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Pastor These Kids Are Dying In Your Hands!

Of concern to the young populations are more issues than economic and personality worries.

The church must focus on challenging the culture and sub-cultures that pull our youth away from God. The phone will continue to be a major means of communications for ages. What plans are we putting in place to ensure that godly interaction makes it appeal on those phone lines.

Faith Issues Affecting Gen Z in the 21st Century

We came back from church the other Sunday. Having just returned from a trip that week, we were both tired: my wife and me. My wife concerned herself with fixing some lunch while I laid on the couch half asleep. That left our daughter to do whatever she wanted. As she searched the television for programs that interested her and could not find a football match to interest everyone, she quietly settled on watching ‘The Adventures of Paddington’. I pretended as if I was asleep and not interested. I became interested when I caught her spying on me to see if I was awake enough to challenge her choice. As far as I was concerned, these are based on some classroom history or science teaching. I left her alone because I wanted to see into her world. What could be so interesting about the show that engaged her so much?

This was a carefully orchestrated story about how a group people saved a bear from being killed for display in a museum of history for the pleasure of men. The innuendos were clear. Further, I could see that she was bolstered by my interest and contribution, eager to tell me who was who, their roles and goal. Somehow, our discussion veered to talking about humanity. I was shocked by the depth of her knowledge about Greta Thunberg’s work and how kids were not happy about the attack from President Trump.

Yet, I noticed that it was not really about President Trump, it was about climate change and the future survival of mankind that worried them. She was very well versed on that topic. That seemed strange to me because it is antithetic to current American socio-political attitude. Climate change issues, irrespective of political party in power was of minor importance to society in 2020 AD. I did not expect the educational system to be that sympathetic to climate change issues as to teach them to such depth.

That same afternoon, I was furious about an alarm that a pastor friend had raised in our forum expressing concern over the lackadaisical attitude of young folks to church matters. He even buttressed it with a repost of Billy Graham’s daughter lamenting the anger of God against America for kicking Christian education out of the school system. The truth being that in 16th – 19th Centuries, it was easy to find the Christian God in the routines of the people. Certainly, Christianity is not the only religion. Even, the LGBTQ movement already has a religious arm. And everyone that does not believe in the Christian faith naturally feels oppressed when they are forced to swear with the Bible and read mathematics questions as if the name Thomas or Catherine were simply the natural expectations. That they have reacted is expected, and they continue to spend money to eliminate their perceived oppression. How much has Christianity committed to fighting back? Do we even acknowledge what the true challenge is?

Even within our local parishes, how many pastors prioritize the youth development for evangelical purposes in their budgeting? The big denominational formation documents have flashy programs in them but how many parishes actualize them. Yet, we are quick to label young people as a rebellious, uninterested generation of over-pampered people only interested in their phones. But have we considered reaching them through those phones? After all, the security systems know these people and their habits and use it to protect all of us. Why can we not research the same technologies to partner with them for evangelical purposes? It does not matter how we reach the people God’s charge is in calling His ministers is to win the lost. Like it or not, they need help, and they want help. Hence, they run back home in what the new slang calls, ‘boomerang kids.’

Pastors Must Put Heaven In Gen Z Frame of Mind

Modern marketing focus on Generation Z and the emerging Generation AA because they form the future of living. A powerful group of financially secure, highly opinionated and energetic youths whose prior concern is about revamping the earth messed up by their ancestors.

Currently, doctors are worried. The church has not lived up to its responsibility to this generation. Hospitals are filling with up with depressed young people at a rate that surpasses their Millennial predecessors. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people ages 10-34 according to the Centers for Disease Control. That certainly includes many Gen Zs and AAs in 2023. An APA’s survey notes that 62 percent of Gen Zs are stressed out by rising suicide rates, 17 percent of high school students and 10 percent of college students report that they have seriously considered suicide recently. Did this include children of pastors and church leaders? Look at the numbers and you will be sure that no industry or social class can be exempt. A good reflection will confirm that pastors’ children are among. Check the news if you are not too sure.it did. Certainly, many bearing names like Matthew and Mary are contemplating suicide.

Gen Zs experience unique challenges including rapidly changing political and economic climates. Constant exposure to social media fuels social pressures and competition, an increased focus on academic and professional achievement without the proper social, emotional, and interpersonal support to manage failure. They must manage all of these at a time that they are developmentally very vulnerable.

The rhetoric profiling like, ‘kids these days’ as lazy, entitled, spoilt, listless, yet, coddled ignores the reality of the extended adolescence and emerging adulthood. They are faced with a developmental stage which recognizes traditional markers of adulthood, such as a well-paying job, buying a house, getting married, having kids, consistently saving money for a future which continues to be increasingly difficult to achieve. Hence, many return home to live with daddy and mummy who are happy to at least see them alive.

In addition, the pressure of not having well-tested social-emotional skills to fall back on, fears of failure and the associated fallout, shaming by older generations and comparatively successful peers for not meeting expectations create the recipe for distress, guilt, and self-loathing. Belonging to a minority group such as people of color, with disabilities or who are LGBTQ+ complicates the stresses. Therefore, issues are there for churches to approach and tackle in support of specific groups or preventing breakdowns by reducing the stressors. But you must reach them first, this is where prioritization of evangelization of Gen Z and AA in the parish budget requires pre-eminent consideration.

But What Is The Gen Z Psychology To Work On?

We cannot assume that the profiling is correct and decide how to spend the budget, we need to understand the circumstances. That means understanding the people and their influences. Why are they turned off by church, and how to win them from their escape holes into the saving arms of church.

Influencers have used political correctness as the church scold. Thus, Gen Z is being turned off to politically correct culture through the same authoritarian scolding we had as children in the 1960’s. Today, like Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, and Joe Rogan rave with Gen Z followership lead conservative thinking on YouTube and similar media. Gen Z is also influenced by online capitalists, including ecommerce site owners, YouTube entrepreneurs, and gamers who stream for a living.

Entrepreneurs use Instagram to teach hard work, how to make money, and how to think clearly about life goals. Topics of interest to Gen Z you might say. Gaming streamers make money through creating entertaining products that inspire other young capitalists to find creative ways to build wealth.

Gen Z have seen Millennials take on massive college debt, just as Gen X and the Baby Boomers take on large mortgages and credit card debt. Seeing these problems, Gen Z therefore try to avoid debt, own a debit card rather than a set of credit cards. They also have higher credit scores than the older generations by the way. How does the Church address these issues? Where are pastors taking up the real issues rather than concerns about a mountain that seems unsurmountable. That is not in agreement with the scriptures, or God’s expectations.

From influencers to fursonas. This is the phase when kids are exploring potential personality profiles. They try to understand who they are and what they like. They insidiously investigate what they like to become. They explore various personalities and review the likes and dislikes. They try out their own capabilities. Therefore, influencers who understand their psychology target them with precision to attract their attention and followership. This is the marketing challenge for the church. An example is the fursona social group gaining ground in the social media.

I hope you caught the reference to the furs in the acronym. Therefore, the core attraction of the group is about artistry related to animals with furs. Not the physical presence or love for a specific group but any expression that supports a love of furred animals. Online they post and chat about their latest adventures wearing latest their fur attire. Just like Halloween costumes, only that this is all year round, any time of day or night. They discuss creativity and potential improvements. For someone, it may be a drawing, for another it may be a photograph, for another it may be a craft. The community spends their phone time on this channel.

I found out about Fursonas as I tried to understand what could make a young lady in my church become more involved. She is unusually shy. Yet, when she grasps a Viola or a Recorder, she does wonders with those instruments. Once, she finishes her task, she returns into her shell. So, the information was volunteered to me that she equally lights up on Fursona. When her mother showed some of her secret videos, I could not believe the amount of energy that this girl radiates when she feels comfortable. Yet, she comes to church and just sits in a corner, not even caring to join other kids. Don’t you agree that beyond preaching and Bible study your church should go so deep in using the social media to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Of concern to the young populations are more than economic and personality issues. The environment is also worrying. Gun violence, and political turmoil cause significant stress among America’s teenagers and youngest adults according to the American Psychological Association. They concluded that members of Gen Z (people ages 15 to 21) reported the worst mental health of any generation on God’s earth. Other issues include rising suicide rates, sexual harassment, and migrant family separation also actively generating more stressors among Gen Z individuals than those in other generations they reported. Do you think that the church has points of purchase for purposeful evangelism rather than ad-hoc reactions to tragedies?

Depth and Commitment of The Pastor Matters

The above may seem reasonable if you have bothered to read this far. You may even wonder why we have not looked from this perspective before. Yet, most pastors have heard this message one way or another before. The issue is that the pastors themselves remain the obstacle to the achievement of responsibility of winning souls into God’s vineyard. Beyond accepting that charge, most do not understand the depth of the challenge. Other concerns including routine administrative ones, make a proposal requiring additional budget tune them off. I start there because this is huge, will require a huge budget and investment of attention by the parish Chief Executive. It is the only way for traction to occur. Therefore, until the CEO chooses to listen, it is all gas, irrespective of how much anyone fumes.

Do we have examples of how or where this approach has worked? The answer will be yes. I give you Hailey and Justin Bieber. I also give you Kim Kardeshian and Kanye West. Many more on that list of those churches that have chosen to invest in these folks. Therefore, until pastors choose to listen and ask more questions instead of tuning off social media strategies for promoting the gospel with clear evangelical goals, Christianity will continue to lose numbers and pastors will continue their hard labor of maintaining the status quo.

For example, can we start up with a gym equipped with a full coaching staff that supports the local community for free? Mention the YMCA facilities, and I will ask you how many tracts do you see there? What programs are running on the TV screens? Are they Christian programs? Or how many times has someone chatted about Christ to you there? No photos of Jesus Christ or the nativity scene. And it is not free, anyway. It meets needs in a business kind of way, and I am proud that it is a Christian initiative. My children and others feel safe inside any of its locations. I happily use the YMCA facilities, but it is not targeted at evangelism. So, there is a difference. And that is only in places like America. Can we model something for Kiev or Lesotho? We are here talking about reversing the decline in numbers of Christians worldwide, and our responsibilities.

Pastors need to reconsider their duties to heaven, which is to work hard to fill the church with heaven-bound people. It is almost like every United States congressman seem to agree to, that is, their primary responsibility is to the American people guided by the country’s constitution. Yet, that is the end. There is so much aggravation and finger-pointing by various political camps and interests. The decisions of our Sender are absolute. He sets the rules, He expects us to deliver. He decides the judgement or the rewards. This is my call at this point to pastors. We need to weigh salvation and evangelism above budgets and come together for strength. So, what we must pre to bishops and archbishops for approval to achieve the dramatic policy changes responsive to cultural dynamics? A poser for all ministers of the gospel.

Following our conclusion to the above challenge, we can think of how community-based churches will support each other to have non-members come in and hold small group meetings in their lounges for coffee while the kids are in the gym or attending after-school homework support classes or mentorship training. When is Carrie Underwood going to show up next in our neighborhood and how are we going to get everyone to invite their friends ticketed or with coupons? What craft hours inside the church hall are saving young men from learning to sell drugs for quick cash on the side streets? Which church is going to sponsor the next video games designer camps or workshops in the state or district? All of these are not too strange ideas. But they require money, which means the pastors must change their thought patterns.

Connecting the Need With The Resources

While Millennials and Gen Zs attempt to build social-emotional maturity in the struggle to address their fears and anxieties with the help of family, friends, and mental health professionals, the church needs to catch up to the realization that a generational shift has created a population of “inbetweeners” who are neither fully adolescent nor adult. The church must focus on challenging the culture and sub-cultures that pull our youth away from God. The phone will continue to be a major means of communications for ages. What plans are we putting in place to ensure that godly interaction makes it appeal on those phone lines.

However, we must first engineer a commitment to our duty with clear goals. Clearly, our doctrines will influence individual approaches. We must firm up our plan to reverse the lack of growth in the church population statistics attributable to cellphone use for example. Then, we can design master concepts for each group to use as a template for fashioning her programs. Essentially, we all preach the message of salvation through Jesus Christ in all our churches, but we baptize differently. Yet, we are all churches. A revival program focused on entertainment through movies may appeal to some while others may prefer musical, and yet, others may prefer video games engineering camps. In all of these, the point needs to be made that those Generation Z and AAs that still make it to church can proudly invite their smoking friends to pull nearer to God so that they can see what the gospel is truly about.