In the last several blogs, I highlighted a number of key findings on the new Gen Z population (those born from 1999-2015) dealing with this new youth culture’s worldviews, obsession with technology and social media, and understanding of relationships with a new meaning of “family.”  But nothing stands out greater in this new generation than their confusion over gender, sexuality, and personal identity.  In this environment where misunderstanding and perplexity abound, the Church must speak with clarity about sexuality, evangelize with compassion, and disciple with intentionality.

Impact 360 Institute and the Barna Group’s research (the books Gen Z and Barna Trends 2018) reveal some startling statistics about this new youth culture’s views on sexuality and gender:

• Of all 13 to 18 year-olds surveyed, more than 12% saw their sexual orientation as something different than heterosexual. More than half of that percentage viewed their orientation as bisexual.  This is more than double the percentage than in any other population culture (Boomers, Millennials, etc.).
• In focus groups’ discussions with Gen Z’ers, the topic of gender came up more frequently, causing researchers to conclude that only half of all teenagers today believe that a person’s sex at birth truly defines a person’s gender. Roughly a third (33%) defined gender as “what an individual feels like.”  Don’t think that professing Christian teens have all the right answers here!  Roughly 1 in 5 of them (19%) stated that gender is “what a person feels like.”  This reveals the lack of crystal-clear, biblical teaching from the church to today’s youth on the subject of gender, sexual identity and the image of God in creation.
• Researchers found that among unbelieving, unchurched Gen Z youth, 41% of them see gender as based on feelings, and only 35% saw that a person’s sex at birth is primary. 1 in 10 view sexual attraction as the primary factor in determining identity.
• What’s most shocking is the finding that 7 out of 10 teens “definitely or probably” can be born one gender, yet “feel” like another. Added to this is the startling realization that nearly 30% know someone in their associations who have actually changed their gender identity.  Close to half of all teenagers (45%) expressed a neutral viewpoint over a friend who may be struggling with their sexual identity, while only 31% felt concerned about it.

What these findings tell us about this new youth culture is how much they struggle with their understanding of personal identity.  A tremendous vacuum exists in their minds over their personal uniqueness and individuality because television, cinema, social media and pop music have replaced a formerly Judeo-Christian social-ethic in previous generations (it’s “manly” to feel like a man, and “feminine” to feel like a woman) with a “feel good at any cost” persona today.  In many communities, we are seeing a whole new youth culture rise up with fewer churches capable of evangelizing and influencing them because there are little, if any, youth in those churches anymore, like there were in previous generations.

Youth ministry, to this generation like every generation before, is strategic.  Churches today must get serious about putting priorities and money towards reaching this new youth culture, the Gen Z population.  This means hiring staff, training lay leaders in evangelizing and discipling the Gen Z culture, equipping parents to shepherd and to train their children biblically, partnering with local schools and community youth organizations to provide healthy environments and activities for teenagers where evangelistic and discipleship conversations can occur with intentional regularity, and teaching teenagers the reasons for our faith in a relational context.  I am afraid that if we do not use these and other strategies to invest in reaching this new generation, the moral vacuum will widen in our society and greater sexual and gender confusion will grow, producing a new form of  “Babylon abomination” in our culture.