A young person’s faith is sure to grow stagnant without a solid foundation in God’s Word and a true passion for Him. Young people in today’s world desperately need and crave a close relationship with God. As I work with young people, I see that need for a close relationship with God play out in their lives each and every day. After trying many different ways to bring young people closer to God, I have found the best way to do this is in small group settings (e.g., Bible studies, Sunday School, family devotions, etc.) that focus on the Word of God in an interesting way. A relationship with God is anything but boring, but I think we as parents and teachers sometimes make it boring.

As I began bringing my young people together in various small group settings, I started the search for good, quality small group material that was interesting to the kids and strong in God’s Word. I tried using books and other material that was strong in God’s Word, but they failed to interest my students. When I found material that was interesting to them, inevitably it failed to focus on God’s Word. I also have talked with several home school parents who struggle with this same problem. After failing to find material that fit the above criteria, I decided to turn to movies to fill this void.

I came up with the idea of taking popular movies (secular and Christian) and turning them into God-centered topical lessons for youth in fifth through 12th grade. Some of the movies I found with topics that impact young people include: The Blind Side, Spider-Man 3, Because of Winn Dixie, Soul Surfer, The Last Song, The Sandlot, Evan Almighty, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Ultimate Gift, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Perfect Game and The Avengers.

How Do Movies Differ?
After watching each movie, I focus on six to eight topics from each movie and create a lesson that focuses on what God’s Word says about each topic. Some of the topics include friends, family, anger, divorce, forgiveness, leadership, compassion, pain and suffering, eternal life, revenge, courage, trust, prayer, fear, and peer pressure. The response from the young people I have taught using these movies to grow a relationship with God has been very positive. I also have noticed members of my youth group more willing to invite their friends, Christian and non-Christian, to take part in these teaching sessions.

Lessons based on movies can be extremely beneficial to youth leaders, parents and their children. Youth groups or families can watch the movie together, giving them quality time spent with each other. After watching the movie, youth leaders and parents can use the films in at least two ways.

First, each topic, along with the movie clip, can be used as your small group lesson, Bible study, Sunday School lesson or daily family devotion. After viewing a 5- to 10-minute clip, the topic could be presented in way that addresses a current youth group or family issue or an issue present in your local community, region or the world.

Second, homeschool families could use each topic as its religion class. After viewing the 5- to 10-minute clip, the topic could be discussed in a way that solidifies your family view of that topic and your faith in God. If watching the whole movie is not an option for you, watching the short clip on the specific topic followed by the lesson also works. You do not have to watch the whole movie for the clips, lessons and topics to be relevant.

Using movies to teach young people about God benefits them in several ways. Young people today are visually focused. Take a look at your child’s iPod, and you’re like to find music, as well as movies they view daily. Things that stick with young people today are found in YouTube clips and in movies. Seeing a movie clip with a corresponding topic that was used to bring them closer to God can be a constant visual reminder of God’s love for them anytime they see that movie or hear it mentioned. Think of the benefits young people’s faith receive when they are reminded God loves them via a movie that’s embedded in their culture and is popular with them and their friends. Movies also keep the attention of young people today, whereas books and other materials may fail to do so because of their lack of visual appeal in an increasing visual world.

Jesus taught those He came in contact with through parables that included many things His to which audience could relate and understand. The parables of the Lost Coin and The Wise and Foolish Builders are two of the many stories Jesus used to get His points across to people in ways they could understand. Young people relate to movies and their stars, and we need to be using the right kind of movies to get the point of God’s love for them across to our young people.

Using movies as a way to grow the faith of young people is a relatively new concept, but it’s time we employ this medium. Whether we like it, movies and music play an important part in the lives of young people. Movies that play such an important part in the lives of our young people can, should and will be used to grow and mature their faith in God. Our children will reap earthly and eternal benefits from our willingness to try new ways to solidify their relationship with God. The question we have to ask as parents and teachers is: “Are we willing to think outside the box and try something new to grow the faith of our children?”That’s an interesting question with earthly and eternal consequences for the young people we love.

Patrick Sherrill has been working full-time with young people for more than 12 years and has a passion for seeing kids mature in their faith walk as they regularly meet together for fun, fellowship and to study God’s Word. He’s always loved teaching young people about God in a way that transfers his passion for God to them. For more information on using movies to grow faith in young people contact Patrick.