How to Share Your Faith Using the MTV Video Music Awards
WARNING: Some of the images and words found in the MTV nominated videos may be offensive. DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED
MTV's Video Music Awards (the VMAs) will air this weekend. Although the content of some of the videos may be offensive, informal polling indicates that more than 50% of Christian kids watch the VMAs each year. That percentage soars even higher among secular teens. With such heavy viewership among teenagers, how can you use the buzz about this program to reach out to your friends and talk to them about God?
Although we are not in anyway condoning the content of these videos, they are part of the teen culture. So if you find yourself in conversations about the Best Video of the Year nominations following the VMAs, here are some ideas for how to turn the conversation toward God.
- Coldplay - Speed of Sound
Ask your friends to imagine this song as a metaphor for an awakening understanding of God. Does it make them feel like God wants to know them and that they should want to know Him too? Ask them if they realize that He really does want to be inrelationship with them? Explain how they can experience that! For more detailed ideas on how to share your faith using the this song, check out the archived Culture Commission on Speed of Sound.
- Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Find out from your friends if this song makes them feel encouraged or depressed. Do they ever feel like they "walk alone"? Share about God in your life and that God's promises to us mean that no one has to feel like they walk alone.
- Gwen Stefani - Hollaback Girl
Ask your friends if they respect people who are "in your face" about their opinions. How do you find the balance between being "weak" and "in your face"? Perhaps you can explain that God has the perfect balance between the two. He makes Himself known to us through His creation (Roms. 1:20), through His Son, and through His Word, yet respects our freewill and lets us choose whether to be in relationship with Him or not.
- Kanye West - Jesus Walks
Find out if your friends think Jesus walks with us today. What do they think that means? In Matt. 28:20, Jesus says, "And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Explain that Jesus is with you always, and share how they can experience that too.
- Snoop Dogg with Pharrell - Drop It Like It's Hot
The images in this video show some of the ‘rewards' of great wealth. Do your friends think people with great wealth are happier than those without it? What do they think they really need in life to be happy? Share what God has done in your life and how that has made you feel!
When you have the eyes and heart to see it, you can turn almost anything into a conversation starter about God - including the MVAs!
