Many studies on Gen Z— people born between 1996 and 20101—tend to highlight the negative aspects inherent in young people. It is quite familiar language to hear that they are addicted to screens, that they suffer from mental health issues (including depression, anxiety, and even suicide), that they are developmentally delayed, and that they are fragile or lack grit.
Conversely, young people may look at older people & roll their eyes accompanied by ‘OK Boomer,’ deeming them lacking understanding about technology or diversity, or being overly rigid (‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’). Generational conflict, in general, is rarely constructive, and can lead to further division and misunderstanding. What does it look like to have constructive use of generational insights, especially for mission? How can the generations learn from each other? I will offer 3 contributions in this article: 1) data-driven research; 2) the value of stories; 3) collaboration and participation.
Data-driven Research
First, there must be an objectivity to generational insights. Good research, such as that approved by an IRB (Institutional Review Board), needs to have protections for human subjects. I currently lead a Lilly Grant-funded Young Adult Initiative at Denver Seminary.
In order to get IRB approval, we had to submit several important documents: Informed Consent (which outlines the purpose of the study, and lends dignity and respect to the Gen Z participants so that they do not feel taken advantage of without proper understanding of the study and/ or appropriate compensation); a Memorandum of Understanding (for the pastors and the churches to understand what is being asked of them and for boundaries of confidentiality); Focus Group questions (with subjects such as Creation Care, Social Justice, Missions, Sexuality, Mental Health, Church Hurt, Social Media, etc.); & Pastor questions (to glean insights not just from Gen Z themselves but also from those who shepherd them).
“Gen Z requires trust & is worried about whether it is worthwhile for them to invest in something, it is always better to show them the end first and then work backward.”
In this day and age of the #MeToo movement and other similar abuses, for young people to know and understand how their data will be used is of utmost importance. Because Gen Z requires trust and is worried about whether it is worthwhile for them to invest in something, it is always better to show them the end first and then work backward. While most older leaders communicate in a linear manner, most Gen Z’s are outcome-oriented.
Data handled with care and with a clear kingdom telos is meaningful and powerful, and feeds into human beings’ need for purpose and significance. This does not mean that everyone needs to submit an IRB proposal—that is only what academics do!
However, thinking of something akin to IRB as a template for how to engage with generations with data is a good starting framework.
The Value of Stories
Second, in addition to quantitative data, it is also important to have qualitative insights. Stories are extremely important to each generation. Despite the fact that older generations might be characterized as being all about objective arguments (such as apologetics), and younger generations might be characterized as being all about authenticity (such as testimonies),2 we are all holistic beings and value a combination of head and heart.
“Stories are extremely important to each generation.”
However, while Boomers might be more about ‘believing before belonging’, Gen Z might be more about ‘belonging before believing’.3
Yet, as humans we are all wired for story. If that were not so, Hollywood would not be so successful, even in the ‘cerebral’ West.4 Jesus understood this well, as his parables are some of his most effective teachings, & often more memorable than propositional truths.
Not only do stories stay with us, they often are more effectively transformative. Rarely have I ever seen someone ‘argued’ into the Kingdom of Heaven if their heart has not been changed. But I know many people who have been emotionally moved to embrace Jesus, even if they still might have some lingering logical questions. At the recent Urbana missions conference (December 2025 in Phoenix, AZ), they had all 7000 people take the relatively new TruCenter assessment, ‘the first story-based assessment that reveals God’s giftedness through each person’s unique intrinsic motivations’.5
My friend Tim Yee (Vice President at Motivations AI) helped to develop this unique tool which leverages a person’s true motivations that are teased out through personal stories. Not only are each of us expressed through our history and stories, but the gospel itself is the ‘greatest story ever told’.
Collaboration & Participation
Too many books are written about Gen Z without their input or verification. Despite the fact that people like NYU professor Jonathan Haidt, or University of San Diego professor Jean Twenge, are excellently data-driven (thus fulfilling criterion #1 above), sometimes book titles like the following: The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure,6 or iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy— and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood—and What That Means for the Rest of Us,7 can be off-putting. I find it hard to believe that those titles would have been approved had Gen Z been involved with title- crafting. Generations do not like being spoken to or about; they want a voice in speaking about themselves.
“Generations do not like being spoken to or about; they want a voice in speaking about themselves.”
This is similar to the injunction that, when researching other religions, do not only read Christian books about Islam or Buddhism or Hinduism; one should also read the writings of people who are adherents of those religions themselves to glean insights into what they actually think, without potential stereotyping or misinformation creeping in.
In 2023, I was part of the five-person Programme Committee for the Lausanne Generations Conversation (LGC23). We deliberately did not call it a conference because we wanted it to be conversational rather than the typical “sage on the stage” pontificating while the audience simply downloads information. We invited around 100 people from all over the world to come to Biola University (where I was teaching at the time), spanning Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers, to spend several days in roundtable discussions.8
One of the concrete conclusions we developed was an Intergenerational Leadership Pyramid with the Bible and Mission on the foundational level, friendship and mutuality on the middle level, and collaboration as the pinnacle. Note that without collaboration it is impossible to truly have an intergenerational missional model. Co-leading is the only way forward.
Now I continue to do this concretely with INTERACT, a Lausanne initiative of intergenerational leaders who are helping the various network catalysts onboard people of every generation for mission. In addition, the LGC23 set the stage for further intergenerational work within the Lausanne Movement, which will climax with the Fourth Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering (YLG 4) in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in March 2027.
Conclusion
The three sections outlined above might be seen as the head, the heart, and the hands. In order to constructively employ generational insights, all three dimensions must be in effect. There is no substitute for a holistic approach of moving from theory to praxis.
God delights in seeing generations working together, as much as he delights in seeing dividing walls broken down between race, gender, and social class. When the entire church can be mobilized for mission, we can watch amazed as the Holy Spirit works, and the wonders of the first Pentecost come alive again in our world.
Endnotes
- https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mck-insey-explainers/what-is-gen-z
- https://www.nae.org/generational-questions/ James Choung posits that each generation has ‘gateway questions’ such as Boomers who start with ‘What is true?’ or Gen Z who start with ‘What is beautiful?’ and those are valuable insights, but the caveat is that one generation’s gateway question might be another generation’s secondary question, so all these questions are important
- George Hunter III, The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West… Again (Nashville: Abingdon, 2010), p.45
- The TV show The Chosen is a perfect illustration of this. Even if the storyline takes some imaginative liberties with the life of Christ, the core essence of how Jesus impacts people is still felt. It is not literalistic, but it is faithful to Jesus’s ethos and pathos (sides not often explored, as we tend to mostly focus on his logos).
- https://trucenter.co
- Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff.( London, UK: Penguin Books, 2019)
- Jean M. Twenge. (New York, NY: Atria Books,2018).
- https://lausanne.org/about/blog/gods-purpose-in-intergenerational-leadership