When you think of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, who do you think of? Aragorn, the man who becomes King of Gondor? Frodo, the tragic bearer of the One Ring? Gandalf, whose epic power knows no bounds? Or Samwise, the faithful friend?
Or how about Pippin?
Not likely.
Pippin is not a hero. Not in any sense of the word. In the movie, he is somewhat clueless and happy-go-lucky. Of the four Hobbits, he is the least likely hero. So what does that make Pippin? The comic relief?
Usually, he’s the idiot. He's the one who alerts the goblins (and the wonderful cave troll) that the Fellowship is in Moria. He's the one who blows Frodo's cover in Bree. He (along with Merry and Sam) cooks food because he's hungry, alerting the Nazgul where the Hobbits are hiding. And he's the one who gets an apple thrown at his head by a frustrated Aragorn because, again, he's hungry.
But is that the extent of his character? His purpose? Not really.
In The Two Towers, Pippin has one small stroke of genius by telling Treebeard to take them to Isengard, which causes Fangorn Forest to go to war. Then he shows his true worth and character in The Return of the King where he fights alongside Gandalf and the soldiers of Gondor during the Battle of Minas Tirith.
Pippin, though an idiot, shows that not everyone has to be Frodo and carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. He wasn't even the guy who stayed by Frodo until the end or won a major victory and become king!
At the end of the day, Pippin was the guy who danced on tables singing drinking songs. He was the good guy everyone loves. He wasn't brilliant or powerful or talented. He was normal. He was himself almost an "everyman" character.
God doesn’t call everyone to carry heavy burdens like Frodo’s Ring. Not everyone has earth-shattering, heart-breaking testimonies of God’s power. Lord knows that there have been times I’ve listened to other people share testimonies and wish I had been on drugs at some point, or had something to beef up my testimony. But God has a purpose for us, just like Pippin had a purpose.
Sometimes being normal isn’t bad. Sometimes, it’s exactly what God wants you to be.
