A Theology of Hobbits

I love the literature of JRR Tolkien. After the Narnia books of CS Lewis, the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are some of my earliest literary memories. So, it was with great interest that years ago I listened to a friend and colleague at Princeton talk about her idea of a “theology of hobbits.” It was, in essence, the idea that we are called to do the work of Christ’s Kingdom where we are, making our corner of the Kingdom the best place it can be. It also means that we aren’t called to solve every problem everywhere, but we are called to a specific place and time to do specific, contextual work.

I used this concept, paired with new research from the Barna Group and Thrivent Financial which explores the ways different generations express generosity in a Christian context, as the basis for a four week sermon series in September 2019. We explore how different people express (and receive) generosity in different “languages.” This is similar in concept to the popular book The Five Love Languages.

Below you can watch the four sermons; as always I’d love to hear your feedback! Please leave a comment at the bottom of this post.