The Transformers sci-fi autobots’ unstoppable CGI saga will once again invade a theatre near you this summer. The latest installment of this blockbuster franchise, Transformers: The Last Knight, centers on destruction (surprise, surprise!) and redemption. And this time, the key to saving the future lies buried in the past.
Humans and transformers are at war and the unfolding adventure yields a colossal struggle between good and evil. The last, great hope for saving the world falls on an odd foursome: Cade Yeager, a single father and struggling inventor; returning Transformer Bumblebee; English Lord Sir Edmund Burton; and an Oxford professor of English Literature (who knew those liberal arts degrees in Literature could come in handy after all…).
But shelve your mental images of Transformers movies, comic books and toys for a moment. As a Gospel Advancing Ministry youth leader, take a few moments and think about what “transformation” really is. To transform is to change in form, appearance or character. How cool is that? Who isn’t intrigued by the prospect of totally changing from one thing to another?
Try This! ❯
Challenge your students to use Transformers: The Last Knight as a springboard to talk with their unreached friends about the real transformation that comes through Jesus.
In our teenagers’ image-obsessed world, it’s easy for them to get caught up in thinking that the right clothes, cars, phones or whatever will transform who they are by changing their appearance on the outside. After all, that’s the pitch they get from social media and marketers everywhere they turn. If you just buy this brand of clothes or just acquire that new tech toy (and then post it on social media), you will be cool, popular, hip, beautiful and happy!
Transformation from the Inside Out
But the Bible challenges us with an alternate view of how to be transformed. Check out how 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 describes what a transformed life looks like:
Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you (The Message paraphrase).
Jesus is all about changing us from the inside out with His transforming power! And then using us to help others experience this same transformation! So let’s help our students take His radical message of change and new beginnings to their friends.
Transformers can be more than a fun summer diversion. Use it to talk about real transformation. Click To TweetTransformers as a Springboard to Gospel Conversations
Whether your teenagers see the latest installment of this popular movie series on the big screen this summer or not, Transformers: The Last Knight offers an opening for them to talk to their friends who don’t know Jesus about real transformation.
Here are a few conversation starter questions you can equip your Christian students with to help them move their conversations about Transformers toward the gospel:
- Does your outer image match how you see yourself on the inside?
- Do you ever wish you could transform yourself into a totally different person?
- Do you think it’s harder to transform the inside or the outside of who you are? Describe to a friend who doesn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus how He has transformed you!
- The battle between good and evil rages in Transformers. Do you believe there’s a real earthly battle between good and evil being waged? Share what you believe. For help explaining this, check out these free resources.
- Do you think the world is in need of redemption? Why or why not?
- Do you think it’s possible that the key to saving the future has been handed down from the past? Share what you believe about Jesus being “the way, the truth and the life.”
Transformers can be more than a fun summer diversion. Challenge your students to use it to open doors and talk with their unreached friends about the real transformation that comes from knowing Jesus. Jesus has called them to step up and play a role in helping their friends escape destruction and find redemption!
