This Generation is the Revival We All Need
I got a call from my son the other day shortly after school. He told me he planned to leave early for soccer so he could go to Bible study before practice. It’s a small, student-led Bible study with a few of his schoolmates. Earlier in the week, a couple of them met at a coffee shop. Then this particular evening, they camped out on the second floor of a friend’s house.
Not long after the event began, I got a text from the host’s mom. It read: “Proud of our boys tonight. Love hearing them upstairs singing, reading scripture and praying. After this week it’s encouraging to know these kids are going to go on and do great things for the kimgdom.”
It’s been an excruciatingly few hard weeks for us all. From North Carolina to Utah to Colorado, the headlines have left us beaten and battle weary. The world feels like it’s coming apart at the seams, like it’s burning around us, and we’re sitting in the ash heap.
So when I got that text, it felt a bit like air being breathed into lifeless lungs. Like light piercing the darkest night. Like hope intersecting despair.
But it’s not just my son and his friends. It’s not just his school or his team or his youth group. In the past few years, something has started to shift among the younger generations. In my 46 years, I’ve never seen anything like it. Gen Z is hungry and thirsty for the living word of God. They’re desperate for His presence. They want to know Him, closely, intimately, honestly. And they’re not ashamed to proclaim Him in their classrooms, on their campuses or in the public square.
This generation doesn’t care for pretenses, and they’re not interested in a production. They’re tired of being enslaved to anxiety, depression and addiction, and they want to see chains drop off and prisoners set free.
They want truth. Raw. Authentically. Honestly.
And they’re seeking the Way, the Truth and the Life in droves. In fact, according to multiple recent studies, Gen Z’s interest in faith matters is denouncing trends. These kids aren’t walking away from the church; they’re leading the return.
Last year, Gospel Coalition columnist Trevin Wax penned an article titled “Rumblings of Revival Among Gen Z?”. In that piece, he detailed six specific signs that show God is up to something among this generation. The evidence is encouraging, and it’s well worth the read.
More recently, a UniteUs event at the University of Oklahoma saw more than 9,000 college students lifting their voices in worship at the Lloyd Noble Center. This is just one Unite event in a string of many that has witnessed college students turning from death to life. In fact, in the last two years since founding the ministry, Tonya Prewett has seen a move of God amongst thousands upon thousands of students across 18 campuses. Next up this fall: South Florida, Tennessee, Grand Canyon, Cincinnati and NC State.
In our current culture, it’s easy to feel desperately discouraged. On the surface, things seem pretty dark and hope for change can feel foolish and futile. But if we look a little deeper, we’ll find something different. A fire is burning among Gen Z. God is using these kids.
Setting them apart. Calling them out. Raising them up.
And if what I’m seeing in my own children and in their friends is any indication, I think perhaps the fire is just getting started.
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