3 Ways to Witness to Gen Z This School Year

Older generations may just call this going for a walk, and maybe it is. But globally, young people want to talk about mental health, but aren’t sure if the adults in their lives care about it. Gen Zers also understand that moving our bodies and being outside are beneficial to mental health. When we recognize what is important to young people in language that is meaningful for them, we meet them where they are. We enter into their world with them, following the example of God Incarnate, Immanuel, God with us. This says, “I’m willing to come to you,” which flows into, “I’m willing to listen to you.” 

What is a mental health walk? It is simply going for a walk and asking, “On a scale of 1-10, how is your mental health? Why is it that number? What would change it?” It is listening and feeling alongside our Gen Z friend. It can be joining together in a healthy habit and allowing the movement of our bodies outside together to adjust our mood. It is a witness of how God designed our bodies, or even the world around us. It is an invitation to a holistic experience, involving mind, body, and spirit together, and we get to be a part of it!

By valuing what is important to teens and listening to what they have to say, they may invite us to share our story with them. 

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This is different from inviting a Gen Zer out to dinner at a restaurant. Now, they may want to start sharing meals with you at a restaurant because it may feel safer, and that’s okay. Eventually, when our young people want to really see us, they want to come over for a meal. They don’t want the nice linens and fine china when they arrive. Gen Z is looking to see what real life looks like. They want to see the clutter in the living room, the afternoon crankiness of little ones, or the dishes piling up in the sink while dinner is prepared. In other words, they are tired of people showing only their “best’ selves, and wanting to see our real selves. 

There is a level of authenticity in seeing how your faith impacts our everyday life when someone comes over for dinner. We also have the chance to share how our faith impacts the food we choose to eat, how we discipline and encourage our children, how we communicate with our roommate, why certain events are on the calendar on the wall, and much more. Inviting a Gen Zer over for a meal is an invitation to “come and see” what real life as a disciple of Christ looks like. 

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Be curious about our Gen Z friends. Curiosity allows us to listen to our Gen Z friends in a non-judgmental way. We place ourselves in the position of student and our Gen Z friends in the position of expert. Ask questions like: what are you celebrating? What are you worried about? Will you share with me your favorite playlist? Who do you follow on social media? Why do you follow that account?  What do you spend a lot of time thinking about? Learn about our Gen Z friends before we tell them about ourselves and our story. 

These questions can be asked on a mental health walk or over a meal, but if the Gen Z teens in your life aren’t quite ready or available for in-person interactions, it’s okay to enter the digital realm with them. Because Gen Z is made up of digital natives, these questions can be asked both in person and through a screen. Don’t be afraid to ask questions in the live chat of a video game or through a text or direct message. It may feel awkward for you, but young people often appreciate the space to process and type out a response. If we get the privilege of hearing their story, we also get the privilege of knowing how to pray for and walk with our Gen Z friends.

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You might pause and wonder why this article hasn’t addressed “what to say” but “what to invite to.” Fight the urge to want to “fix” Gen Z, and instead, spend time seeing where the gospel meets their story, their values, and their experiences. When Jesus shows up to Thomas after the resurrection, He does not lecture Thomas regarding his doubt. He invites Thomas to check out his scars. When we invite our Gen Z friends to be with us, we invite them to check out our scars for themselves. Then, we have the opportunity to invite them to a new challenge: to hear our story with Christ. 

Be prepared to share your story in 3 to four sentences. We should be able to fit our faith journey or testimony on the back of an index card. This is like the “X” (formerly Twitter) or TikTok version of our stories. It is concise, brief, and packs a punch. It’s not a perfect summary and it will not capture the complexity and nuances of our story, but it is also not overwhelming. Taking time to figure out how to share my story as a witness in a few sentences is another way I show young people love and respect for them. I am working to make it understandable and digestible for them. It is not an argument, an apologetic, or a sermon. It is a snapshot of God’s story in my life. 

After it is shared, our Gen Z friends have the opportunity and freedom to ask more questions. They may do so, or may drop the topic and move on. Then we go back to the inviting: an invitation to a mental health walk, an invitation to a meal, and an invitation to share. It is not so much the exact words of our witness, but the with-ness of our witness that speaks to Gen Z. They want to know Jesus Christ is real and faith matters in real, everyday life. 

Witnessing to Gen Z is not only sharing our testimony in words, but our lives as well, because they are so dear to us (taken from 1 Thessalonians 2:8)

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