Ella Theology

Have you ever seen the movie, Ella Enchanted? Released in 2004, it was kind of a mix of fairy tales like Cinderella (thus, "Ella") and Sleeping Beauty and, well, all sorts of stuff. It had a modern flare set in a medieval time so you had a 14th century town with a mall, complete with an human-operated escalator. In the castle there is a "IV Seasons" complete with a glassed elevator. Funny stuff. The premise of the story is that a little girl, Ella of Frell, is "gifted" (which, of course, is no gift) with the requirement of obeying every command. "The gift of obedience," her fairy relative who gives it to her calls it. This, of course, gets her into all kinds of trouble when ne'er-do-well step-sisters figure out her secret and force her to do bad things. So she sets out to find her fairy aunt and get her to take it back. The basic story line, then, is this: "No one should be forced to do what they don't want to do." She encounters an elf who wants to be a lawyer but is legally required to be a performer. She encounters giants who want to be free but are forced into slavery. And she herself is commanded to commit a murder she doesn't want to do. All very touching. And a humorous story, to be sure.

I'm wondering, though, how well this works itself out in life. Is it a truism that "No one should be forced to do what they don't want to do"? We like the sound of it, but is it true? I can't imagine anyone actually standing on that ground. "I don't want to stop at red lights, so I shouldn't be forced to do it." "I don't want to be without a sports car, so no one should prevent me from taking one." And, of course, the obvious problem, "I don't want to lose my sports car, so no one should be allowed to take it." I mean, this doesn't work at all.

I call it "Ella Theology" because it is, as it turns out, basic human theology. "I will be like the Most High." We wish to do whatever it is we wish to do and will not tolerate anyone else telling us we cannot. It isn't rational. It isn't workable. And yet, we seem to hold it as the highest principle.

The good news is that Christ came to pay for that Cosmic Treason of which we all stand guilty. We have all shaken our fists in the face of God -- "No one should be forced to do what they don't want to do!" And we all face eternal punishment for the vastness of the crime. And Christ came to fix that problem.

Oddly enough, as a result of the new heart placed in the followers of Christ, the ultimate end is ... wait for it ... obedience.

"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14:15).

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph 2:10).

So we do end up with "the gift of obedience", in varying shades now and, ultimately, in complete obedience. The beautiful difference is that when we actually arrive (in heaven) at perfect obedience, it will be that we are doing exactly what we want to do. Now that's a good thing, isn't it?