I saw "Divergent" last night - a million sermon illustrations here....

Last night, my family went to see the movie Divergent. They had all read the book and were eagerly waiting till we could go see the film. They were clearly happy with how the film depicted the book.

There are a bunch of things that really jumped out at me. As you work with kids day in and day out, I hope that you intuitively see these things in that story too.  Youth Ministry Unleashed published an article this week about how every kid needs to be divergent. Great article, read it... link is below. 

Funny, that all the kids I talk to wish that they were "dauntless". That's the brave, crazy, risk-takers. Doesn't every kid, whether wired that way or not, dream of that thrill and risk? I think we can give every kid an element in that - it is called following Jesus! It should be crazy, on the edge, scary, and exhilarating.  I like that!!        BUT, I wish that every kid would come out of the theater wanting to be 'divergent'!! This 'divergent character' could be a pretty good illustration of what God is calling us to be!   

Here is what I think is the climax of the entire movie, it is the most important line, it is what gives the characters hope, value, purpose, and significance:
Four (one of the main characters) while talking about the society's factions, and his personal place, says something like: "I want to be brave. I want to be smart. I want to be honest. I want to be selfless. I want to be kind."  The labels that society placed on everyone forced them to choose one of these virtues and to be pigeon-holed there forever. Christ removes those labels and calls us to think on our own, challenge everything, stand up, not to follow the society crowd, and to pursue all of these characteristics! This is why I want every kid to be divergent. If I ever got a tattoo  (and likely will never).... those 4 symbols that are pictured on Four's back - that is what we strive to be!


Let's really push our kids out of society's labels for them.
Let's challenge our kids to pursue the virtues... all of them.
Character, uniqueness, thinking, challenging, risk-talking... but not for me, not for society, but for the sake of Christ.
 
There are a million object lessons in this film...



here is the link to the article I mentioned above...
Youth Ministry Unleashed article:
http://youthministryunleashed.com/3-reasons-every-teen-needs-divergent/


dave

Dave Brotherton was a youth pastor from 1984-2006 and now teaches youth ministry at Ambrose University College in Calgary. Dave is also the National Youth Guy for the Alliance churches in Canada, the director of Legacy Youth Conference, and a junior high volunteer in his church. Dave is married to Lisa and they share 2 of the greatest kids in the world. Fishing, camping, and cheering on the Leafs are some of his favorite things. 
twitter: @oldbrotherdave