I don’t know how often you scroll on social media platforms, but as a Gen Z individual, I’ve seen this “guess the youth pastor” game. The youth leader stands in a line with the students, and the joke is that no one can tell who the youth leader is because he or she looks so young! I resonate with this trend because I am often mistaken for a teenager or college student. Most of my students are taller than me. I dress like the students. And I still have some acne. Jonathan Haidt calls Generation Z (born roughly between 1996 and 2010) the “anxious generation.” In his book, The Anxious Generation, Haidt discusses why Gen Z is so anxious. But I can attest from my own experience that it wasn’t easy being a youth in the 2010s.
From Youth Group to Youth Ministry
I trusted Jesus as my Lord and Savior as a child, and I had a great youth group. But I did not grasp how Jesus spoke into my daily life. In junior high, I spent much of my time searching for my identity, believing that my future job would be my identity for life. As I made my way through high school, everything became monotonous. It was an endless cycle of school, orchestra rehearsals, homework, and scrolling on social media. It took until my college years, when I received professional counseling, to realize I was likely struggling with anxiety during these pivotal years.
Ten years later, I am joyfully ministering to those of my own generation. As my students pour out their hearts to me about their hopes and dreams, stresses and struggles, I cannot help but desire for them to know the Lord in a way I wish I had as a teenager. Friend, we must walk with our students to taste and see that the Lord is better than anything this world has to offer (Ps. 34:8).
Being a Gen Z youth leader gives me a unique perspective into the lives of this generation of students. I encourage you to invest in them too. What follows are three gospel truths our students ought to internalize so they can flourish as followers of Jesus.
Acceptance and Belonging Are Found in Christ.
It’s in our DNA to seek acceptance and belonging. We know from Genesis 1 and 2 that the Lord created mankind to belong to him. Adam and Eve were accepted by their Creator. They lived in harmony with him. But ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed and distrusted God, we have been searching for acceptance and belonging in everything but our Creator.
Our students yearn for acceptance, whether they explicitly express it or not. If not from in-person relationships, they will seek belonging from online friends or platforms. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection offer our students everlasting acceptance in God’s kingdom (Jn. 14:6; Eph. 2:4–8; Heb. 9:11– 14)! In a world where hundreds of voices offer acceptance and belonging, we must lead our students to taste and see the One who made us for himself.
We Aren’t Alone!
It does not take much research to determine that our young people are struggling with loneliness. The most social and happy students may be the ones who feel the most lonely. Our students need to believe that those in Christ are not alone (Jn. 14:15–17, 25–26). The Lord has proved his faithfulness to us by sealing us with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13).
We often overlook this important aspect of the gospel. Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension lead to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for every believer! He is their Comforter and Helper who will remind them that they are not alone. They belong to God and to his family (Jn. 14:26; 1 Cor. 2:9–13). In a life of suffering, the Holy Spirit reminds them that they ought not to suffer alone. We taste and see that the Lord is good by communing with the Father, by the Son, and through the Spirit.
The Best Is Yet to Come!
According to a recent Barna article, our teenagers are worried about their future, not just for themselves but for society. Most of my upperclassmen worry about their futures. For many of them, their big stressor is what college they will attend.
In these moments of uncertainty for our students, we have the opportunity to point them to the hope and assurance we have in Christ’s return. We cannot assure our students that they will get into their dream colleges, secure their ideal jobs, or find future spouses. But we can assure them that all will be well for those in Christ. One day, Jesus will “unite all things in him,” and all will be made new (Eph. 1:10). We taste and see that the Lord is good by looking forward to Jesus’ return and the redemption of our bodies (Rom. 8:23–24).
Applying the Gospel in Real Time
Friend, our students need a holistic understanding of the gospel. Many of them can give an accurate summary of who Jesus is and what he did, but this may not shape their everyday lives. As I think back on my youth experiences and now watch my students experience similar things, I plead with you: invest in the next generation. They need adults to live out the gospel in real time, and to speak the truth in the middle of hardship.
Our students need to understand and believe in the person and work of Jesus: that he is the Son of God who came to this earth, fully God and fully man, to live the perfect life we could not live, to die the death we deserve, rose on the third day, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father (Jn. 1:14; 1 Cor. 15:3–4; Eph. 1:20; Heb. 4:15).
I do not think I would be in ministry without the youth leaders who invested countless hours into my life, ministering to me through their words and actions on a weekly basis. Friend, invest in your students. As you walk with your students, I pray that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened, “that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you” (Eph. 1:18).
For more information about ministering to Gen Z/Gen Alpha students, watch our webinar replay with Fuller Youth Institute.
