the battles, and who is this evil we are to fight?

With few exceptions, it is not the people who have bought into the darkness and evil this world is filled with that we are to contend against. As Paul said, “...we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

These rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers, whose goals are to steal, kill, and destroy, came to their position of dominion over this world because they rebelled against God and His kingdom. They declared war and have continued to be at war with God. They will continue to be at war with Him until their bitter end in the last days. In the meantime, God has gone about His own plan of restoring His kingdom here on earth and restoring His creation not only to its original design but to something even more grand.

The missionary call to participate in the very real battle between good and evil is the crux of deciding to live a life of evangelism, fruit-bearing, and seeing God’s vision to reclaim cosmic space and restore Eden on Earth. To “Go On Mission” (a battle cry of sorts for All Things All People) is to live a life rejecting the Hobbit-like comforts that paralyze and callous us toward God’s greater purpose for our lives. To do this, we must realize that our faith is built for this—this is who we actually are.

The poet Annie Dillard wrote, “I had been my whole life a bell, and never knew it until at that moment I was lifted and struck.” Every follower of Christ must have a moment (or moments) in their life where they realize exactly who and what they actually are. We are more than those seeking comfort and quiet. We are more than those who hide and ignore the calls toward something scary and dark. If we are to be followers of Christ, we must follow Him wherever He goes—and He often was found moving toward the hurt, the sick, the lost, and the dark. No longer can we avert our eyes from the evil we see in our world and pretend we do not hear those who are calling us to it.

We are a people who carry swords instead of walking sticks—going on mission every day to proclaim what Christ has done, what He is doing, and what He will do.

That is evangelism.

Subscribe to the Engage Network Journal

Get the Journal delivered to you every other week. Filled with articles, research, podcasts, and more- everything you need to be equipped to explore and engage the darkest places and least-reached people in the U.S. with the Gospel!

We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.