Marty McFly.
Biff Tannen.
Doc Brown.
Depending on when you were born, you’ve likely either had a full-fledged theater experience or an at-home movie viewing of Back to the Future. It’s arguably one of the better movie franchises to come out of the 1980′s, thanks to its writing, directing and acting.
Let’s not forget the car either. Seriously, I still want a DeLorean.
A website called the A.V. Club compared how the actors appeared in the original movie (with makeup that aged them 30 years) with how they now look 30 years later.
It’s an interesting commentary on pop culture.
Speaking of the 80′s, that was really the era when the average household began owning a video camera. Since then, we’ve gone from having to lug around large TV-reporter-sized units to putting phone-sized HD tech into our pockets.
I wonder… as a youth worker, have you by chance kept any video footage of students over the years?
- Ever record a baptism?
- Did you snag the moment they gave their lives to Jesus during a camp altar call?
- Have you ever caught them talking about what matters to them?
Where is that footage? Is it just collecting dust, or could you serve those old students by doing something with it?
- What if you had a pizza party with some students who graduated a few years ago and showed them some highlights from when they were active in youth group?
- How about creating a Facebook page where teens (likely now young adults) could share their favorite pics and videos in one place?
- Is there some guy (or gal) in his twenties who needs to receive a DVD in the mail of a missions trip you all went on together 10 years earlier?
Maybe we need to take a cue from pop culture and help the present-day people go “back to the future” they said they knew God wanted them to live. I did this once by showing a girl, who got wrapped up in guys her senior year, footage of her in her freshman year declaring she was going to put God first in her relational life.
What do you think this value could look like in your context?
Thank you for loving students!
-Tony