skip to content

How to Share Your Faith Using the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards

WARNING: Many of the images and words found in the MTV nominated videos discussed below may be offensive. DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED.

Panic! At the Disco just won MTV's Video Music Awards (the VMAs) with I Write Sins Not Tragedies. Every year the MVAs create a huge amount of buzz among teens. Although the content of some of the videos may be offensive, informal polling indicates that more than 50% of Christian kids watch the VMAs. That percentage soars even higher among secular teens. With such heavy viewership among teenagers, how can you use the buzz about the VMAs to reach out to your friends and talk to them about God?

Although Dare 2 Share is not in anyway condoning the content of the music videos discussed below, they are part of the teen culture. So if you find yourself in conversations about the some of these video that were nominated for Best Video of the Year, here are some ideas for how to turn the conversation toward God.

  • Christina Aguilera - Ain't No Other Man

    "You have what I want...you're the only one," Christina Aguilera announces in this music video. Ask your friends if they have a sense of what they want in life. Is it to meet the right guy/girl who is 'the only one' and live happily ever after? Share what you value and give them a glimpse of how fulfilling a deep, meaningful, loving, life-long relationship with God can be.

  • Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California

    Find out if your friends think they understand what this music video is really about. Do you think it's about "every girl Anthony Kiedis ever dated" or something else entirely? Moving the conversation toward God talk with any song/video about relationships can often involve asking your friends about what they value in a dating relationship and sharing what you value and why. Talk about the ultimate, soul-satisfying relationship with God that's available to everyone through Jesus.

  • Madonna - Hung Up

    "I'm hangin' up on you...I'm tired of waitin' on you." Have you ever been hung up on, or felt like hanging up on someone else? Do you ever get tired of waiting for someone to get their act together? Do you sometimes feel like closing someone out of your life because they've hurt or disappointed you? Those are very human feelings. Isn't it great to know that we can be in relationship with someone who will never hang up on us? That someone is God - he promises that he will never leave us or forsake us. Check out Hebrews 13:5, where God declares, " I will never fail you. I will never forsake you." Share about God in your life and let your friends know that God's promises to us mean that we will never be totally alone.

  • Panic! At the Disco - I Write Sins Not Tragedies * Winner*

    Ask your friends why they think this video includes a clip with a cross prominently displayed? What do you think it means in the context of this song? Try using this question to move the conversation toward God. Share what God means in your life and why the symbol of the cross is important to you.

  • Shakira - Hips Don't Lie

    The footage in this video screams out the sensual, sex-saturated nature of much of teen culture. Ask your friends how they think they're influenced by the sex-saturated culture. What guides their moral choices in this area of their lives? How do they determine what is right or wrong? Is it all about personal choice, feeling 'right' and doing your own thing, or are there right and wrong ways to behave sexually? Many teens think that 'not hurting someone else' should be their conduct guide - find out what your friends think. By this standard, how much 'hurt' is too much? Share your views and how your relationship with God shapes your behavior in this area of your life. For help with this check out 1 Thes. 4:3-5 and Eph. 5:3.

When you have the eyes and heart to see it, you can turn almost anything into a conversation starter about God - including these music videos!