Casino Royale

“Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.” Matt. 10: 16

How much time do we spend at work? According to recent statistics, most of our week is spent behind the desk, commuting to or from the job, or even thinking about or doing extra work while we’re at home or on the weekends. Combined, the effort we put forth for our jobs is astronomical. Even when people have trouble sleeping, chances are it’s because we’re thinking about work.

On the flip side, one would expect that job satisfaction is at an all-time high in the United States because we spend so much time there; however, that’s not the case... for we are a very disgruntled people in regards to our day-to-day work.

In society today , we have lost the idea of a “vocation” or being “called” to a particular job or career. Strangely enough, Casino Royale, the latest James Bond thriller, reminds us about the notion of a calling in our daily work.

In this installment, we learn how Bond (played this time by Daniel Craig) started his adventurous career as a British secret spy. Bond is truly called to this line of work; it fits his gifts and goals in life. Throughout the movie, he suffers difficult tasks, torture, and even death for the sake of his “vocation.” When we see this movie, we wonder if we, too, would do the same for our own job.

We believe that God has a plan for each of us, that we are all given gifts and aspirations to make a difference in this world. Our job should be our way of making this world a better place, one day at a time, whether our job be a trash collector or an undercover spy for the British intelligence agencies.

We also believe that Christ sent us out into the world to live the gospel values; he did so with his disciples as he said “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.” (Matt. 10: 16).

In a way, our jobs and careers are a mission into the everyday world. But do we squander this opportunity? Or do we take hold of it, like James Bond, and do it to the best of our ability for the betterment of others? Could it be that, no matter if we are in a career we like or not, God is calling us to transform people’s lives through our everyday work? If that is the case, then how should we look at our commute, our desks, those pesky co-workers, and most especially, the people who benefit from our day-to-day work?

Imagine how our world might be transformed if everyone treated their work like James Bond: we might all have cool theme music playing in the background, and more realistically, we would have a hand in getting this world closer to the Reign of God.