You might pause and wonder why this text hasn’t addressed “what to say” but “what to ask to.” Fight the urge to need to “fix” Gen Z, and as a substitute, spend time seeing where the gospel meets their story, their values, and their experiences. When Jesus shows as much as Thomas after the resurrection, He doesn’t lecture Thomas regarding his doubt. He invites Thomas to envision out his scars. When we invite our Gen Z friends to be with us, we invite them to envision out our scars for themselves. Then, we’ve the chance to ask them to a recent challenge: to listen to our story with Christ.
Be prepared to share your story in 3 to 4 sentences. We should have the option to suit our faith journey or testimony on the back of an index card. This is just like the “X” (formerly Twitter) or TikTok version of our stories. It is concise, temporary, and packs a punch. It’s not an ideal summary and it’ll not capture the complexity and nuances of our story, but additionally it is not overwhelming. Taking time to work out find out how to share my story as a witness in just a few sentences is one other way I show young people love and respect for them. I’m working to make it comprehensible and digestible for them. It just isn’t an argument, an apologetic, or a sermon. It is a snapshot of God’s story in my life.
After it’s shared, our Gen Z friends have the chance and freedom to ask more questions. They may achieve this, or may drop the subject and move on. Then we return to the inviting: an invite to a mental health walk, an invite to a meal, and an invite to share. It just isn’t a lot the precise words of our witness, however the with-ness of our witness that speaks to Gen Z. They need to know Jesus Christ is real and faith matters in real, on a regular basis life.
Witnessing to Gen Z just isn’t only sharing our testimony in words, but our lives as well, because they’re so dear to us (taken from 1 Thessalonians 2:8)
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Finn Hafemann
