How to Share Your Faith Using December Boys
December Boys, starring teen-wizard Daniel Radcliffe, follows the story of four orphaned teenager boys who've been raised in a Catholic orphanage in the Outback of Australia. The boys are faced with the reality that the younger children in the orphanage are generally the ones chosen to be adopted, and the teens find themselves forced to wrestle with the dawning realization that their turn for a loving family may never come.
The plot explores these churning emotions that are intensified when the teens are sent on a field trip to a seaside village. As the teens realize there is a couple in the village who might be willing to adopt one of them, three of the friends suddenly find themselves competing for the family that each of them has longed for. The fourth and oldest of the boys strives to remain uninterested in the possibility of being adopted, and instead focuses his attentions on his first romantic experience with the beautiful, fellow-seaside tourist, Lucy.
Most of us can only image what life would be like without a family. But the lost and lonely feelings that spring from having no family roots to ground you, and no parents to provide love and care, are a glimmer of the spiritual reality that we have all walked in. God created each of us with a God-shaped hole inside us that leaves us feeling lost, lonely, and rudderless until we find our way into the loving embrace of our Heavenly Father. Apart from God we are like orphans, searching and seeking for love and acceptance.
The amazing Good News is that:
Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. (Ephesians 1:4-6, The Message)
Through Jesus' work on the cross, we are God's adopted children, if we accept his free gift of forgiveness!
God is inviting everyone to move from the lost and lonely place of sin and separation from God, into an abundant life where our relationship with Him is restored through Jesus, and where we become sons and daughters of the King! So as you find yourself in conversations about the movie December Boys, take the opportunity to make sure your friends know about God's amazing invitation to join His family as an adopted child. Here are a few ideas to help get your conversation headed toward God-talk:
- Find out if your friends have ever considered what it would be like to be an orphan? What words come to mind? Lost, lonely...
- Ask your friends if they realize that on a spiritual level, the Bible says we are all orphans, until we accept God's gift of a restored relationship with Him through Jesus. Share the Good News that God's invited us through Jesus to be adopted into the blessings of a life as His child. For help explaining this, check out the GOSPEL Journey.
- December Boys includes some scenes of spiritual visions of the Virgin Mary. Try using this as a springboard to talk about the spiritual dimension of life. Do your friends believe there is a spiritual realm? Ask them why they believe what they do, listen and then share what you believe.
- The movie includes a Catholic confession scene. Talk with your friends about what they do when they've done something they know is wrong. How do they deal with feelings of guilt? Share about Jesus' free gift of forgiveness when we fall short and miss the mark.
Let your friends know that they have a Heavenly Father who longs to adopt them into His family. A Father who loves them unconditionally and longs to gather His children into a deep and personal relationship with Him!
