Biggest Youth Group

MTV: Biggest Youth Group in America

There is not a single building big enough to hold the biggest youth group in America.

Despite its size, it has a community that some youth groups can only dream of. Teens are actively involved, and it is always growing. The youth leaders are very well known and loved, and they are always engaging and teaching their teens. Every hour of every day, they preach messages and have their teens’ eager attention. Young people absorb it all and go on to apply it to their lives.

Who would not want their teens to be part of a youth group like that?

This youth group is MTV, a media empire that has managed to build a level of devotion and commitment that rivals any Christian community. It has arguably more influence on this generation than every church in our country combined. Yet we still hardly understand what it is, and what it is teaching our kids.

Teens Love It
MTV attracts young people. Almost everyone under the age of 18 watches it regularly. In fact, according to Nielsen Media Research, MTV is the most recognized network among people ages 12 to 34.

73% of boys and 78% of girls between the ages of 12 to 19 watch over 6 hours of MTV every week. They love it. They spend more time with MTV than with their youth group. MTV even says in its own media kit, “We don’t advertise to this generation. We own this generation.” Looks like the church has some pretty significant competition.

In a world of broken families and broken lives, teens are looking for comfort and someone who understands and listens. Who do they turn to?

Maybe God? “I’m not sure I believe in Him. And besides, I don’t know how to pray.”
Parents? “No, they’re too busy.”
The youth pastor? “He means well but he can only do so much.”
A trusted friend? “Why bother? They have just as many problems as I do.”

Why not MTV? It’s always available. And it understands teens. Some young people are better connected with MTV than they are with other believers.

Youth Group
Much more than just a channel, MTV offers a sense of community to its audience. And impressionable young teenagers are eating it up. By the time they reach adulthood, MTV will be permanently branded into their lives. No wonder MTV says that they own teens.

We think teens hear sermons in church every week and are radically changed, but they get preached at by MTV every day. And those messages stick.

“Tell me what to buy. I trust you.”
“Show me how to dress. I know you only want me to look my best.”
“Give me advice on how to treat this guy or girl in my life. You are the expert on relationships.”
“Should I really try to base my life on Biblical principles? Is sex worth saving for marriage? You know what’s cool. Tell me how to live.”

The media and entertainment industry claims to not shape culture, but only reflect it, giving the audience what they want. But isn’t media forcing more and more questionable content to shock people and keep their ratings high? Just take a look at any sweeps week, and you will see every show push the line to try to grab your attention.

Youth Pastor
Young people congregate around the MTV pulpit daily and are influenced by it more than any local church or youth group. MTV showcases not just what to listen to or how to dress, but a lifestyle that screams image is everything, sex is a casual, risk-free activity, and fun is the ultimate goal--no matter what the cost.

Young people may have good role models in church and even at home, but what are they learning at the feet of MTV? One study found an average of six violent scenes, eight profanities, and nine instances of sexual content every hour on MTV. Watching an average of six hours a day, you can imagine how much provocative content they see each week.

Watch an episode of “The Real World” to see how “real men and women” view and treat sex--liberally and without restraint. “Total Request Live,” one of MTV’s most popular shows, offers lessons on a variety of topics such as how to deal with a broken heart and how to find a guy or a girl--all from a secular perspective that often makes a mockery of Biblical principles.

One teen said, “I think that MTV is getting teenagers ready for the real world.” MTV prepares them for something, but it is definitely not reality. Like offering ocean water to a person dying of thirst, it just gives them more of what they think they need while leaving them more thirsty and empty than before. Whether they realize it or not, every teen’s soul longs for a relationship with Christ. All MTV has to offer is temporary satisfaction.

See Past the Lie
“I feel that the problem is that we’re not represented in our culture. We don’t create it and it’s not born of anything of us. It’s born of what they’re trying to give us, which is what really worries me,” explains Sara, a teenager.

Mark Crispin Miller, media critic, said, “The MTV machine doesn’t listen to the young so that it can make the young happier… The MTV machine tunes in so that it can figure out how to pitch what Viacom [MTV’s owner] has to sell to these kids.”

For too long, MTV has branded this generation however it saw fit. It has sold young people messages of promiscuity, materialism, and identity that lead them down an endless spiral of selfish pleasure, further from the Truth of God’s endless love.

As a young person or adult, take to heart the reality of the message MTV brings. Realize that it goes much deeper then harmless entertainment. A person’s worldviews and views of God are deeply impacted by everything they see and hear. Do not let your relationship with God be distorted.

If you have not already, make a firm commitment to your beliefs in God and your relationship with Him. Then, be determined to do whatever it takes to protect that commitment. Surround yourself with Christian influences that will support your pursuit, and help your peers and the young people around you do the same.

The BattleCry Campaign exists to give young people a voice against the media’s corrupting influence. It is estimated that only 4% of this generation will be Bible believing Christians by the time they reach adulthood. The BattleCry is determined to rescue this generation and reclaim the culture for Jesus Christ.


Additional Resources:
The Merchants of Cool [PBS]
MTV: The Good, the Bam, and the Ugly [Christianity Today]
5 Truths about Pop Culture [CPYU]

Sources:
PBS: The Merchants of Cool Documentary, Center for Parent/Youth Understanding, PluggedIn, Christianity Today, Parents Television Council


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