Hotshots: The Real Thing

more by Jason Gardner | Youth

Title: The Real Thing.

Preparation:

One disgustingly cheap cola and one quality i.e. Coke or Pepsi.
Have a table ready on stage and two plastic cups, one marked A one marked B, pour one of the colas into A, one into B.

Activity:

Get two volunteers up to the stage to do the taste challenge saying:
‘Who thinks they’ve got what it takes to spot the real thing from the fake, the genuine article from the copy?’

Get the two to sample in turn and ask them to write down which they think is the expensive cola, congratulate them or commiserate depending on whether they get it right or not.

Give them a round of applause for taking part.

Talk.

It’s not always easy to spot the real thing from the fake. (hold up the original cheap Cola bottle or can) Now you might think that just by looking at the package you could tell that this was the cheaper cola. But what if the company spent more on the packaging, it’d be a nice new brand image, but still the same cheap cola.

It can often be the same with people how do you know if they’re the real deal or not? So many movie stars look the part, they’ve got gorgeous partners, all the cars, all the houses but so many of them admit they’re a wreck on the inside and that fame can’t really change you for the better.

Madonna in an interview once said:

‘I know it sounds clichéd’..’but I’ve had over 20 years of fame and fortune and I feel that I have the right to an opinion on what it is and isn’t. All everyone is obsessed about now is being a celebrity. I’m saying that’s pathetic and who knows better than me? Before it happens you have all kinds of notions about how wonderful celebrity is and how much joy it’s going to bring you. Then You arrive...’

Now you’ve probably heard this many times before but it does matter what’s on the inside.
How can people see that you are quality, that you’re the real thing? It’s not by what you wear, how attractive you look, how much time you spend on your hair but by how you act, how you treat other people, how you show respect.

Story:

Now forging is making a copy of something that look’s like the real thing but isn’t, like £50 notes. One of the world’s leading forgery experts at Scotland Yard was asked how on earth do you do it? How do you tell whether a bank note is a copy or is the real deal?
He said ‘Simple. I spend so much time looking at and handling real notes that I can always spot the fake.’

Ask yourself who do you want as role models in life, people who look like the real thing but aren’t or people who treat others with love and respect.

Often it’s only by spending time with people who you really respect and who really respect you that you’ll learn how to spot friends who are being real and friends who are being fake.

Settle for the real thing, not the copy.

For Further Illustration:

Christian Perspective:
Luke: 6.46-49. The house on sand looks great but can’t withstand the storm, it just isn’t the real thing. Jesus words are the real thing.

Film Clip:
Elf 4 mins 55 secs to 6:54 ‘Buddy’ is a human raised as an Elf.
- sometimes it’s easy to spot the real thing from the fake. Although Buddy wants to be an Elf, it’s pretty obvious he’s a little bit different…

Powerpoint:
Title ‘The Real Thing’, main points eg ‘Real or Fake’ images of coke bottle, famous movie star, image of Madonna and quote, some money, respect.