Using the Twilight Series to Share Your Faith

I have to admit that I am completely out of the loop on this whole Twilight deal, but it seems to be everywhere right now (including interest among students in my church), so I looked into the gist of it and came across this article from Dare2Share Ministries about how to use this book series (and movies) to share your faith with your friends (or with the young people in your church).

From what I have read about the book series, I do not think this is appropriate for the teenage audience that it appears to be targeted toward. Many teens, if not most, are not spiritually mature enough to read this type of material without being both emotionally and morally impacted by the story. However, if they have already read it, then youth pastors and parents should definitely use it as a teaching tool and as a way to point them toward Biblical truth about God’s plan for our lives … the same goes for everything else in our culture (i.e., movies, music, art, etc.) that glamorizes sex.

Here’s a blurb from the article:

This unusual romance saga is pumped full of the push and pull of a desire for true love and … sexual tension. … there are some striking similarities to the real world teens find themselves confronted with every day, surrounded by a culture that is saturated with sexual connotations, innuendos, and a warped view of human sexuality, yet longing for true love and respect.

So as Christians, how do we handle the push and pull of sex that permeates our own lives, and our social networks? Well, God ’s … blueprint for sexuality (calls for us to):

God wants you to live a pure life. Keep yourselves from sexual promiscuity. Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body, not abusing it, as is so common among those who know nothing of God. Don’t run roughshod over the concerns of your brothers and sisters. God hasn’t invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life but into something holy and beautiful–as beautiful on the inside as the outside. (1 Thess. 4:2-7).

Every human, Christians and non-Christians alike, have struggled with lust in one form or another. But as God’s Word says, sexual lust destroys both our relationships and our self-esteem. Lust only devalues the person and objectifies them. Each of us has been created in His image and deserves to be treated in a respectful and honoring way. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to come along side us and be our strength in time of our weakness. We need His help in fleeing lustful temptations (2 Timothy 2:2).

Use the popular Twilight series as a springboard in conversation with your friends to talk about God’s plan for our lives! Here are some questions to help you get started:

• If your friends (or students) have read Twilight, ask them who in the books they think show true love. How? Why?
• Ask your friends how they would define lust. Listen, and then share what God’s perspective of lust is.
• If it seems appropriate, consider asking your friends how they deal with sexual temptation (lust, pornography, premarital sex, masturbation).
• Explain how our Heavenly Father wants to protect us from later harm by giving us His blue print for sexuality.

Share how Jesus came to this earth and died and then rose again so we can have His strength and power here on earth to overcome the struggles of this world.

Real and lasting self-control can only come from the Holy Spirit’s divine guidance. So, step out with His power and share with your friends how they too can step into God’s loving direction for dealing with the challenges of this dimension of life.

HT: Dare2Share