Giving youth pastors the tools they need to make and shape disciples.

The Lego Movie Connects Creativty and Life, Makes Wonder

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LEGO-Movie-Poster

Let me make an admission before I begin. I was a Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys kind of kid growing up. Lego wasn’t as cool back then so I have no vast history with Lego and I am not a Lego fan boy. On the other hand, my son grew up with a Lego Star Wars, or something similar, under his Christmas tree for many years.  This Lincoln Log kid and his son, we shall call him Lego Boy, headed off  to see The Lego Movie.

The movie is fast paced so, if it at the end you feel like you need to see it again, don’t feel bad. I have seen it twice and will probably see it again. Everything portions of the movie is Lego-fied. Everything. The water, the clouds, the fire, everything. Yes, like phone apps,  there is a Lego piece for everything in this movie.

The movie uses some movie tropes like slow-mo fighting sequences and such but watching Lego machines do this makes it fresh and new. At one point I thought I was watching a Lego version of Transformers with Legos exploding everywhere. The movie is multi-layered in both the visuals and the story. I won’t hand out any spoilers but the movie you are watching is not the only story-line going on.

The movie is fantastic at face value and worth the $8 or $10 you are going to pay to see it, but the movie had me in the cross hairs asking deeper questions about my style of ministry and it’s limitations when it comes to our youth ministry. I am torn between being Lord Business, who wants everything to stay the same, not be chaotic, and I want everyone following the (my) instructions.,  but I still have this chaotic, imaginative middle schooler side who wants to just create  Cloud Cuckoo Land. No rules, no pressures, just bliss.

By the end of the movie I was asking myself some tough questions,

As a father I asked, ” Am I an anal father who told his son to stay way from his stuff?”

As a Youth Pastor I asked, “Am I an anal Youth Pastor trying to build the perfect youth ministry?”

The answer is probably is yes to both, but not all the time. I never glued my kids Legos together to keep them together for posterity but I am sure I have at times, protected my vision of what should be from the wiles of of a 10 year old boy who saw what could be.

If you want more in-depth commentary on the movie check our my friend J.R. Forastero’s post HERE

The same is true in ministry. How many times have I moved a chair or changed an idea a kid had because it was not perfectly where it should be?

How much growth have I stunted in favor of creating something I could brag about to my peers?

How much of my youth ministry is top down, don’t mess this up, directives and how much is collaborative?

You should watch The Lego Movie at least three times. First to enjoy it for what it is, second to catch everything you missed the first time, and  the third time you see it, watch it with spiritual eyes and ask yourself some tough questions about your youth ministry..

Are you more like Lord Business (keep it the same) or Unikitty (let creativity thrive and rules be damned) ?

In your youth ministry, what should be “glued together” and what should remain open to change?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

 

 

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