I was reading a very interesting Fox News article yesterday on military slang words that are brought into everyday use. Words and their definitions have always interested me, especially when their meanings have come through difficult circumstances. Those words just seem richer.
One that piqued my interest has been coined from Operation Iraqi Freedom. Fobbit. This is how it was described in the article:
Maj. Liam Kingdon, who works for the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at the University of Maryland in College Park,
said he has heard fellow service members referred to as "fobbits." The word is a contraction of Forward Operating Base (FOB) and "hobbit," a creature from The Lord of the Rings known for its sedentary habits.
"It's basically a soldier, sailor or airman who never leaves the base," Kingdon said. "You've got people there
who leave the base all the time to go on patrol, and you've got people who literally just stay on the base."
Now, it seems to be that the Fobbit's job requires them to stay on base, but what about their free time? Amusingly, this term is already in Wikipedia and answers that question:
Fobbit is a derogatory term used by coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan to describe
base working personnel at a Forward Operating Base (FOB). It derives from the mixing of the acronym FOB,
with the name Hobbit from J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" universe.
The implication of the term is that the individual is scared to leave the relative safety of the FOB,
by way of analogy to Hobbits that had no inclination to leave the Shire and face danger.
This started me thinking about the Church. How many of us are scared to leave the safety of our church building/complex? I have to say that getting into safety groups and singing at the nursing home is nice, but doesn't count. Making shoe boxes for impoverished children around the world is awesome, but what about the impoverished kids who need to be read to at the school in town? Going on group visitation is encouraging, but what about sharing the love of Christ with the frazzled cashier at Walmart?
We are not to be of this world (Romans 12:2), but are most certainly to be in it (Romans 10:14-17). Staying inside of our comfort zones will make our presence known to some, but we are to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), not the ends of our pews. It's time to be Frodo...
Search your actions today, and ask the Spirit to reveal it to you: "Am I a Christian Fobbit?"
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