The Prophetic Power of Tolkien

I have heard arguments about the Christian imagery that Tolkien wove into the Lord of the Rings books, and I have heard theories about how the books were meant as a commentary on the politics of his day. But what I find most intriguing is how contained in his stories are some very prophetic words for the church.

"Kings made tombs more splendid than the houses of the living and counted the names of their descent more dear than their sons. Childless lords sat in ageless halls musing on heaven or in high cold towers asking questions of the stars." (roughly transcribed from the extended version of "The Return of the King")

While Gandalf is referring to the fall of Gondor when he makes these statements, I think has some strength when applied to the church as well. I think there is a strong temptation in the church to think more about building up our halls of worship, our altars, and our memorials than we give thought to the needs of the members and the surrounding community. And while Tolkien was unaware of it at the time, the mainline church in the United States as faced a similar decline over the years, constantly looking to the past and our membership lists and confirmation photos from years past rather than thinking to the future and how we are called to continue the church. I just realize how little we think in the church about creating new churches, about giving birth to something new, and instead tend to focus on our legacy, our traditions, or simply on maintaining the crumbling structures (both physical and perhaps spiritual) of our denominations. I believe that we look to the stars for the magic answer, like Gondor we await the coming of the King, the perfect pastor, who will lead us back to our heyday, rather than actively seeking that return for ourselves. I watched the Return of the King last weekend on my day off (it really does take a whole day to do it) and was just overwhelmed with a desire to work for renewal and I wanted to share that with all my avid, or at least somewhat regular readers.