I have a confession to make. I love the Bourne trilogy! My husband hates all the crazy running around but I love the whole” I don’t know who I’m but I can kill you without even trying.” I was a bit nervous that Matt Damon was not returning as Jason Bourne but much to my relief, I really enjoyed Jeremy Renner in his new role as Aaron Cross.
In this movie, the American government has yet another secret program trying to build the perfect super soldier but this time the ex-military men have an unfair advantage, chems. Chems are drugs that not only make them physically stronger but also smarter. By keeping Aaron and all the other assets on the chems, the government has total control over their every action. Do as you are told or no more meds for you!
During a flash black of a mission gone wrong, Aaron’s handler Eric Byer tells him, “It is perfectly normal for a person to have doubts about the morality of what we just asked you to do. Do you know what a sin eater is? That’s what we are. We are the sin eaters. It means that we take the moral excrement that we find in this equation and we bury it deep inside of us so that the rest of our cause can stay pure. That is the job; we are morally indefensible and absolutely necessary.” Imagine carrying that burden?
If you read my last article, you know what a sin eater is. If not take a look here.
I was quite taken by this line and almost missed the rest of the movie thinking about it. How often are the actions of the military and government portrayed in this light? How can we ask our military or anyone else for that matter to get off their “chems” and make moral decisions without the proper Biblical moral compass?
What should happen when a person’s conscience is awakened by the Holy Spirit? We, the church should be prepared with the truth of the gospel to answer these critical questions. So what am I saying? Our family, friends and neighbors should know what we believe and why we believe. We must be lovers of God’s word and theology (yes, theology does matter.) so we can point people to absolute truth. We must take our faith outside of the four walls of the church and step into the darkness. We might be mocked and ridiculed but we must be willing to push ourselves outside of our own comfort zone to reach the world for Christ. To be there for those that are drawn to the gospel and who wants to get off their chems.
Reel Thinking 