15. April 2008 by Seth.

Recently, I was reading the results of one of those “What Lord of the Rings Character Are You?” quizzes on a friend’s Facebook profile page (you know who you are), and it struck me as rather odd. 

You are: Frodo Baggins.  You’re the main character, the hero, the savior of the world. You’re also kind of short. But that’s the thing - you’ve never let your shortcoming get in the way of success. Be proud - one day the world will be yours.

Anyone who’s read The Lord of the Rings series would probably take to task more than one detail in this rather myopic bio of Frodo Baggins, the hobbit who traverses Middle Earth with the One Ring around his neck determined to see it destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom.

It was the last sentence, though, which I found to be most curious—curious and yet not surprising in Twenty-First Century America.

“Be proud - one day the world will be yours.”

It is probable that whoever wrote this description has never read Tolkien’s masterpiece.  Perhaps he’s only seen the movies once or twice—because, anyone who has an understanding of the purpose of Frodo’s mission must understand that not only is “to rule the world” not part of the game plan, but rather it is indeed a page out of the enemy’s playbook.

Indeed, why does Sauron in the great epic long so much to have the ring once again in his control?  Answer: to rule the world.

Why are men so easily corrupted by the seduction of the ring?  Answer: it promises untold power and dominion over Middle Earth.

If Frodo’s end goal had been that of pride and to own the world, he would merely have had to take the ring for himself and enjoy his short ride as lord of the ring—and lord of Middle Earth.

To confuse his efforts with a lust for pride and world domination is to rewrite the entire story.

The arrogance and thirst for power seen in this short bio should not be surprising, however.  Our individualist society seems to care almost exclusively for themselves.  We turn our backs upon those in need and instead want only to  “look out for numero uno.”

We are also a society of “positive thinking.”  Not only do we seek first our own satisfaction, but we seem to hold the notion that simply thinking about the end goal will somehow get us there.  “Be proud,” and then by some magic device suddenly your dream will come true—”the world will be yours.”

Frodo’s journey was not only one of self-sacrifice.  It was also a long, arduous journey, full of both moments of pride and mishaps of discouragement.  Equating this story with selfish ambition and “positive thinking” misses the point entirely.

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3. March 2008 by Seth.

“I have seen encouraging signs these days,” the 8th grade science teacher commented to her students.  “A few years ago, I thought society was going down the toilet quickly.  But, today I see kids involved in youth groups and other activities, and I see them making healthy decisions.”

I was struck by the teacher’s words.  I had been invited to speak to these middle schoolers on behalf of True Life Choices, an Abstinence Education program.  And, due to the fact that this was not a private Christian school, I anticipated resistance to my message.

At the close of the program, though, I offered the teens a chance to take my challenge—a challenge not only to abstain until marriage but also to set boundaries in order to aid them in keeping the goal of purity.  With their heads down on their desks and their eyes closed, I invited the teens to raise their hands to receive abstinence pledge cards.  Out of the eighteen students, seventeen took the challenge.

Whether or not the teens remain true to their pledge, I was surprised by the vast majority decision in favor of purity.  While I’d like to chalk their pledges up to my instructional merit and the strength of the material, I can’t help but believe many of them had already been cultivated in an environment of maturity and purity.

And, this brings me back to the comment by the teacher that teenagers are, on a whole, improving—that they are making wise decisions and rejecting impure aspects of our culture—and that this is due to their involvement in, among activities, church youth groups.

The goal of a youth group is to give you teens the tools you need to defend your faith and challenge others.  But, what you do with this is up to you.  Church youth groups cannot always follow you into the schools, to your sporting events, to your extracurricular activities.

Youth groups may be a catalyst for improvement, but this change will only be effective if you do something with it.

What are you doing to influence your generation?  Is the 8th grade Science teacher correct?  Are you teenagers better today than my generation was ten years ago?  If so, is that because you are more proactive, that you are refusing to lower your standards in situations when we children of the 80s chose to embrace compromise?

Make a list of the ways in which you have influenced those around you—friends, peers, siblings, etc.  Include negative and positive examples.  Conclude this exercise with two ways in which you would like to positively influence your generation in the future.

Post your list as a comment on this blog and/or bring it Wednesday night.  (If you do, something just might be waiting for you Underground in return.)

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12. February 2008 by Kaleb.

Welcome!

Welcome to the underground’s youth blog home…feel free to comment but please note you must register. Please use a valid email! Thanks

Kaleb

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