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)
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Finn Hafemann
