Recognizing the Uniqueness of This Generation
Chapter 2
Love Understands
Recognizing the Uniqueness of This Generation
whatI (Sean) grew up with parents on Cru staff (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ). Because my parents are well known and have built relationships with people in Cru over a number of decades, other staff members regularly ask me how my parents are doing. And I am more than happy to oblige them.
One time as a high school student, when I was at Cru Staff Training in Fort Collins, Colorado, a staff member named Mike asked how I was doing personally. Assuming he really wanted to know about my parents, I proceeded to tell him what they were up to. But he cut me off mid-sentence and said, “I’m not asking about your parents. I am interested in you. How are you doing? Tell me about your story.” It caught me off guard. And I soon realized he was totally sincere. He was interested in knowing about my interests, dreams, and goals and not simply because of who my parents were. He was interested in understanding me.
Looking back over my years as a Cru staff kid, Mike had a big influence on my life. He invited me to weekend retreats and various events, and he always made a point to connect with me personally. One of the big reasons he was able to speak into my life was because he began by desiring to understand me as a person. Rather than importing assumptions from my family, my age, or where I was from, he made it clear that he wanted to understand me as a person.
Something Timeless
When we truly love someone, we aim to understand that person. The challenge is that it takes time and effort. This is not only true for friends, neighbors, and coworkers, but it is especially true for the next generation of young people. If we truly want to love them, we must make the commitment to understand them first.
Proverbs 24:3 says, “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established.” God’s wisdom is certainly required to build a lasting, healthy home. But there must also be mutual understanding of one another. If you want a home, team, or youth group with meaningful relationships, it must begin with understanding.
More than a few times my (Sean’s) father has told me, “It is more important to understand than to be understood.” We often approach this generation and demand they understand us first. After all, we’re the authority! But let’s humble ourselves and aim to understand before being understood. Isn’t this what Jesus calls us to do?
Even though it takes time to truly understand each young person you seek to impact, it’s possible to ease your learning curve a bit if you do a little research in advance. During my deployment as a police officer, I (J. Warner) spent two years as an investigator in our agency’s gang detail in Los Angeles County, and when I first accepted the position, I was afraid I was already too old—and too out of touch—to interact effectively with the gang members I encountered on the street. I didn’t know their language, their personal histories, or much of their culture. My partner, on the other hand, had been serving on the team for over a year. He was much younger and grew up in neighborhoods that were far closer to the gang territories we patrolled. I knew I had to catch up and do it quickly if I wanted to engage this challenging group of young people.
I started by attending every organized gang meeting I could find in Los Angeles County. I listened carefully to what other gang officers had experienced and learned over the years. I became a sponge, soaking up as much expertise and life experience as I could from men and women who had been interacting with gang members for nearly a decade. Once I got in the field, I leaned on the expertise of others for a year before I could finally draw on my own experiences and observations.
Our goal in this chapter is to offer you some expertise you can lean on as you begin to interact with the next generation. We have read hundreds of articles, dozens of books, and had countless conversations with students. Based on this expertise and research, we want to highlight some key trends that can help you best minister to this generation by understanding their unique beliefs, practices, and approaches to the world.
How Well Do You Know These Young People?
How well do you know the Gen Z people in your life? How much have you interacted with them? Take a minute to complete a brief exercise with us. Think about the Gen Z students and children you know and write down the first three to four words that come to mind (without looking ahead to the end of the chapter) as you do your best to describe them:
Now keep this list of attributes in mind as we begin to describe the attributes of Generation Z. It is tempting to think that trends among Millennials (those born between 1981 and 1999) will apply to Gen Z. While there are some similarities, this assumption is deeply flawed. Some trends have carried over to the next generation, as we will see, but there are some stark differences too. Here is the bottom line: if we are going to genuinely reach young people, we must have an accurate understanding of what they think, see, and how they feel about the world.
Consider the defining events that characterize a generation. For instance, Baby Boomers (1946–1964) were formed deeply by the Vietnam War and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Gen Xers (1965–1980) tend to remember the Challenger explosion, the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, and the AIDS crisis. Millennials (1981–1999) were probably shaped most profoundly by 9/11. These collective experiences deeply influence how members of each generation see their place in the world.
Gen Z also has some collective experiences that help define them. For instance, in many ways, Gen Z is a post-9/11 generation. They are the first generation without any memory of September 11 and were raised in a world still coming to grips with the reality of terrorism and what that means for immigration, government oversight, and so on. Older members of Gen Z will recall the economic crash of 2008 and natural disasters, such as earthquakes in Haiti. Younger Gen Zers grew up practicing drills for the possibility of a school shooting.
Before we look at some unique factors about Gen Z, let’s compare these insights to our own experiences for a little perspective:
Times have clearly changed. Let’s step out of our comfort zones and try to understand how Gen Z sees the world so that we can love them uniquely for who they are. Researchers studying Gen Z typically list several important observations and findings about this segment of our Christian family:
They’re Digital Natives
Gen Zers spend nearly every waking hour of the day interacting with some form of digital technology. This shapes their sleeping habits, how they process information, how they build and maintain relationships, and how they spend their spare time. The internet has been available and accessible to them since they were born. Gen Z is the first generation raised swiping screens on tablets and smartphones before they could even speak. While Millennials were raised on smartphones, only Gen Z was raised by parents (Gen X and Millennials) who were also on smartphones. The use of digital technology—and in particular social media—is perhaps the defining characteristic of this generation.
They’re Researchers
Because Gen Z is continually connected to the internet, they’re avid and skilled researchers. They know precisely where to go, across a variety of social media, news, or information platforms, to research any variety of topics, and they can do so very quickly. As a result, they understand how to educate themselves and find their own answers. According to surveys, 33 percent of Gen Zers watch online lessons, 20 percent read textbooks on tablets, and 32 percent work with classmates online. Gen Zers can fact-check their parents (during conversations) and their youth pastors (during a message). They want to know the answers. And they have been raised in a world where the answer is just one click, or tap, away.
They’re Visual Multitaskers
Something Timely
Eighty-nine percent of Gen Zers own a smartphone, and many own one by the time they are thirteen. The most popular social media apps they use on these phones? Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube—three entirely visual, video (or image) based platforms. In fact, 85 percent of Gen Zers visit YouTube more than any other social media platform. They’re also able to divide their attention repeatedly by multitasking between visual platforms. Eighty-four percent report multitasking on an internet-enabled device while watching television, and Gen Zers have access to more opportunities to view visual materials (i.e., smartphones, televisions, laptops, desktops, and tablets) than any prior generation.
They’re Impatient
Gen Zers have been raised in an age in which speed and convenience rule the day. Streaming video platforms like Netflix have eliminated the need to wait to watch the next episode of your favorite show, streaming music apps have created immediate access to your preferred music, and online merchandise sites with seemingly endless choices of goods have removed the inconvenience of having to travel to the nearest store. Gen Zers expect instantaneous delivery on nearly everything from information to music to goods. Maybe that’s why some studies place the attention span of Gen Zers at around eight seconds. Internet industries understand this reality and have responded accordingly; Snapchat’s ten-second story limit and YouTube’s six-second pre-roll ads are just two examples.
They’re Racially Diverse
There is more ethnic and racial diversity within Gen Z than any previous American generation, as this is the last generation in which most of the American population will be Caucasian. The first African-American president in US history was in office for eight of their formative years, and between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population grew at four times the rate of the total population. While some Gen Zers may live in less ethnically diverse communities, they’re still able to experience diversity in an unprecedented manner through social media, making this an unmistakable characteristic of Gen Z.
They’re Fluid
Categories that were seemingly fixed and distinct for previous generations are now considered blurry, ambiguous, and fluid for Gen Z. Technology has contributed to a blurring of the lines between work and home, truth and fiction, fact and feeling, and our public and private lives. Perhaps nowhere is there greater fluidity than with issues of sex, gender, and family. Young people today have grown up with the reality of single parents, stay-at-home dads, couples choosing not to have kids, cohabitation, three-parent families, and same-sex marriages. Few believe there is such a thing as a “normal” family. Only half of teens today believe gender is defined by one’s sex at birth. Roughly one in eight Gen Zers describe their sexual orientation as something other than heterosexual. And three in ten report personally knowing someone, most often a peer, who has changed his or her gender identity. Formerly fixed categories of gender have increasingly broken down in the minds of Gen Z.
They’re Social Justice Oriented
Their outlook on racial and sexual diversity motivates Gen Z to engage specific kinds of causes and movements. Unlike prior generations that embraced anti-establishment causes (i.e., Baby Boomers) or environmental causes (i.e., Millennials), Gen Zers are motivated by causes surrounding human equality. These include issues related to poverty, human trafficking, refugees, and more. Gen Zers want to make a difference in their world: 60 percent want to use their jobs to make an impact, and 26 percent of sixteen- to nineteen-year-olds volunteer for causes they support.
They’re Pragmatic
Gen Zers have a realistic outlook on life. Their parents likely had a harder time financially than their grandparents, and Gen Zers experienced the 2008 recession firsthand as youngsters. In addition to a difficult economy, they’ve seen the growth of global terrorism and the increase of violence on school grounds here in America. Fifty-eight percent of Gen Zers are worried about the future. They are cautious and pragmatic. Compared to prior generations, for example, they are less likely to drink underage and more likely to wear their seat belts.
They’re Overwhelmed
In a cover story for Time magazine, a teenager named Faith-Ann described how overwhelmed young people today often feel: “We’re the first generation that cannot escape our problems at all. We’re all like little volcanoes. We’re getting this constant pressure, from our phones, from our relationships, from the way things are today.” More than two out of three teens today feel overwhelmed by everything they need to do each week. Previous generations could usually get away from bullying or peer pressure, at least in part. But with social media, young people find it increasingly difficult—if not impossible—to escape their troubles. The corresponding stress and anxiety, coupled with the constant bombardment of information, can be overwhelming.
They’re Lonely
Based on their online presence, most teens seem eminently happy. But this happiness is often a veneer hiding deep loneliness. In fact, according to psychology professor Jean Twenge, this new generation is on the verge of the greatest mental health crisis in decades. She noticed a significant increase in depression and loneliness around 2012, the year iGen (her term for Gen Z) became high school seniors. And this trend crosses socioeconomic, racial, and demographic categories. She attributes the increased loneliness to the ubiquity of smartphones and the resulting decrease in personal interaction. Regardless of the cause, one thing is clear: there is a growing mental health crisis of loneliness and depression among today’s students.
They’re Individualistic
Because of the explosion of consumerism in the 1960s, Baby Boomers are often referred to as Generation Me. A 2014 Time cover story referred to Millennials as the “Me Me Me Generation.” And this me-focused trend continues with Gen Z. They are arguably the Me, Me, Me, Me Generation. Whether in terms of religious choice, gender preference, or the basis for morality, young people today have grown up in a culture that places the individual as the highest authority. Gen Zers resist judging the moral choices of others, and individual feelings often trump facts.
They’re Transparent
Authenticity is important to Gen Z. Given all the possible sources of information available to them online, they struggle to know who they can trust. They seek real relationships, and they respect transparency. They know people aren’t perfect. Nearly 80 percent of Gen Zers, for example, prefer advertising that shows real people in real situations. They are less impressed with slick presentations or false personas; they can detect exaggerations, inaccuracies, or prideful attitudes. The more transparent and vulnerable a speaker or teacher is, the more likely he or she will be trusted by Gen Zers. They want to hear personal stories that reveal imperfections and weaknesses, because they know they have similar vulnerabilities.
They’re Post-Christian
As we described in the last chapter, more young Americans describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated than ever before. The frequency of Bible reading, prayer, and church attendance is also declining. The Bible no longer holds the same authority in the minds of this generation, at least in terms of what previous generations claimed to believe. In her book iGen, Jean Twenge concluded, “The move away from religion is no longer piecemeal, small, or uncertain; it is large and definitive. More young Americans are thoroughly secular, disconnecting completely from religion, spirituality, and the larger questions of life.” A national study by the Barna Group in partnership with Impact 360 Institute found that only 4 percent of Gen Z has a biblical worldview. But as we’ve noted, there are still opportunities to share spiritual truths with Gen Zers. According to a recent survey, many Gen Zers report that they view religious leaders as better role models than celebrities, professional athletes, or politicians.
How Well Do You Interact with These Young People?
Now that we’ve looked at some timely attributes common to Gen Z, let’s take a moment to examine three timeless principles we can apply as we interact with them:
Remember, Every Young Person Has a Unique Story
While there are significant cultural events, technological advancements, and trends that deeply shape a generation, we must remember that no one is simply a product of his or her generation. Every young person is different and unique. Social media, for example, is one of the defining characteristics of Generation Z. But we shouldn’t assume that every single young person uses social media in the same manner or to the same degree. In fact, many young people (for a variety of reasons) don’t use social media at all. The trends and characteristics we’re describing in this book will help you understand the next generation, but remember: not all students fit generational stereotypes.
Something Timeworthy
Focus on What We Have in Common
Because language, dress, entertainment, and technology change so rapidly, it is easy to feel disconnected from generations other than our own. But the reality is that we have much more in common than you might think, and the reason is simple: regardless of race, age, socioeconomic status, or any other secondary factor, every human being is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). We all know right from wrong (Romans 2:14–16). We yearn for eternal life (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We love stories. We want to belong, to be loved, and to live significant lives. We yearn for meaningful relationships. This is true for Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and every other generation who ever has—or ever will—live. It’s true for you, it’s true for us, and it’s true for every young person in your life. So, rather than focusing on differences across the generations, we hope you will focus primarily on what binds us together.
Stay Positive
We started this section of the book asking you to write down the first words that came to mind when trying to describe Gen Zers. Now compare your description to the attributes we’ve offered. Are they similar? More importantly, did you choose words that are primarily positive or negative? We ask adults around the country to perform this exercise, and while many people use optimistic words to describe Gen Zers, it amazes us how many offer pessimistic descriptions like “lazy,” “entitled,” “gullible,” and “selfish.” For many people, these descriptions are the lens through which they understand and relate to this entire generation. If you see Gen Zers through a negative lens, how do you think you’ll interact with them? That’s why our third and final principle is simple: be positive. Are there reasons to be concerned about this generation? Yes. Are there positive things to celebrate? Of course. Be mindful of your concerns (and address them with wisdom), but don’t dwell on the negative. Instead, rejoice over our kids and relish the opportunity to mentor, guide, teach, and love them.
We continually meet parents, youth pastors, and Christian teachers who express a common interest in the future of young Christians and a common love for the Christian community. We share this concern and passion. Together, let’s strive to understand timely truths about Gen Z as we embrace and employ the timeless truth of Scripture.