American Sniper: Why Christians Want Their Jesus To Be Chris Kyle

American Sniper, the Clint Eastwood film starring Bradley Cooper as Navy Seal Chris Kyle, has been the topic de jour among many bloggers since its recent premier. My Facebook feed has been littered with diverse opinion on the film with some championing Kyle’s service to his country and his 160 confirmed kills, while others deride the glorification of a man with so much blood on his hands.

Me?  I kept quiet…until I saw the film. (Advice I recommend for everyone by the way)

And now that I have I have to say as a film buff the movie is truly worthy of a Best Picture Oscar.  Clint Eastwood has delivered a riveting story that had me experiencing a roller-coaster of emotions and questioning my own moral compass throughout. Much to the chagrin of my more progressive friends, American Sniper is not “right wing red meat” but instead a nuanced study of America’s wartime mentality and the high cost paid by one of it’s most patriotic warriors.

And Kyle is patriotic…he’s the poster boy for it.  A big, strong, Texan driven by a desire to protect his people and country.

And he’s good…

Which is part of the problem!

Two Trees to Chose From

The moral dilemma central to American Sniper is whether Kyle is justified in killing men, women, and even children in cold blood in order to save and protect others.

Is it…ok?

This has been the ongoing question ever since humankind chose to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil (Gen. 3:6)  rather than the Tree of Life (Gen. 2:9)

We know how that story went and within a generation one man was crushing his brother’s head because of his own notions of right and wrong.

Our motivations were no longer centered on what brought life but instead on demarcating spheres of good and evil.  And with that transaction a blurring of the lines between the two occur.  Although Chris Kyle performs admirably in protecting members of his tribe…

…a good thing…

…every cold blooded head shot he takes…

…an evil thing…

…chips away a little bit at his soul.

This conundrum will continue for as long as we choose to couch our worldview in terms of good & evil rather than life! 

People tend to forget that so much of what we do in the name of goodness is still waged on cursed ground with a really high body count.

Jesus however showed us the path away from the tree whose fruit wrecks destruction even in the name of good back to the tree which leads to life.  It’s a path which, arguably, even Jesus suggested is far more difficult to follow.

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 7:13,14

It’s the path Christ took himself when he refused to slay his enemy and instead chose to forgive them.

It’s the path that involves sacrificing ourselves rather than our brothers and sisters.

It’s a path that means letting go of tribal identity and identifying instead with the one who shed himself of identities linked to a cursed system.

Chris Kyle was a good man who defended his tribe but in the end, perpetuated a cycle of violence mankind has been locked in since Cain & Abel.

Jesus Christ was a life man who saved and is saving all tribes and showed us how this never ending cycle of violence can be broken once and for all.

The problem is the American church would, by an large, want Jesus to be a little more like Chris Kyle.  But take heart America, Israel in 30 AD was hoping Jesus was a bit more like Chris Kyle as well…

…and they got the Son of God instead!

And that leads to a much better ending story!

Peace,

Steve