Gen Z Actually Likes Jesus

There was recently a global study¹ looking at how young people view Jesus. Nearly 25,000 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 from 26 countries participated, representing a wide range of religious backgrounds, including atheists, Buddhists, Muslims, and Christians.

And the results are surprisingly encouraging.

Across all of these different backgrounds, most teenagers had a positive view of Jesus. Around half described Jesus as "loving," while many said they believe He offers hope and cares about people. Jesus was also widely seen as trustworthy, generous, and wise.

Think about that for a moment. In a world where we are constantly told that Gen Z is cynical, disconnected, or completely uninterested in faith, there is a generation of young people around the world who actually likes Jesus. I think that's worth paying attention to.

But Liking Jesus Isn't the Same as Knowing Him

Of course, having a positive opinion of Jesus isn't the same thing as knowing Him. Someone can think Jesus was a good teacher, believe He was loving, or admire what He said without ever having a personal relationship with Him.

And that's where I think the opportunity is. There is a generation that is open to Jesus, a generation that already sees something good in Him, and a generation that is looking for hope, meaning, and someone they can trust.

What if they could actually meet Him? What if they could move from hearing about Jesus to encountering Jesus for themselves?

That's something we are seeing happen through DTS (Discipleship Training School).

"I'm Not Ashamed to Talk About Jesus Anymore"

One of our DTS students recently shared with me how God has been changing his life throughout his Discipleship Training School.

Before DTS, he told us, he didn't really know who God was. His prayers felt empty, like words disappearing into the air. God felt distant and impersonal, and he didn't have a real relationship with Him.

But over the months of DTS, something changed. As he began encountering Jesus, especially during outreach, everything became real. Jesus wasn't just someone he had heard about. He was someone he was actually experiencing.

He began to understand what Jesus had done for him and that His grace was real and available. Then he started seeing other people encounter God too. He saw lives change.

And then he said something that really stuck with me: "I'm not ashamed to talk about Jesus anymore, because I've seen with my own eyes what His name can do."

That's the difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus.

"Could God Use Me?"

This summer, YWAM teams have been traveling across Germany with a simple vision: calling this generation to be unashamed of the gospel and go all in for Jesus.

And three weeks into the tour, we kept seeing young people wrestling with the same questions: "Could God use me?" "Is there a place for me in the Kingdom of God?" "Do I matter?"

These questions might sound different from the ones in that global study, but I think they're connected. A generation is searching for identity, purpose, hope, and belonging. When young people begin to encounter Jesus, they aren't just discovering who He is. They're beginning to discover who they are because of Him.

They begin to realize that they matter to God, that they have a place in His Kingdom, and that their lives can have purpose. Eventually, they start asking a different question: "Could God actually use me?"

The answer is yes.

Something Is Happening

I think sometimes we look at the world around us and assume the worst. We see young people glued to their phones, declining church attendance, and people who seem completely uninterested in Christianity. It's easy to become discouraged and assume that this generation is moving further and further away from Jesus.

But that's not the whole story.

There is a generation that is open to Jesus, a generation that is encountering Him personally, and a generation discovering its identity in Him. There is also a generation beginning to realize that God could actually use their lives for His purposes.

Something is happening. God is moving across the nations, and I don't want us to miss it because we've already decided what this generation is like.

Europe is not post-Christian. It's pre-revival.

Could God Use You?

Maybe you've wondered that question yourself. Could God use me? Could He use my life, my gifts, my story, my personality, and my time?

Could He use you to pray for someone, share the gospel with a friend, disciple another young person, serve in another country, or go to a place where people have never heard about Jesus?

You don't have to have everything figured out. You don't have to be fearless, and you certainly don't need to have all the answers. You just need to be willing to say yes to Jesus.

That's one of the reasons DTS exists. It's an opportunity to spend five months encountering Jesus, discovering who you are in Him, learning what it means to follow Him, and stepping into His mission around the world.

A generation is looking for hope, a generation is open to Jesus, and a generation is asking whether God could use them. Let's help them discover the answer.

Let's be the generation that says, "Yes, He can. And yes, He will."

References:

¹ Barna Group. (2022). Global Teens Share Their Perceptions of Jesus, the Bible & Justice. Retrieved from https://www.barna.com/research/open-generation-perceptions/