In 2021, the Springtide Research Institute published a report on the “State of Religion and Young People.” From the data, the institute identified a trend they called “disaggregated faith.”
- 53% of young people said: “I agree with some, but not all, of the things my religion teaches.”
- 55% of young people said: “I don’t feel like I need to be connected to a specific religion.”
- 47% of young people said: “I feel like I could fit into many different religions.”
These figures were not a surprise to me. Generation Z is both the more racially and ethnically diverse and the less religious age cohort in American history. In 2019, the Polling firm Barna Group found that, among practicing Christians, millennials “report an average (median) of four close friends or family members who practice a faith other than Christianity; most of their boomer parents and grandparents, by comparison, have only one.” I suppose this figure is even higher among my Christian peers, as we find ourselves in community with people of other faiths and with “nones.”
The data also shows that members of Generation Z distrust traditional religious spaces. From the Springtide report:
- 55% of young people said: “I don’t feel like I can be myself in a religious congregation.”
- 45% of young people said: “I do not feel safe within religious or faith institutions.”
- 47% of young people said: “I do not trust religion, faith or religious leaders in those types of organizations.”
- Nearly 50% of young people told Springtide that they do not turn to religious communities due to a lack of trust in the people, beliefs and systems of organized religion.
When older Christians hear about the ways Generation Z is “desegregating” or “deconstructing” their faith, they may feel afraid. Perhaps open-mindedness amounts to moral relativism. Perhaps lost trust cannot be regained.
As a member of Generation Z, I do not share this concern. Often, dialogue with people of other perspectives brings us back to objective “Truth,” with a capital T, and does not take us away from it. As we come of age in the faith, we need older believers to support us in our calculations, rather than shy away from our questions and concerns.
This fall, as part of our NextGen Initiative and in association with TENx10, CT hosted a series of writing workshops for Christians in their late teens and early twenties. Our hope: to see more young people appear in our pages, reflecting the generational diversity of the church and allowing older believers to better understand the strengths and challenges of their younger brothers and sisters in the faith.
To start, we have selected a handful of responses, sent by workshop participants, to the following message.
—Claire Nelson, Impact Project Coordinator, CT
How can older believers best support Gen Z Christians?
ohOlder believers can better support Generation Z Christians by abandoning the “don’t ask, don’t tell” mentality around sex and intimacy that has invaded Christian circles in recent decades.
During my middle and high school years in the 2010s, I endured many of the repercussions of purity culture: body shaming, the sexualization of young women, and the use of scare tactics to keep teenagers away from women. premarital sexual relations. My experience in youth group was a strange fusion of a hyper-fixation on women’s bodies and the “threat” we posed to our male counterparts, combined with an aversion (and often fear) to topics like intimacy and sexuality.
The narratives I was taught in church led me to believe that my body was dangerous, that men were lustful monsters who couldn’t be trusted, and that as long as I waited until marriage, my sex life would be blessed and fulfilling. I came into my twenties without any practical knowledge about how to approach healthy relationships or sexual breakups. The only thing I knew for sure was that the women in my church didn’t feel comfortable talking about the things I needed to talk about.
Recently, when I began timidly broaching sexuality-related topics with women my age, I discovered that we are all desperate for wise advice about our bodies, about marriage, and about godly womanhood. I also found that most of us don’t feel like there are many women in the church with whom it is safe to discuss these topics.
When I started dating, I realized that men my age are also looking for help. Gen Z men seek help to overcome their sexual problems and crave a male mentor as they consider marriage and fatherhood.
As Christ said: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Matthew 9:37). The older generation can better support Generation Z by caring enough to overcome their own shame about these topics and foster vulnerable conversations with the younger generation. The secular world has a lot to say about what it means to be a man or woman in the modern world. Popular culture isn’t shy when it comes to sex, and the church shouldn’t be either.
Generation Z Christians want and need older Christians to be honest about what it means to be a woman of God. What it takes to overcome sexual addiction. What it means to have a Christ-centered marriage. It is not a question of whether or not the younger generation will be taught about marriage, sex or pleasure. It’s a question of who is teaching. My plea to Christians who come before me is: Please let you be the teacher.
Olivia Voegtle is a freelance writer, musician, and editor living in New York City. She received her bachelor’s degree in English from The King’s College.
W.We cannot allow generational gaps to impede our “spiritual brotherhood.”
Older believers trying to support Generation Z should not think about how they can best adapt their discipleship methods and ministry strategies to youth culture. That quickly feels contrived and pandering. However, how can older believers be constructive To the culture of Generation Z?
Much of the conversation about generational differences revolves around how the divide is irreparable. What if Christians were a demographic that bucked that trend? What so many Generation Z believers are looking for is to no longer be seen as children, but to be given a certain respect. Not the honor that professionals, teachers or politicians earn, but the respect that is naturally accorded to adults.
An effective but often overlooked way to respect someone is to consider them worthy of friendship. Often, older Christians want to “disciple” younger believers without any pre-existing relationship. Young Christians don’t want to be discipled by just any older Christian, but by someone they want to emulate. How can they know that they want to emulate someone without knowing them?
If we are mindful of the fact that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, there is room for those who are one, two, or even three generations apart to be genuine friends. When older generations approach connecting with someone from Generation Z as an opportunity for service or outreach, it often makes the younger generation feel pitied, demeaned, and even compared to a project (1 Timothy 4:12). What would be much better if an older generation of Christians could consider Generation Z as their brothers and sisters in Christ; his own family (1 Tim. 5:1–2; Eph. 3:19–22; Gal. 6:10; Titus 2:1–8).
It wouldn’t be unreasonable or unimaginable, but in today’s culture, this intergenerational friendship would certainly be unconventional. In practice, sharing coffee, meals, and authentic conversations are ways to foster this “spiritual brotherhood” (1 Pet. 4:9). Imagine the influence that would emanate from a church that could successfully foster these types of relationships. To live not only as peers or equals but as spiritual siblings, parents, cousins, aunts and uncles: a spiritual family that reflects the kingdom.
Elijah O’Dell is an associate preacher and worship leader based in the Midwest.
YoIn Titus 2, Paul pushes godly men and women not only to live according to God’s Word, but also to teach, train, and encourage younger believers to live the life to which God has called them.
When Gen Z believers flourish spiritually, that flourishing doesn’t stay in their churches or campus ministries. It extends beyond their Christian circles, planting seeds of God’s Word among the people around them. Spiritual mentoring not only strengthens a young Christian, but also equips him to share love and wisdom with the non-believers around him, allowing them to be beacons of light and truth for the gospel.
In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” By living in the love, holiness, and righteousness of Christ, believers reach the world.
If there is no genuine fellowship and friendship between older believers and Generation Z, younger believers miss out on encouraging examples of God’s power.
Hannah Davis is a college senior studying English. She spent last summer in South Africa doing a Christian journalism internship.
