Despite the new take on Bond in “Casino Royale,” many of the same worldviews are present. To say the least, Bond takes a casual attitude towards morality and regularly engages in sex, violence, and deception. Sometimes his sins are aimed at completing the mission put before him; at other times, they are solely for his own pleasure. Either way, it doesn’t take a theologian to realize that the lifestyle of James Bond is one in which just about anything goes and Christianity, or even basic moral principles, hardly exist.
Interestingly, this man without morals has often been viewed as the pinnacle of manhood in our pop-culture. Every boy in America grows up dreaming of having a license to kill and the ability to bed any woman he wants within 15 minutes of introducing himself. But the thing about Bond movies is that we never see the results of such a lifestyle. STDs, nasty flashbacks, and stray bullets never come into play, even in “Casino Royale” which tries to take everything more seriously. Bond remains cool, calm, and dangerous, no matter what is thrown at him.
In the Bible, Paul describes a different sort of mission that requires total dedication, but doesn’t involve any of the nasty results of Bond-living. In Philippians 3:7-8, Paul says that his mission requires him to give up everything else in order to focus on the cause of Christ. “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ…” The work of Christ is a much more fulfilling cause to dedicate your whole self to. The risks and sacrifices in this life are huge, but one payoff is the joy that comes from being in the center of God’s will. To me, Paul is a much better model of a man on a mission that James Bond, and his philosophy is one we should all strive for.
