church planting gen z
It’s very difficult to reach people who are opposed to you. It’s also difficult to reach people you think are opposed to you. Thankfully, that is not the reality we live in. You are called to reach those who are usually somewhere between neutral and positive towards you. Even the minority who hate Christianity don’t hate their Christian friends. One of the greatest mistakes we can make is letting the socio-political narrative about Christianity cultivate fear towards our neighbours: that would be a tragedy.
What about Gen Z? Are they suspicious towards the institution of Christianity? Yes, many are. Do they hate Christians and Christ himself? No! They just don’t know us yet. This should give us great optimism:
- Like the rest of Australia, Gen Z’s ideas about Jesus are generally positive but severely lacking in knowledge: almost half of the nation is unsure if Jesus was a real historical figure. (NCLS, 2024) The most likely way someone in Australia comes to know Jesus is through Christians (Chan, 2018). This gap between Gen Z and Jesus is primarily relational and not cultural or political.
- It is true that Christianity is becoming increasingly sidelined and mocked in the mainstream media or the meta social narrative. We can swallow that because we follow a humiliated saviour. We are also joining most of our church family historically and globally who have witnessed from the place of cultural minority. This means we don’t need to work out how to engage with culture wars or socio-political hot topics, we just need to be Christian neighbours who care enough to speak of Jesus.
- It makes sense that a generation that values authenticity and safety so highly would be suspicious of institutions and less likely to identify as a practicing religious person (NCLS, 2024). It’s not specific to Christian institutions either, they have a general distaste for institutional and corporate power, preferring the organic community and grassroots organisations. Institution represents power and Gen Z has an intuitive caution for power which often and easily corrupts. In many ways, there is a clear gospel link to Jesus’ own critiques towards those who abused their power.
We don’t need to defend our institutions, but represent Jesus. I hope you are not involved in committing or covering up abuse, I hope you are a repentant hypocrite and I hope your posture is deeply humble to the people around you. If that’s the case, the common reputation of Christian institutions doesn’t reflect you. We can afford to be a bit misunderstood or even marginalised, in some cases discriminated against. Let it be, Jesus told us that would happen. But we cannot afford to create unnecessary relational distance between us and our neighbours, the stakes are too high, and our mission is too urgent.
Leadership Lessons
Let’s not mix up the work of representing Jesus with defending the institution of Christianity. Leaders should take caution in how we talk about “the world” or those who aren’t Christians. What story do we tell in our conversations, meetings and sermons about “them”? Of course we should be discerning of the world’s lies and temptations, but let us not alienate or demonise our neighbours. Let’s commit to telling a statistically informed story with nuance and gospel optimism, rather than unwittingly producing fear of those God has called us to reach.
Gen Z are spiritually sympathetic and open (NCLS, 2024). Young people are even dabbling in tarot and witchcraft, looking for an experience of transcendence and meaning that might counteract their chaotic and complex context. When you are walking alongside a Gen Z person, don’t get stuck on topics that need to come after encountering Jesus. Why would you trust Jesus with your sexuality when you don’t trust him with your life? How can you make sense of politics from a Christian lens when you haven’t wrestled with God’s purposes in the Bible? What any person needs first and most is a relationship with Jesus. This is where the gift of prayer can be uniquely powerful: give them access to your relationship with Jesus to be prayed for and with. You can also encourage them to start praying to Jesus themselves, talking to him is a lot like establishing a relationship with him.
References
Chan, S. (2018). Evangelism in a Skeptical World: How to Make the Unbelievable News about Jesus More Believable. Zondervan.
NCLS. (2024, October 1). Gen Z’s spiritual patchwork: How do young adults identify religiously or spiritually? NCLS Research. www.ncls.org.au/articles/gen-z-s-spiritual-patchwork
NCLS. (2024, October 1). How do Australians view Jesus? Results from the 2024 Australian Community Survey. NCLS Research. https://www.ncls.org.au/articles/how-do-australians-view-jesus/
