Why We Need to Reach Gen Z With the Gospel
By Movieguide® Contributor
Even though the U.S. sends two million missionaries out across the world every year, evangelization is on the decline, particularly among Generation Z.
“A 2021 Gallup poll found that church membership has now dropped below 50%, and the Pew Research Centre has repeatedly found that Gen Z is the nation’s least religious generation, with about a third having no religion at all,” evangelist and speaker Nick Vujicic wrote in an Aug. 28 press release. “In addition, 47% of practicing Christian Millennials believe evangelism in today’s society is wrong, and 51% of US churchgoers say they don’t know the term ‘the Great Commission.”
“If nothing is done to address this then we will lose our place as the global leader in Christian evangelism, as well as our claim to being the world’s most Christian nation. It is that simple. How can we evangelize to the world if we cannot even evangelize at home? We can’t expect to export what we don’t live out locally,” he explained.
Vujicic referenced Isaiah 38:1-5 to explain that Christians need to get their “house in order.”
“Replicating past generations of American missionaries will require new generations of missionaries, and that means evangelizing to the future of our churches — Gen Z,” he said. “However, evangelizing to Gen Z is easier said than done, and sometimes the idea itself can feel daunting even to those of us who regularly evangelize to them like I do.”
“We know that we can be met with hostility, treated as irrelevant, and even be made out to be immoral in our beliefs. But Romans 1:16 tells us to not be ashamed of the Gospel. If we truly love someone, we can’t help but tell the world about Jesus, and how He has transformed our lives,” he said.
The reason why young people have pulled away is because they have not been raised with Biblical worldviews. It’s up to believers to provide and set an example of that for young people.
“If we aren’t sharing the gospel with them, then they won’t know their Bible, the source of truth, and young people will instead gravitate to what sounds good rather than what is good and true,” Vujicic said.
“Sometimes the truth hurts. Sometimes the truth isn’t what we want to hear. Don’t have sex until marriage,” he said.
“God created us male and female,” he continued. “God instituted marriage between one man and one woman. These truths are truth whether we want them to be or not.”
He adds God’s truth sets the foundation for healthy and safe environments.
“His truth leads to a productive and fulfilling life. We must preach, teach, and disciple young people in the Truth of the Word of God so they can filter out the lies of culture and society today,” he said. “Because of this, we mustn’t abandon the preaching of the Gospel just because it isn’t culturally or societally accepted.”
“When speaking about the Gospel to young people I often use humor, as I find that it breaks down their defenses and opens up their hearts to receive,” he said. “I also speak into current issues they face and relate them to biblical truths that can help them. For me, my personal testimony is a big way I connect with young people, and that goes for all of us.”
You can’t argue against one’s personal experiences, including transformation as a follower of Christ.
“Gen Z can spot disingenuous Christians. They are not interested in hype; they are looking for a real God with real answers. We must be authentic,” Vujicic says.
“As my story is so visual, having no arms or legs, Gen Z can see my brokenness visually. It helps me as I connect with them and their internal brokenness. It helps them trust that I can sympathize with and understand what they are going through,” he said.
Vujicic cited Hope for the Heart as a helpful resource. The organization has a “Keys for Living” library that has brief books on topics that dive into more than 100 issues people face in real life.
“Though our culture has changed dramatically in the last 50 years and become far more digital, preaching the Gospel to large groups of people will always be effective. Jesus ministered to people both one-on-one as well as to crowds. That being said, we do have to be aware of generational, cultural and communication issues and adjust our approach appropriately when we preach to crowds,” said Vujicic, who has spoken to large crowds across the globe for the last 22 years.
“At NickV Ministries we have leaned into digital evangelism, both directly through our ministry and with evangelism partners. We are finding many people coming to Christ and being encouraged through different media platforms. But we also haven’t stopped preaching to crowds,” he explained.
“This is actually the most fruitful season we have ever experienced in preaching both to live audiences and broadcasting the gospel to entire nations. Since December 2023, 45 million people have heard the gospel and 47,000 have given their lives to Christ in person.
Vujicic believes sharing the Gospel should be a joyful activity. It shouldn’t feel like a burden.
“Certainly, we need to train Christians to defend their faith, to refute false religions, to understand the pure gospel, to memorize key scriptures and to prepare to share their personal testimony,” he said. “But in the end, the greatest thing we can do to spur on the Church in evangelism is to fall more in love with Jesus!”
“Jesus came to earth as a man, to be with us, relate to us and die as one of us — both fully God and fully human. If we live our lives as authentic followers of Christ and are bold in preaching the gospel and sharing our story, we will see Gen Z in the US and the world come running to Jesus,” he said. “The gospel, Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection, is the most powerful message ever told, we just need to keep telling it.”
Vujicic will speak at Hope for The Heart’s Hope Together Conference this Sept. 26-28, in DFW. Other speakers include Lee Strobel, James E. Ward and more.
Movieguide® recently shared Vujicic’s advice for those who have depression:
Number one, really be thankful for what [you have],” Vujici said. “The second thing is, taking one day at a time.”
He continued, “It’s so easy to get overwhelmed and even exaggerate your fear because of the unknowns. And so, to balance that out, you have to just sort of take a step back — ‘I can’t think about six months from now, and six years from now…I’m just going to take one day at a time.’”
“The third thing is to talk to somebody,” Vujicic said. “[If I] never counseled with anybody, never asked for help, I wouldn’t be who I am today. And I give all the glory to God for everything. He’s my greatest counselor. But sometimes He gives you His children…and that really starts helping us refocus and be reminded of God’s promise that then instills more faith in us.”
