I'm watching the film Elizabeth as part of the Film School at church, which reminded me that I have a biography about Queen Elizabeth that I decided to go ahead and dive into. So as I'm watching and reading the story of how this woman ascended to the throne in England in 1558, I am struck by the violence of the times. But what is most striking is the people who are involved in doing the violent deeds. It's people who all go to church (or mass) on Sunday and then burn people at the stake by mid-week for believing something different about God (or the church) than they do. People who all are identified as card-carrying members of "the church."
Even though this is not the first time I've heard this story or others like it, I am unsettled all the same. How could people descended from "the Way", that radical group of Christ-followers who "were united and had everything in common" [Acts 2:44], get to the point where burning people at the stake was part of the church calendar for the coming week?
It un-nerves me. I am incensed by the injustice of these crimes. And yet, I wonder where I end up interpreting the story of God in ways that are more about my own agendas than about the real heart of God. (Which reminds me that when I start thinking I have it all figured out or that other people just don't "get it", I am lighting the match for another bonfire. Lord, have mercy.)
I want to know God...the one true God...the God who loves without condition or restraint. The God who loves us so much He would entrust us with the freedom to choose to love Him back or to harden our hearts to the point of unspeakable crimes against each other and Himself. This kind of freedom seems dangerous to me, but evidently it is the only soil from which true love can emerge.
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