Adaptable Meeting Guide #2: The Gospel according to … Instagram

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PREPARATION

Download the ‘Famous Tweets’ handout from the link section of the website. Collect materials for ‘Human Angry Birds,’ Bibles, pens and paper.

HUMAN ANGRY BIRDS

20 mins

To get your young people thinking about their mobile phones from the start, play a game of human Angry Birds. Split the group into two equal teams. One team has five minutes to construct themselves a ‘base’ using whatever they can find lying around your meeting space (or a selection of things you could have ready – chairs, tables etc). The other team is given a catapult (or something that can be used as a catapult) and a ball which they can practise using during the opponent’s building time. Once their time is up the team should hide in their base while the opposing team takes it in turns to fire the ball at the base using the catapult. Any item (chair, table etc) that is hit is removed, as is any person hit. Count up the amount of throws needed to remove all the people from the base before swapping the teams around and seeing which team can destroy the opponent’s base quicker.

FAMOUS TWEETS

5 mins

This game can either be done in small groups or as individuals. Hand out the ‘Famous Tweets’ sheet. Explain that the object of the game is to match the tweet to the celebrity and the amount of retweets the tweet received. Award points according to how well they did to find a winner.

#PERFECTWEEKEND

10 mins

Get the young people into small groups and ask them all to describe their perfect weekend - what they would do, who they would be with, and where they would go. Once they’ve done that, ask them to discuss the role social media would have in the weekend - would they update their statuses to let the world know what a great time they’re having? Would they post pictures all over Instagram with the right filters to capture the beauty of the moment? Which hashtags would they use? Or would they decide against it? After they’ve discussed it in groups, ask them to feed back any interesting thoughts.

#BLESSED

5 mins

Say: It’s really easy to put forward a different image of ourselves on social media. It seems that people’s feeds are primarily filled with the amazing things they’ve been up to, pictures of them looking absolutely perfect and reasons that their life is so brilliant. But surely we all know that life isn’t like that? We all know that sometimes we have bad days, or feel bad about ourselves. Ask the group to discuss these questions:

How honest are you on social media?
Is it easy to make your life look better than it is? Why?
Why do you think people ‘glamourise’ their lives online?
How do you feel when you see people post ‘honest’ statuses online? Would you rather read upbeat ‘fake’ ones?

#REALWEEKEND

10 mins

Go back to the ‘Perfect Weekend’ challenge and ask your young people to discuss in groups what a ‘real weekend’ on social media might look like. Tell them that they do not have to talk about specific issues but can speak more generally. How does this compare to what they did before?

KEY POINT 1

A fear of being honest on social media can come from a fear of being ourselves full stop. How honest are we willing to be with other people? How happy are we in our own skin? When God looks at us he sees us for who we really are – a beloved creation of an almighty God. It’s a cliché, but God sees past what the world sees, to see us how he made us. In a society where we’re more accessible to other people than ever before, we hide behind avatars and online profiles – showing the world what they want to see, rather than who we are.

THE REAL JESUS

5 mins

Say: In our ‘Instagram’ culture we’ve even managed to ‘filter’ Jesus. We’ve turned Jesus into our best mate, the kind of guy we’d be Facebook friends wit: ‘Buddy Jesus’. The truth is that Jesus can be difficult. Jesus challenges us; Jesus did some things that would shock us. We need to meet the real Jesus, not the Instagram Christ. Jesus argued with the religious leaders, he told people to give up their jobs to follow him, he turned over tables in the temple, and he demanded people gave their all to him. Jesus didn’t settle for second best, and he doesn’t now. Jesus isn’t looking for the online avatar of you, he’s looking for the real you.

THE REAL YOU

5 mins

Hand out Bibles to small groups and give them this list of references to look up. As they read each one, ask them to discuss how the passages compare to what the world says about us.

Psalm 139
Matthew 5:13-14
2 Corinthians 5:17-19
Philipphians 2:15
1 Thessalonians 5:5
1 Peter 2:9

Then ask the group to discuss what this means for their lives. Who do they need to be more honest with? Their friends? Online? God? Or even themselves? Give space for reflection.

KEY POINT 2

The world tells us that we have to be perfect, that we should hide who we are and cover up all our flaws so that people might accept us. The Bible tells us that God loves us and accepts us whoever we are. Our choice is between which of those two ‘truths’ we want to live in and accept.